Local and global in the formation of a learning theorist: Peter Jarvis and adult education

Peter Jarvis is a towering figure in the study of adult and lifelong education and a leading and original theorist of learning. This paper sets out his intellectual and professional biography, maps the main contours of his work and introduces fourteen papers by leading scholars devoted to his work. Five broad phases in Jarvis’ life are identified: (a) youth, self-education, Methodist ministry and early teaching and research; (b) founding of the International Journal of Lifelong Education, authorship of important textbooks on adult and professional education and linking of academic communities in different countries; (c) early research on and theorisation of learning; (d) engagement from the early 1990s with debates on lifelong learning and the learning society; and (e) return to theorisation of learning, particularly from the perspective of globalisation, from around 2000. Recurring themes include ethics and responsibility, the essentially social nature of learning, democracy, and authenticity in human relationships

Is Our History Bunk? Adult Education’s Historiography and the Notion of Learning Society

The notion of learning society presents a paradigm shift necessitating radical rethought of approaches to historical research in adult education. This paper re-evaluates the English-language historiography of adult education from a learning society perspective

The University of Nottingham and adult education

This article examines twentieth century British university adult education, using the University of Nottingham as a case study. From around the time of the First World War until the 1990s, universities’ ‘adult education’ or ‘extra-mural’ departments provided higher education to part-time students in towns and villages throughout the country, often in association with voluntary organisations such as the Workers’ Educational Association or with local education authorities. Nottingham was the first to establish such a department (in 1920). The departments focussed on teaching adults in the geographical area for which they were responsible, but several – including Nottingham’s– also became centres of research and scholarship on the subject of adult education, with a wider influence across the United Kingdom and internationally. The rich role played by British universities in adult and community education is illustrated through the contributions of the Nottingham department itself, of its staff (including Robert Peers, who held the world’s first university chair in adult education) and of its students

Explaining European Union Lifelong Learning Policy: Globalisation and Competitiveness or Path Dependency and Citizenship?

The European Union’s founding treaties and institutions determine that ‘markets’ frame its approach to lifelong learning, yet other more humanistic discourses, albeit secondary, have developed. This paper explores how and why

“Life-changing things happen”: the role of residential education in the transformation of adults’ learning and lives

Purpose: This paper aims to examine the implications for adults of learning in a residential context and whether the residential aspect intensifies the learning process, and can lead to enhanced personal transformation, moving beyond professional skills and training for employability. Design/methodology/approach: The paper reports on research, conducted in 2017, with 41 current and former staff and students (on both short courses and longer Access courses) in four residential colleges for adults: Ruskin, Northern, Fircroft and Hillcroft Colleges. Findings: Key findings include the powerful role residential education plays in accelerating and deepening learning experiences, particularly for adults who have faced extraordinary personal and societal challenges and are second chance learners. The colleges, all in historic settings, confer feelings of worth, security and sanctuary and the staff support – pastoral and academic, bespoke facilities and private rooms are vital enabling mechanisms. Seminar-style learning creates opportunity for experiential group learning, helping to foster critical thinking and challenge to mainstream views. Social implications: The colleges’ ethos, curricula and traditions foster among students an ‘ethic of service’ and a desire to offer ‘emotional labour’ to their own communities, through working for instance in health and social care or the voluntary sector. Originality/value: Little research has been undertaken in contemporary settings on the impact of learning in a residential environment, particularly for second chance learners and vulnerable adults. Still less research has examined the wider implications of learning in a historic building setting and of learning which extends into critical thinking, intellectual growth, transformation and change