This article demonstrates that the presence of radical discourse in an educational field is not necessarily evidence of criticality in practice. Appropriated by policy and practitioners within a web of power relations, radical discourse may come to act on practice in ways which are antithetical to its theoretical origins. To illustrate this…

The research "INCLUD-ED, Strategies for Inclusion and Social Cohesion in Europe from Education" (2006-11) identified several forms of family participation that contribute to the improvement of school performance and living together in schools: participation in decision-making processes, participation in the evaluation of educational…

Adult education institutions face a variety of challenges in "migration societies". This paper first analyses the marginal adoption of the topic by researchers in a German-speaking context and points out the dominance of a target group approach in the past. To open up alternative perspectives, I will discuss challenges for adult…

In the past, non-formal education in South Africa was committed to supporting the Mass Democratic Movement (MDM) in opposition to apartheid. Such non-formal political education was concerned with education for democracy. Post 1994, South African adult education policy has exclusively concentrated on vocational training, shifting the focus away…

Traditionally, adult education has had a focus on learning connected to social purpose. In the current neoliberal climate, lifelong learning is increasingly defined as an endeavour whereby individuals must situate themselves in a competitive position in order to succeed in the global marketplace. Radical educators who believe that education should…

The Bologna Process, recently implemented in Portugal, has brought many changes to higher education institutions. One of these changes refers to a law that enables mature students (23 years and older) to gain special access to higher education, taking into account their professional experience and other biographical elements. The numbers of…

The article is based on the results of research carried out under the RANLHE project in several Polish academic institutions. Applying the biographical research approach, the project aimed to explore and understand the access and retention-related experiences of non-traditional students. In a study of non-traditional students, three distinct…

This paper examines the idea of qualitative comparing in order to create a "heuristic concept" that will enable relational structures to be examined, drawing on the sociological tradition founded by Norbert Elias. Subsequently, an empirical research example -- the comparison of three "mentality spaces" in post-socialist…

Changes in higher education (HE) in Sweden, from elite to mass education, with an increased number of students and institutions, has raised questions about the role of HE in society. Relating to conflicts between discourses of employability, democracy, traditional academic norms and experiences of non-traditional students, the aim of this article…

This paper explores participation in higher education in Germany and Spain through two case studies from the RANLHE project. There is one case in each national context (Germany and Spain) based on biographical interviews undertaken between 2008 and 2010. Social, economic and cultural dimensions are explored in order to better understand the German…

Social class is a major determining factor of people's life chances. Much sociology-based research shows that socio-economic position is still one of the best predictors of who will achieve success, prosperity and social status and, in particular, who will enjoy the highest levels of educational outcomes. Survey data and qualitative studies…

This article offers an ethnographic case study of two Adult Basic Education (ABE) teachers' characteristics and their literacy instruction. It draws on the New Literacy Studies tradition and used ethnographic tools (in-depth interviews, classroom observation and the think-aloud protocol) to explore the characteristics of two ABE teachers and…

Adult learning takes place not only in educational organisations, but through participation in leisure and special interest groups. Commercially operated weight management organisations recruit large numbers of adults to their classes to learn how to eat healthily and lose weight. They publish readers' "real life" success stories in their…

Among the many critiques of competency-based approaches to education and training (CBT) is a strain which draws on Foucault's analysis of "disciplinary" power and knowledge. Foucault offered an interpretation of modern institutions, such as prisons, armies and schools, which revealed subtle mechanisms of surveillance and systems of knowledge that…

This article investigates the role of the arts in enabling prisoners to engage with learning and improve their literacy, and the impact this has on their rehabilitation and desistance from crime. It draws on data collected from prisoners who participated in arts interventions in three different Scottish prisons. It argues that participating in the…