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Adult learning has taken on a much higher profile in the last decade, as OECD economies and ageing societies are increasingly knowledge-based. High unemployment rates among the unskilled, the increased and recognised importance of human capital for economic growth and social development – together with public interest in improving social and personal development – make it necessary to increase learning opportunities for adults within the wider context of lifelong learning. Depending on the country and context, these opportunities may be related to employment, to the need for basic skills or upskilling, or may respond to social and civic preoccupations. At the same time however, there are strong inequities in terms of access and provision...
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With the evolution toward knowledge-based societies, adult learning has taken on a much higher profile in the last decade. High unemployment rates, the increased and recognised importance of human capital for economic growth and social development, and changing economic contexts – together with public interest in improving social and personal development – have spurred an increase in learning opportunities for adults within the wider context of lifelong learning. There are broad learning opportunities in different contexts and countries for employment or personal purposes, for upskilling or for remedial purposes – but there are also strong inequities in terms of access and provision...
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Adult learning is not a new idea, but one that has been evolving for centuries. Efforts are now under way to examine the issues in a lifelong learning perspective. The different views of what adult learning involves – including formal, informal and non-formal learning, learning for personal and professional reasons, full time or part time – make the analysis challenging. Taking account of all that adult learning implies is an important issue in public policy making because of the wide range of needs to be addressed and the range of actors and policy areas that are involved. This chapter describes the policy rationale and presents the key issues that were analysed for the comparative report – issues having to do with strengthening the incentives and motivation for adults to learn, improving the delivery of adult learning, and promoting a better integration of the supply and demand...
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This chapter offers an overview of patterns and profiles of participation and provision in adult learning across the countries included in the thematic review. It shows how adults who follow learning activities do it mostly for employment-related reasons and in short training spells. Learning concentrates in specific subgroups of the population, such as those with higher educational attainment, employed in white-collar high-skilled occupations or working in larger firms or those at the forefront of the knowledge-based economy. The broad range of adult learning providers includes private, public and quasi non-governmental institutions, with enterprises playing a vital role in the process. There are similar patterns of participation across countries – and therefore similar gaps in provision for specific groups of adults who might require further learning opportunities...
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As part of the wider perspective of lifelong learning, adult learning has in recent years slowly begun to be mainstreamed into education and human resource policies. It is now clearly recognised as an important tool for equity and social cohesion, for economic and social development in knowledge-based societies, for reducing unemployment and skills shortages, for personal development, and for furthering citizenship and democratic values. This chapter will show that all countries visited for the thematic review have taken some type of specific policy measure targeting adult learning at the national level. These range from general action plans to increase learning opportunities for all adults, to more specific programmes designed to upgrade skills, target particular adult sub-groups of the population or increase training opportunities for those in the labour force. A number of these reforms are also geared towards improving the performance and efficiency of adult education in a more integrated approach that is learner-centred. Efforts have been made towards greater system efficiency through providing general frameworks for policy development, improving co-ordination among different (including the social) partners, rationalising existing supply, focusing on cost effectiveness, and taking greater account of individual needs. Decentralisation has been an important aspect of this process...
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There is evidence that lack of motivation on the part of the individuals is one of the main reasons why participation is low. Clearly, sustainable incentive mechanisms have to be found if the situation is to improve. Findings suggest that adults who need to learn are often not aware of it or would deny it – even when it comes to basic literacy skills. Surveys also show that the most active learners are already highly qualified. In short, learners are in most cases already convinced of the value of learning.
This chapter describes some of the barriers to work on removing and the incentives to be put in place to improve participation. The latter range from advertising the overall value of learning beyond the workplace (social value, citizenship, etc.) to making obvious the economic benefits of learning (increased productivity for the company and better employability of the worker). A range of good practices are described throughout the chapter; the most relevant of these concern the right to study leave, the scheduling of the learning activities, and financing schemes such as individual learning accounts. Special emphasis is also placed on groups at risk; those with obsolete qualifications or low educational attainment; workers in SMEs; and older workers or the unemployed. Professional promotion or immediate reward is not always the answer to improving incentives to learn. Better communication should be established around the value and the joy of learning, and greater attention paid to making individuals freer to resume learning....
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There is a degree of overlap between the question of the pedagogy and delivery of adult learning and that of adults’ motivation to learn. If adults feel at ease in the learning setting, do not have external constraints (transport, child caring), feel that what they are learning is accessible and worthwhile, and realise that what they already know is valued and taken into consideration, then the incentive to enrol in a course and to follow it through is much greater.
This chapter sets out different dimensions of delivery that are key to the well-being of the learner and the smooth functioning of the adult learning system. All the components of the system, including the enterprise and the teacher, should be included in a comprehensive approach that produces an environment conducive to learning. Pedagogical methods should be focused on the learner, informed about their personality, expectations and motives, whether professional or personal, and availability. The cognitive style of potential learners should also be kept in mind when setting new programmes in motion. Interactivity between the learners and the system (through teachers or counsellors) should be encouraged in order to adjust the learning activities to all the components of the system.
Certain delivery mechanisms have proved efficient in increasing participation. Recognition of prior learning, distance and e-learning, flexible organisation such as modularisation, and certification of current learning are certainly issues to deal with urgently in order to best suit the adults willing to learn or already engaged in learning activities. Another element vital to the health and longevity of the system is routine assessment of its different components (programmes, learners, teachers)....
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This chapter analyses policy options for addressing the problems of overly fragmented provision of training services and lack of support infrastructure. A number of improvements might be made to take fuller account of learners’ needs and to enable more would-be learners to come forward and participate in learning programmes. Policy makers and training providers must face the challenge of responding better to the expectations of current and potential adult learners...
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Over the past decade or so, the issue of adult learning has attracted considerable interest among policy makers and society at large. Of course, the issue is not new. Many OECD countries have long traditions of formal structures for adult learning. For example, in Scandinavian countries the folk high school has been an established institution for 150 years. In the United Kingdom, workers’ education associations developed in the 19th century. In Canada, agricultural extension programmes started at the end of the 19th century. In Switzerland, Migros "club schools" sprang from the current of social idealism of the 1920s. In some cases the state has assumed responsibility for both organising and funding such services. In other cases they have been organised by non-government associations with individuals meeting at least part of the costs of tuition. Adult learning services such as these have often been propounded on two grounds: to provide a means for individual, cultural and social improvement; and to address inequities in access to initial education...
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