It is six years since NIACE published the findings of its Committee of Inquiry on English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL). Its report, "More than a language," made significant and wide-reaching recommendations aimed at addressing the quality of provision, unmet demand and the structure of ESOL teaching qualifications. The…

During the affluent noughties it was sometimes said of government that it had "more visions than Mystic Meg and more pilots than British Airways". In 2011, the pilots, the pathfinders, the new initiatives are largely gone--implementation is the name of the game--but the visions remain. The latest one, as it affects adult learners, is in…

There is consensus across the three main parties that adult learning, in all its forms, matters. As the Government publishes its White Paper on informal adult learning, this article asks what the three main parties think needs to be done about it. John Denham, Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills, argues that by working in…

The importance of the "learner voice" is again a concern throughout the learning and skills sector, and turning the rhetoric into some kind of meaningful reality has become a renewed challenge. The concern to be responsive to "learner and learning experience" can be seen across developments in information, advice and guidance…

This article presents the author's response to Bob Fryer's contribution to the June 2011 issue of "Adults Learning". At a time when education and the public realm in general are suffering reversals, it is heartening to know that those who have been committed to the struggle for the disadvantaged are prepared to stand their ground. This…

The author would like to think that, in twenty-first century Britain, the case for adult learning was firmly established and no-one was in any doubt of its value. Having spent nearly 20 years before he became an MP working as a part-time lecturer and tutor with the Open University, and seeing the transformation that it could bring to his students,…

With the new government, the implications for learning policy are not yet clear. On the positive side, the new Minister for Further Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills, John Hayes attended both NIACE's policy conference and the Campaign for Learning's Learning at Work Day debate and expressed his support for adult learning and the work that is…

The author, chair of the new improvement organization for further education and skills, shares her optimism on what the emerging agency can achieve, but she is aware of the challenges facing a sector struggling to keep pace with inspectors' expectations. These struggles include: (1) The slow delivery of curriculum; (2) The sector's struggle to…

In recent years there has been some evidence of a resurgence of interest in experiential groupwork methods such as T-groups among cooperative and community development workers, feminists, and those concerned with heightening sensitivity to social problems. Two adult educators who believed that experiential laboratory methods can enable students to…

This is a fascinating time for adult learning in the UK. With a plethora of reviews reaching report stage alongside ongoing discussion about funding, qualifications and quality and the review of post-16 planning and funding in Wales, there is a real sense that things are about to change after a decade of well-meant but often misfocused reform.…

The 18 papers presented at the conference reported in this document are grouped into four major sections. The first section, on the nature of open learning, includes "How Open Is Open Learning?" (H. Temple); "Open Learning and Community" (I. Cunningham); "Are We Really Open--With Our Learners and Ourselves?" (W. J. K.…

This document is an overview of the projects conducted in England and Wales as part of the European Year of Lifelong Learning. The document begins with an overview of lifelong learning that outlines the United Kingdom's educational attainment targets for the year 2000 and the six strands of the United Kingdom's lifelong learning policy framework…

One in three undergraduate students enter university for the first-time when they are over 21--not that one would notice given the obsession of both media and politicians with younger students progressing to university straight from school or college at 18 or 19. This focus on younger students has been put into even sharper relief in the debate…

In the United Kingdom, these two perspectives on lifelong learning sit uneasily together: emphasis on adults in employment and a focus on diversity and widening participation in adult education. A recent emphasis on accreditation with implications for funding has affected diversity and participation objectives because involving assessment,…

Cultural services and tourism are among the United Kingdom's fastest growing sectors in terms of employment and consumer demand. Cultural services and tourism bring the following elements to lifelong learning: active rather than passive learning; a means of interpreting the world around us; exposure to cultures other than one's own; confidence and…