Adult Education And The Challenge Of Unemployment

Originally published in 1987, at a time of high unemployment, this book provides a critical analysis of the role played by education in solving unemployment. It examines the practical, social and psychological effects of unemployment on adults and argues that formal institutional responses are inadequate within any long term perspective, and that it is rather community, informal and often unofficial initiatives that will provide learning experiences for unemployed people.

First published in 1990, the Handbook of Educational Ideas and Practices was written for practitioners and students in the field of education and its related services and was designed to appeal to educationists no matter what their nationality. Focusing mainly on compulsory schooling, it provides summaries of the thinking, research findings, and innovatory practices current at the time. However, the book is also careful to present a complete picture of education and therefore includes a separate section for education beyond school which covers pre-school level, post-secondary level, and adult and continuing education. There are also other chapters dealing with aspects of organization, curriculum, and teaching in various forms of tertiary education. Indeed, each topic has been discussed by an acknowledged expert writing in sufficient detail in order to resist trivialization.

With digitalisation, deepening globalisation and population ageing, the world of work is changing. The extent to which individuals, firms and economies can harness the benefits of these changes critically depends on the readiness of adult learning systems to help people develop relevant skills ...

This book has two purposes: first to argue that there is a greater need now than ever before for liberal adult education for the working class. Such provision would both help to ameliorate the gross inequalities of our society and provide some counter-balance to the increasingly utilitarian and vocational orientation of post-school education. Secondly, the book aims to describe and analyse in some detail the community-based programme for various ‘disadvantaged’ working class groups that has been developed by a British Pioneer Work team concerned with adult continuing education. The methods, objectives and overall practice described in this case study are of relevance to those working in all sectors of adult and community education. This book is edited by two members of staff concerned with Pioneer Work development from the outset, and the contributors include other members of the Pioneer Work team of lecturers and researchers.

Each of the books in this series examines factors which prevent positive learning taking place, evaluates practice which enhances learning and describes the multi-dimensional phenomenon of disaffection. It also looks at the broader social and political context and post-compulsory education.