Lifelong Learning and the Legacy of Social Purpose

This paper explores the implications for current lifelong learning research and practice of the historically privileged relationship claimed for radical adult education and movements for social change rooted in class, gender, anti-racist and community politics. The trajectory this relationship follows, in research, policy and practice, is complex, with phases of expansion and retrenchment, in the social movements and adult education, which do not always map straightforwardly against each other. The traditions, for they are importantly distinct within themselves, are also always found in relation to other traditions and purposes for adult education. “Complex and contested”, as Richard Taylor describes them (Taylor 2000, p.69), but there is nevertheless a clearly identifiable, if historically varied, set of values, sites and practices which share a commitment to an educational pedagogy and purpose rooted in social and transformative, rather than individual and conformist, aspirations. This tradition, like the social movements and political cultures with which it has been aligned, has foundered in the last decade under the combined impact and discontents of the radical right, de-industrialisation and globalisation. In Britain, especially in Scotland, in recent years there are signs of a revived interest in questions of social purpose, popular social movements and their relation to lifelong learning. Some commentators have explored and debated the extent of the tradition’s radicalism, less in the spirit of revisionism and more as a warning against the backward construction of a golden age against which to measure the shortcomings of the present (Chase 1995; Thompson 1996; Andrews, Keane and Thompson 1999). Others have engaged with and developed critiques of the shift from adult education to lifelong learning in terms of the opportunities and obstacles this presents radical adult educators (Foley 2001; Thompson 1997, 2000; Crowther, Martin and Shaw 1999; Field and Leicester 2000; Johnson 1999) while others have considered the debate in terms of changes within higher education as a whole (Scott 1995, 2000; Schuller 1995; Coffield and Williamson 1997; Watson and Taylor 1998). We explore the legacy of social purpose in lifelong learning from our shared positioning as researchers, teachers and providers who were formed in the older, radical tradition of adult education and are now seeking ways to integrate its first principles in a very different social, political and educational order. The paper has four sections. We begin with an overview of how the sites and preoccupations of an earlier generation of radical adult educators fared in the new times of post thatcherism and new labour. As part of this section we track the response and implications of the “call to arms” Jane Thompson extended through her 1993 article ‘Learning, liberation and maturity: an open letter to whoever’s left’ in Adults Learning (Thompson 1993). Next, through a comparative analysis of proceedings from the Standing Conference on University Teaching and Research in Education and its sister organisations in North America, Canada, Australasia and Europe, we consider the extent to which these concerns have shaped and informed the research agenda for adult education. We then discuss the nature of a range of contemporary social movements, of the right as well as the left, and discuss the extent to which they engage with and utilise forms of lifelong learning. Finally, in considering the implications for teaching and research into lifelong learning, we argue for the importance of constructing and inhabiting positions within lifelong learning which are both critical and active, that is they are for, as well as against, things

Pedagogy, Positionality and Adult Education: Missing Links?

Adult educators in the UK are now covered by one of two sets of professional standards. Using our previously developed framework for evaluating pedagogic models, we examine the extent to which perspectives on, and assumptions about positionality are evident and the ways in which diversity is recognised by those standards

Constructing pedagogic identities: versions of the educator in AE and HE

This paper analyses the relationships between pedagogic identities in HE and AE, suggesting that HE could build its social purpose orientation and reclaim pedagogy by learning from the AE community

The 'Good' Teacher? Constructing Teacher Identities for Lifelong Learning

The symposium will focus on trans-national constructions of the 'good' teacher through popular culture, through professional development orthodoxies and through professional practices such as professional growth plans, inspection and teacher regulation

Associations between sociodemographic characteristics and tobacco usage in adult cancer survivors: Evidence from a population-based study

Background: the risk of developing new cancers persists for 15 million cancer survivors in the United States, yet many continue to engage in high-risk behaviours. This analysis aims to compare tobacco use in cancer-free respondents and cancer survivors, in order to elucidate trends and behavioural patterns associated with increased tobacco use in individuals that have survived cancer.  Methods: the Health Information National Trends Survey data of 2014 and 2017 was analysed for this study. Descriptive statistics were generated, and the likelihood of tobacco use was predicted using weighted logistic regression. Included in the study population were 941 cancer survivors, predominantly white (80%), 60-70 years of age, married (52%), with some level of education past high school (65%).  Results: the current smoking rate for cancer survivors was 12.1% versus 14.3% for those without cancer. Sub-high school education (OR 3.02, 95% CI [1.11-8.19]), separation/divorce (OR 2.71, 95% CI [1.52-4.83]), female gender, and lower household income were associated with an increased likelihood of cigarette use amongst cancer survivors. Cervical cancer (19.2%) and lymphoma (20%) survivors were most likely to smoke cigarettes compared to other cancer survivors.  Conclusions: this study demonstrated certain sociodemographic characteristics increase the likelihood of cigarette smoking in cancer survivors. These outcomes suggest cancer survivors with only high school education or lower, and those with household incomes of less than $35,000 are at greater risk and should be targeted for personalised tobacco cessation interventions in the future. High prevalence of smoking in cervical cancer survivors and an increased risk of tobacco-linked cancers suggests focus must be directed to interventions targeting female cancer survivors. Allocating further resources toward the at-risk populations identified in this study may reduce further morbidities in cancer survivors.&nbsp

Discipline and workplace learning in practice: an exploratory study of academic work: Society for Research into Higher Education Research Award Report

An SRHE Research Award (2012) funded this study of academic work in social sciences in 3 different universities. The study was designed to investigate the contemporary practices and enactments of disciplinary academic work from a sociomaterial perspective. In this report the researchers give an account of the conduct of the study and an indication of current and planned dissemination activities

Learning academic work practices in department, discipline and university

This paper examines the everyday practices of academic work in social science in order to understand better academics’ learning. It also asks how academic work is enacted in relation to the discipline, department and university, taking temporality as its starting point. The study sought to trace academic activities in practice. Within three universities, fourteen academics were work-shadowed; social, material, technological, pedagogic and symbolic actors were observed and where possible connections and interactions were traced (including beyond the institution). This paper reports on a sub-set of the study: the academic practices of four early-career academics in one discipline are analysed. Email emerges as a core academic practice and an important pedagogic actor for early career academics in relation to the department and university. Much academic work is ‘work about the work’, both in and outside official work time. Other pedagogic actors include conferences, networks and external web identities. Disciplinary work happens outside official work time for the most part and requires time to be available. Disciplinary learning is therefore only afforded to some, resulting in structural disadvantage. By tracing non-human as well as human actors, it has emerged that the department and university, rather than the discipline, are most important in composing everyday work practices. A sociomaterial approach enables researchers to better understand the ‘black box’ of everyday academic practice. Such an approach holds the promise of better support for academics in negotiating the demands of discipline, department and university without overwork and systemic exploitation

Interdcadal climate variability in the Coral Sea since 1708 A.D.

Low resolution (5-year) Sr/Ca and δ18O samples, extending back to 1708 A.D., were analysed from a Porites coral core collected from Flinders Reef, an offshore reef on the Queensland Plateau in the western Coral Sea (17.5° S, 148.3° E). Using the Sr/C

Development of a customised data management system for a COVID-19-adapted colorectal cancer pathway

Objectives A customised data management system was required for a rapidly implemented COVID-19-adapted colorectal cancer pathway in order to mitigate the risks of delayed and missed diagnoses during the pandemic. We assessed its performance and robustness.Methods A system was developed using Microsoft Excel (2007) to retain the spreadsheets’ intuitiveness of direct data entry. Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) was used to construct a user-friendly interface to enhance efficiency of data entry and segregate the data for operational tasks.Results Large data segregation was possible using VBA macros. Data validation and conditional formatting minimised data entry errors. Computation by the COUNT function facilitated live data monitoring.Conclusion It is possible to rapidly implement a makeshift database system with clinicians’ regular input. Large-volume data management using a spreadsheet system is possible with appropriate data definition and VBA-programmed data segregation. The described concept is applicable to any data management system construction requiring speed and flexibility in a resource-limited situation