Differing visions of a Learning Society Vol 2: Research findings Volume 2(ESRC Learning Society series)

This second volume presents findings from a national survey of the skills of British workers. It discusses both the meaning of the Learning Society for adults with learning difficulties, and the use of social capital to explain patterns of lifelong learning. The book also presents five different 'trajectories' of lifelong learning, explores the determinants of participation and non-participation in learning, and examines innovation in Higher Education.

Table of Contents:
Contents: Introduction: The three stages of lifelong learning: romance, evidence and implementation Frank Coffield; The meaning of the Learning Society for adults with learning difficulties: bold rhetoric and limited opportunities Sheila Riddell, Stephen Baron and Alastair Wilson; Networks, norms and trust: explaining patterns of lifelong learning in Scotland and Northern Ireland John Field and Tom Schuller; Learning culture, learning age, learning society: turning aspirations into reality? Pat Davies and John Bynner; Teaching and learning in higher education: issues of motivation Andrew Hannan, Harold Silver and Susan English; Participating in the Learning Society: history, place and biography Gareth Rees, Stephen Gorard, Ralph Fevre and John Furlong; Skills in the British workplace David Ashton, Alan Felstead and Francis Green.

About the Author :
Frank Coffield was Director of the ESRC’s research programme into The Learning Society from 1994 to 2000.

Review :
Volumes 1& 2 are "timely, important and definatly to be recommended". They are "invaluable reading for anyone with an interest in current educational and economic policy-making and the enduring social problems that policy-makers will continue to face long after the notion of the 'learning society' has faded from collective memory." British Educational Research Journal "... should be read by all social scientists as they show how a research programme can produce a body of knowledge which has clarified and extended our understanding of what are very common yet at the same time contested debates around lifelong learning and a learning society". Network "This book deserves a wide readership, for it provides compelling evidence about the immense challenges which the UK faces in its attempt to become a Learning Society." "An impressive, informative and substantial volume: highly recommended." Learning and Skills Research Journal "Volumes 1 & 2 are a most valuable resource, both for those who are already specialists in the field, as well as for a much wider readership." British Journal of Educational Studies "An Impressive, informative and substantial volume: highly recommended." Learning and Skills Research