Learning Society Publications
The Learning Society Programme has signed a contract with Policy Press
at Bristol University to produce four reports and two books as follows:
Learning at Work
by Frank Coffield.
The importance of this edited collection is that it will help to
transform fashionable phrases such as "the learning organisation" or
"lifelong learning" into practical ideas and methods which could enhance the
quality of learning in British firms. The first report in this series examines the key
processes of learning, as embedded in particular workplaces, in organisational
structures and in specific social practices.
Well-known experts in the field, such as Michael Eraut (Sussex
University) and David Ashton (Leicester University) discuss the formation of skill and
knowledge in a variety of firms; other chapters illustrate the report's strong comparative
dimension. For example, the construction industry in Wales is compared to its counterpart
in Germany, and the European initiative of Job rotation (whereby employees are released to
update their skills while unemployed people are trained to act as their substitutes) is
described and evaluated. The report also raises the moral question of who should be
allowed to be members of the learning society and how would a learning society treat
adults with learning difficulties?
Why's the Beer Always Stronger up North? Studies in Lifelong Learning
edited by Frank Coffield.
This edited volume offers a fresh approach on lifelong learning and
attacks the consensual rhetoric which has become dominant in the English-speaking world
over the last 20 years. It provides a more convincing explanation of the high levels of
non-participation in continuous learning, and sees lifelong learning as a new moral
obligation and new form of social control. The report suggests that lifelong learning may
be better viewed as contested terrain between employers, unions and the state than as the
new wonder drug which will solve a wide range of economic, social and political problems.
The report covers two main themes. First it presents different
models of the Learning Society, of lifelong learning and the learning organisation through
cross-national and "home international" comparisons. Second, it explores the
limitations and advantages of comparative research and will be of particular use to
researchers planning international, and especially intra-European studies. Particular
attention is paid to the significance of language, of challenging national myths and of a
systematic rather than atomistic view of all the elements of the topic under
investigation. The report covers topics ranging from the pros and cons of collecting
foreign data to the opportunity afforded by comparative research to review a broader range
of policy options and political decisions.
Speaking Truth to Power: Policy Research on the Learning Society
(1999)
edited by Frank Coffield.
The relationship between research and policy has recently become turbulent and
contentious with the publication of highly critical but flawed reports. Into this charged
atmosphere, five of the projects from the ESRC's Learning Society Programme
present the implications of their findings for policy and, taken together, they constitute
a powerful critique of current policy on lifelong learning.
For the first time, findings are presented from a major new survey, commissioned
by the Programme, which examined the skills of a representative sample of British workers
and found, for example, an "alarmingly high" mismatch between the demand and
supply of qualifications. Other chapters deal with the fragmentation of provision for
adult guidance, the financial and psychological costs of lifelong learning for learners
with children, and the failure of the market principle in education to create a national
culture of learning. The report also contains many practical recommendations e.g. the need
to train managers who know how to create micro-climates which promote informal learning.
The new Labour government is committed to introducing evidence-based policy and
practice and so the present roles of researchers, policy-makers and practitioners will be
subjected to intensifying pressure to change in the next few years. The issues are debated
in the first two chapters and concerns are expressed about how easy it will be in future
to speak truth to power.
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The Necessity of Informal Learning (2000)
edited by Frank Coffield.
Five projects contributed a chapter each which together re-assess the
significance of the mass of learning which takes place informally and
implicitly. A fresh set of definitions of the key terms are provided,
along with a typology of non-formal learning, and a detailed analysis of
tacit knowledge. The Director’s introduction argues that the
significance of informal learning calls for a larger vision of a learning
society than the current official model; it also stresses the historical
perspective and the emergence of the concept of social capital in the work
of projects.
Learning Society Books
Differing Visions of a Learning Society: Research Findings
Volume 1
edited by Frank Coffield (publication date: 26 July 2000)
Contains “overview” chapters from seven of the projects,
which set out their aims, methods, findings and policy implications. The
Director’s introduction offers a critical analysis of the concept of a
learning society which presents ten different models of such a society.
These models distinguish particular features of the diffuse and contested
concept of a learning society in the hope of imposing some order and clarity on
a confusing literature. The ten models are also used as a conceptual
framework to analyse current government policy.
Differing Visions of a Learning Society: Research Findings
Volume 2
edited by Frank Coffield (publication date: October 2000)
Presents six more overview chapters by projects. The
Director’s introduction surveys the findings of the Programme as a whole and
extracts a number of recurrent themes and policy recommendations.
Each book will contain an extended overview article by each of the seven
projects.
For information on how to obtain copies of any of the books or reports,
please contact:
Biblios Publisher's Distribution Service Ltd., Star Road, Partridge
Green, West Sussex. RH13 8LD
Tel: +44 (0)1403 710851 Fax: +44 (0)1403 711143
