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…

In this article I will use an example of current adult education practice, the Glory and Dismay Football Literacies Programme (GDFLP) to appraise the value of critical discourse analysis (CDA) for adult learners, both individually and collectively, and for adult education practitioners with an interest in developing critical literacy skills. The…

In this paper I explore the relationships between lifelong learning and emancipation. On the one hand I raise critical questions about the idea of lifelong learning, particularly highlighting the tendency to turn social and political problems into learning problems and thus into issues that need to be resolved by individuals and their learning,…

This article will explore lifelong learning and community participation for older women. In doing so, it will draw on empirical work undertaken with the National Federation of Women's Institutes in England and Wales in the UK; and the Sydney Older Women's Network in Australia. The article will briefly outline something of the policies and…

This article inspires critical and creative thinking about the promotion of citizenship development through programmes of study designed primarily to enhance adults' vocational skills. It does so through presenting an empirical case study of an important adult education programme delivered by the Department of University Extension at the…

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…

Biographical learning as a conceptual tool for investigating learning in life transitions has gained some recognition over recent years. In this article, we elaborate on this concept against the background of previous research and suggest a number of different modes of biographical learning. We further exemplify and discuss our suggestions in…

This article discusses initial findings from a study exploring the pedagogical functions of popular culture. The study was framed by a neo-Gramscian theoretical framework which connects adult education and cultural studies, and asserts that culture underpins important informal adult learning. We used two television shows, "Grey's Anatomy" and…

This article explores the higher education learning experience of Kat, a mature female student. As part of a longitudinal case study spanning two years, data were collected through interviews and journal entries. The data were used to construct an account of Kat's higher education experience, focusing particularly upon her self-theory in relation…

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…

This paper explores learner progression for participants in community-based adult learning (CBAL) provision in Scotland. It focuses on learners' perceptions of progression drawn from analysis of life history interviews carried out with ten adults who had participated in community-based adult learning. The analysis of data was undertaken in three…

This study uses audio-recordings of naturally occurring classroom discussions to examine how adult numeracy students drew on their informal knowledge as they worked together to solve mathematical problems. Analysis of the recordings not only reveals the knowledge which the participating students contributed to their discussions, but also…