Evans Learning, Work and Social Responsibility

Challenges for Lifelong Learning in a Global Age
1. Auflage 2009
ISBN: 978-1-4020-9759-1
Verlag: Springer-Verlag
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 274 Seiten

The concept of individual responsibility has taken on a signi?cance comparable to that of ‘choice’ in the global rise of neo-liberalism of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. The rise of neo-liberalism is most often analysed through the lenses of theory, governmentality and societal structures. There has been a tendency for an- ysis to become overly abstract with the subjective experiences of the social actors missing dimensions in the literature. This book draws on more than 20 years of international research that has focused on the subjective experiences of people as actors in changing social landscapes. These landscapes are differently positioned politically, economically and socially, in relation to the rise of neo-liberalism. Comparisons enable the differences in people’s experiences to be located, explored and explained in relation to different soc- economic landscapes, thus throwing into relief the effects of neo-liberal policies where they are found. My approach is to create an extended dialogue between ideas and evidence, starting close to home, and then extending to speci?c international comparisons and to wider explorations of the central themes of the book: human agency and social responsibility. Finally, I return to social landscapes of Britain, to review the position and potential for social change in societies that exemplify what Sennett has termed ‘Anglo-American regimes’, in contrast to ‘Rhine regimes’ as exempli?ed by Germany.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Evans, Karen

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1;Contents;7
2;Author’s Introduction;11
3;Editorial By Series Editors;13
4;Learning for a Living: The Powerful, the Dispossessed and the Learning Revolution;16
4.1;1.1 Actors in Changing Social Landscapes;18
4.2;1.2 Re-establishing the Relationships Between Education and Real Life;22
4.3;1.3 Defining the Learning Revolution and Its Limits;28
4.4;1.4 A New Generation of Adults: Taking Control of Their Lives?;30
4.5;1.5 Discussing the Future;33
4.6;1.6 Choice, Optimism and Expectations;34
4.7;1.7 Marginalised by the Broad Sweep of Social and Economic Decline;35
4.8;1.8 The Social World of Work;36
4.9;1.9 Individual Responsibility in a Social World;39
4.10;1.10 Summary and Conclusions;41
4.11;Notes;43
5;Taking Control?: Early Adult Life in Contrasting Social Landscapes;44
5.1;2.1 Introduction;44
5.2;2.2 The Wider Significance of Comparisons Between England and Germany ;46
5.2.1;2.2.1 Rapid Changes in England and Germany;46
5.2.2;2.2.2 Regulated Germany, Diverse Britain;47
5.3;2.3 Transitions Involve Negotiating Different Structures;49
5.4;2.4 The Significance of Subjective Viewpoints;50
5.5;2.5 Pressures, Constraints and Resources;51
5.5.1;2.5.1 Perceptions of the Effect of Area on Employment Opportunities;51
5.5.2;2.5.2 Young People’s Views on the Influence of Family Background and the Influence of Peers;53
5.6;2.6 Agency, Control and Views of Self;54
5.6.1;2.6.1 Overview: Feelings of Control;54
5.7;2.7 The Importance of Qualifications;60
5.8;2.8 Self-Confidence, Independence and Responsibility;61
5.9;2.9 Choice, Optimism and Expectations;62
5.10;2.10 The Impact of Employment Schemes: New Deal and JUMP;65
5.11;2.11 Summary and Conclusions;66
5.12;Notes;68
6;Students Anticipating the Future;69
6.1;3.1 Barriers to Widening Participation: Student Experience in England;71
6.2;3.2 Perceptions of Qualifications and Life Chances?;74
6.3;3.3 Independence, Responsibility and Achievement;77
6.3.1;3.3.1 Control of One’s Own Life;83
6.3.2;3.3.2 Plans for the Future;84
6.3.3;3.3.3 Assessment of Own Behaviour;85
6.4;3.4 Scope for Action in Contrasting Socio-Economic Environments;86
6.5;3.5 Systemic Implications;88
6.6;3.6 Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning;89
6.7;3.7 Bringing Social Responsibility Back into the Equation;97
6.8;3.8 Summary and Conclusions;97
6.9;Notes;99
7;Workers in Control of the Present?;100
7.1;4.1 Adult Workers and the Significance of Biography;101
7.2;4.2 Work Experience in Early Adult Life;102
7.3;4.3 Linking the Individual and Social Dimensions of Learning and Work;104
7.4;4.5 Bringing Prior Skills, Understanding and Abilities into the Workplace;105
7.5;4.6 How Using Tacit Skills and Knowledge in the Workplace an Change or Personalise the Environment;108
7.6;4.7 The Value of College-Based Elements to Workplace Learning;109
7.7;4.8 Other Factors Affecting Learners at Their Workplace;110
7.8;4.9 Rethinking ‘Transfer’;111
7.9;4.10 Employees’ Contributions: Constructing and Personalising Workplace Learning Opportunities;112
7.10;4.11 Employers’ Perspectives on Their Employees’ Abilities and Dispositions;113
7.11;4.12 Individual Workers’ Dispositions Facilitate the Workplace Environment;114
7.12;4.13 The Workplace as a Site for Access to Learning: the Contested Domain of ‘ Adult Basic Skills’;116
7.13;4.14 Participation and Motivations to Learn;116
7.14;4.15 Employees and Environments: Reciprocal Relationships;118
7.15;4.16 Towards a Social Ecology of Learning;120
7.16;4.17 Formal and Informal Workplace Learning;120
7.17;4.18 Informal Learning;122
7.18;4.19 Theory and Practice;124
7.19;4.20 What About Flexibility and Mobility of Labour?;126
7.20;4.21 Summary and Conclusion;129
7.21;Note;130
8;Living at the Margins and Finding Ways to Work;131
8.1;5.1 Being Unemployed in Changing Social Landscapes;132
8.2;5.2 Social Exclusion and Lifelong Learning – New Policy Discourses;133
8.3;5.3 Educational Interventions and Responses;134
8.4;5.4 Exclusion – Becoming Detached from The ‘Social Mainstream’;135
8.5;5.5 Unemployed Young Adults: Empirical Encounters;136
8.6;5.6 Unemployed and Underemployed Adults: The UK Contextiv;139
8.7;5.7 Lifelong Learning and Unemployed Adults;141
8.8;5.8 Non-formal Learning andWidening Participation;143
8.9;5.9 Outcomes of Non-formal Learning;144
8.10;5.10 Recognition of Non-accredited Learning Achievements;144
8.11;5.11 Community-Based Learning;145
8.11.1;5.11.1 The Adult and Community Learning Fund;146
8.12;5.12 The Potential of Situated Learning: From ‘Communities of Practice’ to ‘ Learning Communities Centred on Practice’ ( LCPs);147
8.13;5.13 Situated Learning and Competence Development;148
8.14;5.14 Improvement of the Situation of People Threatened with Social Exclusion – Limits and Possibilities;150
8.15;5.15 Cultural Values and the Ways in Which These Are Reflected in Policy;154
8.16;5.16 Summary and Conclusions;156
8.17;Notes;158
9;Gender, Work and Learning;159
9.1;6.1 Young Adults’ Awareness of the Influence of Gender on Life Chances;160
9.1.1;6.1.1 Leipzig: Men Have the Upper Hand;160
9.1.2;6.1.2 Women Have to Prove Themselves;161
9.1.3;6.1.3 Prejudice and Stereotypes;162
9.1.4;6.1.4 Tackling Non-traditional Roles;162
9.1.5;6.1.5 Gender Issues Come to the Fore in Employment;163
9.2;6.2 Patterns of Experience in the English City Region;164
9.2.1;6.2.1 Career Orientation;165
9.3;6.3 The City Region in Western Germany;166
9.3.1;6.3.1 Career Orientation;166
9.3.2;6.3.2 Future Prospects and Plans;167
9.4;6.4 The City Region in Eastern Germany;167
9.4.1;6.4.1 Opportunities and Discrimination;167
9.4.2;6.4.2 Career Orientation;168
9.5;6.5 Comparison Across Areas;168
9.6;6.6 ‘Gender Autonomy’ and Social Responsibility: Challenges for Work and Vocational Learning;171
9.6.1;6.6.1 Rethinking Key Competences;172
9.6.2;6.6.2 The Typical Cases;173
9.6.3;6.6.3 The Exceptional Cases;174
9.6.4;6.6.4 Gender Autonomy;177
9.6.5;6.6.5 Furthering Gender Autonomy;179
9.7;6.7 What Is Possible to Change Through Vocational Education and Training?;181
9.8;6.8 Summary and Conclusions;183
9.9;Notes;184
10;Participation, Social Life and Politics;186
10.1;7.1 Social Dynamics, Experience and Participation;187
10.2;7.2 Self-Confidence, Independence and Responsibility;189
10.3;7.3 ‘Flexibility’ and Critical Engagement;191
10.4;7.4 Students’ Participation in Politics;196
10.4.1;7.4.1 Work Values and Activities Outside Work;199
10.5;7.5 Education for Citizenship in Adult Life;201
10.6;7.6 Summary and Conclusions;206
10.7;Note;208
11;Beyond Individualisation: Human Strivings for Control of Their Lives;209
11.1;8.1 Exploring Human Agency: Comparative Life Transitions Approach;210
11.2;8.2 Effects of Increased Perceptions of Risk on Transition Behaviours;214
11.3;8.3 Perceptions of Individual Responsibility and Reactions to Systemic and Political Changes;215
11.4;8.4 Individualisation Revisited;217
11.5;8.5 Adults’ Experiences of Working Life and Learning;217
11.6;8.6 Changes in the Experience of Work;218
11.7;8.7 The Individualisation Thesis Revisited;220
11.8;8.8 Agency and Feelings of Control;221
11.8.1;8.8.1 Conceptual Schema for Structure–Agency;222
11.9;8.9 Understanding Social Regularities and Individual Action;225
11.10;8.10 Shared Experiences of Gender;226
11.11;8.11 Shared Perspectives on ‘Race’ Ethnicity and Nationality;226
11.12;8.12 Agency and Performance in Working Lives;228
11.13;8.13 Evolving Approaches to Understanding People as Agents in Life and Work;231
11.14;8.14 Summary and Conclusions;235
11.15;Notes;235
12;Systems and Societies in Transition: Challenging Inequalities, Choosing Inclusion;237
12.1;9.1 Neo-Liberalism and the Logic of Markets;238
12.2;9.2 Human Capacities and Forces for Change;240
12.3;9.3 ‘Rhine Model Versus Anglo-American Model’;242
12.4;9.4 Risk, Social Polarisation and Personal Agency;244
12.5;9.5 Challenging Inequality, Choosing Inclusion;247
12.6;9.6 The Discourses of ‘Uncertainty’;249
12.7;9.7 Individual Responsibility, Mutual Responsibility, Social Responsibility;251
12.8;Notes;258
13;Bibliography;259
14;Index;273