This paper considers recurrent alarms in England, Wales and other developed countries concerning shortages of teachers. It summarises the conclusions from a mixed-methods international study of teacher supply, quality and retention. The research used large-scale secondary data sets from a variety of sources, at both the individual and aggregate…

This article emerges from a recent review of evidence, conducted by the authors and others, on the lifelong barriers to widening participation in higher education in England. This has led us to a consideration of the quality and relevance of the research activity in this large field of endeavour, and to the creation of a typology of the kinds of…

Analysis of British survey data on 5,885 adults showed that 42% reported learning participation in the last 3 years; 36% reported none since leaving school. Access to information/communications technology was associated with age, class, and educational attainment. Technology did not itself increase participation among those already inclined not to…

Analysis of education and training histories of 1,104 adults in Wales identified patterns of participation as lifelong trajectories. Key predictors of participation emerged: period when born, place of birth, gender, family background, and initial schooling. Results called into question the rhetoric about progress toward a Learning Society and the…

Case studies from longitudinal research on adult educational participation identified important determinants of lifelong learning patterns: age, place, gender, family background, and religion. The data suggest that adults' learning choices are made within the framework of subjective opportunity structures, including notions of what is appropriate…

Public policy rhetoric depicts information/communications technologies as a means of transforming lifelong education, freeing individual learners, broadening social inclusion, and improving competitiveness. However, concerns about social exclusion are predominantly economic, and increasing participation does not mean the same thing as widening…