ESRC
ECONOMIC
& SOCIAL
RESEARCH
COUNCIL

LEARNING SOCIETY
PROGRAMME

PRINCIPAL
RESEARCHERS

Professor John Field
University of Warwick

Professor Tom Schuller
Faculty of Lifelong Learning
Birkbeck College
26 Russell Square
London
WClB 5DQ
Tel:  0171 631 6681
Fax:  0171 631 6688
Email:  t.schuller@bbk.ac.uk

CONTACT 
ADDRESS

Professor John Field
Department of Continuing Education
University of Warwick
Coventry
CV4 7AL
Tel:  01203 523 827
Fax:  01203 524 223
Email:  j.field@warwick.ac.uk

Duration
24 months

DIVERGENCE BETWEEN INITIAL AND CONTINUING EDUCATION IN SCOTLAND AND NORTHERN IRELAND

Scotland and Northern Ireland (NI) are reputed to have high levels of examination success in initial education.  However, official statistics suggest lower interest in continuing education compared with England.  The study confirmed this pattern in NI but challenged it in Scotland.  Social factors may promote early academic achievement but also work against the creation of a lifelong learning culture.

OBJECTIVES

The aim was to explore the apparent contrast between the relatively high levels of attainment in initial education and seemingly poor rates of participation in continuing education in Scotland and NI.  Specifically, it sought to:
	explore in depth the statistical evidence of divergence between initial and continuing education;
	identify possible reasons for the pattern that emerged;
	gather views from stakeholders about the significance of the pattern; and
	compile recommendations for action.

APPROACH

The study used three main approaches:

1.	compilation and analysis of statistical data from such sources as the Labour Force Survey, Family Expenditure Survey, General Household Survey and Gallup adult learning survey;
2.	20 focus groups, involving matched sectors such as agriculture, electronics, health care, financial services and education/training providers; and
3.	56 individual semi-structured interviews designed to explore in greater depth issues raised
in the focus groups, and in some cases to extend the fieldwork beyond the sectors covered
in the focus groups (and gather data on cross-sectoral perspectives).

MAIN FINDINGS

Schools in NI have achievement levels that are above average for the UK, but NI also has markedly lower rates of participation in continuing education and training.

Participation in higher education is comparatively high in NI and Scotland, but the contrast is becoming less pronounced since the recent growth in HE in England.  The proportion of young people in NI from manual and white collar/clerical families who qualify for higher education is higher than in the rest of the UK.

Much of the divergence between attainment in school and low representation in continuing education and training in NI can be explained by a variety of factors: migration, industrial structures, small and family firms, supply side weaknesses, compounded by the lack of a coherent policy framework.

Networks - between employers, families and providers, for instance - and cultural factors also seem to depress demand among adults for formal education and training.  This is partly because they enable high levels of informal learning and may also endorse low aspirations.

In Scotland, the differences with England were much less marked.  There is little or no divergence between initial and continuing education in Scotland.  The Labour Force Survey seems to indicate lower participation in training, but closer analysis suggests that this is largely a product of Scottish reporting patterns, and that learning episodes are reported when they last longer than is the case in England.  The data also showed convergence in initial schooling between England and Scotland, which is at odds with the conventional view of Scotland ‘s superiority.

The concept of social capital - which emphasises the importance of networks, norms and trust in shaping behaviour - was an important analytical tool for the study.  For example, family structures, the variety of voluntary associations and ties between individuals and firms can have positive consequences, as well in some cases more negative ones.

POLICY IMPLICATIONS

The research fed in to debates among professionals, managers and policy makers in both Scotland and NI over the development of lifelong learning policy.

It showed that the information base should be refined.  There should be regular ‘state of the nation’ reports on both lifelong learning and social capital, relating to all age groups and based on robust comparable indicators.  In particular, appropriate ‘accountancy’ tools are required in order to measure investments and their returns on a sufficiently broad basis.

The long term consequences of school arrangements - eg selection at 11 - are complex but highly important.  Highly polarised schooling systems in the past have long lasting effects.  This is particularly marked among older adults (defined roughly as the 40+ population), where marked basic skills deficits linger from the past.  Selection at 11 may motivate the most able, and in Northern Ireland has been associated with increasing Catholic participation in HE; but it may also create a culture of educational non-participation among the ‘failures’.  A high level of initial attainment sometimes appears to be associated more with the extension and expansion of initial schooling into the early adult years rather than the creation of a lifelong learning culture.

Finally, there are messages for the post-compulsory system.  These include the importance of guidance, of bridges between non-formal and formal sectors, and of genuine partnership between the different stakeholders.  Such supply-side measures need to be matched by effective, often localised demand-side initiatives, with particular attention to the valuable impact of the new technologies on the demand for skills and qualifications.

KEY PUBLICATIONS

C. Bamford and T. Schuller (1999) Initial and Continuing Education in Scotland, Scottish Council for Research in Education, Edinburgh
J. Field (1999) “Social Capital, Human Capital and Lifelong Learning”, British Educational Research Journal, 24, 4
J. Field (1999) “Social Capital and Lifelong Learning”, Irish Educational Studies, 18, 1999, 234-47
T. Schuller (1998) “Three Steps Towards a Learning Society”, Studies in the Education of Adults, 30, 1, 11-20
T. Schuller & J. Field (1998) “Social Capital, Human Capital and the Learning Society”, International Journal of Lifelong Education, 17, 4, 226-35
J. Field and T. Schuller (1995) “Is There Less Adult Learning in Scotland and Northern Ireland? A Preliminary Analysis”, Scottish Journal of Adult and Continuing Education, 2, 2, 71-80