FREELY AVAILABLE ONLINE AS OPEN ACCESS BOOK! The European Union is now a key player in making lifelong learning and adult education policy: this is the first book to explore a range of theoretical and methodological perspectives researchers can use to investigate its role. Chapters by leading experts and younger scholars from across Europe and beyond cover the evolution of EU policies, the role of policy ‘actors’ in what is often seen as the ‘black box’ of EU policy-making, and the contribution state theory can make to understanding the EU and its relations with Europe’s nations. They consider what theories of governmentality—drawing on the work of Foucault—can contribute. And they demonstrate how particular methodological approaches, such as ‘policy trails’, and the contribution the sociology of law, can make. Contributors include both specialists in adult education and scholars exploring how work from other disciplines can contribute to this field. This is the first book in a new series from the European Society for Research on the Education of Adults, and draws on work within its Network on Policy Studies in Adult Education.

Contemporary adult education policy development and lifelong learning practice are experiencing an autonomy loss imposed by the dominant neoliberal economic paradigm. As a consequence, in many countries, especially those that depend economically from supranational organizations and donors, the critical approach and its adjunct idea of emancipation have been sacrificed in favour of ambiguous developmental goals like employability, flexibility and adaptability. On the other hand, in many countries, adult education as a social movement is deeply rooted in the conviction that learning is an essential process related to personal transformation and social change. The result of this conflict between the external pressure for policies in favour of the labour market and the internal assumption about the value of emancipation has led to interesting insights that have produced policies and practices that attempt to reconcile these two forces of development. In this volume, we offer a consideration of the above paradoxical situation, and the critical view of adult education policy and practice in the region of Southeastern Europe. Some chapters in this volume present also positive lifelong learning practices, policy development analyses and conceptual understandings that highlight the efforts to develop adult education within a framework of the dominant neoliberal forces that shape European and international adult education policy.

The year 2006 can be considered a turning point for the EU policy-making in the adult learning sector: a radical shift from a wide-ranging and comprehensive conception of educating adults towards a vocationally oriented understanding of this field and policy area has been observed, in particular in the second half of the so-called 'Lisbon decade' 2000-2010. This book investigates the adult education policy in and by the European Union, with a particular focus on the changes of policy orientation that occurred during this reference decade. Hence, it is shown that the new target of the EU adult education policy, in this framework, has shifted from citizens to workers, and how the competence development model, borrowed from the corporate sector, has been established as the reference for the new policy road maps. Moreover, it is conveyed that the way in which the EU is shaping the upgrading of skills and competences of adult learners is modelled around the needs of the 'knowledge economy', thus according a great deal of importance to the 'new skills for new jobs' and perhaps not enough to life skills, social and civic competences.

This book explores European governance and policy coordination within lifelong learning markets. Using an instruments approach, the editors and contributors examine the ways in which governance mechanisms employed by the European Union influence policy to regulate lifelong learning, and intervene in lifelong learning markets, at both European and national levels. Filling an important gap in the current literature, this book examines how strengthened policy coordination at the EU level contributed to the blurring of boundaries between policy fields and the redefinition of the function of adult education after the 2008 recession. Divided into three parts, this book draws on a range of case studies from countries including Spain, Denmark, Bulgaria and the UK. It will be of interest and value to students and scholars of education policy and governance, adult education and lifelong learning.

This book examines lifelong learning through the lens of policy studies. It scrutinises the implications of lifelong learning policies in a variety of states and localities to explore the interplay between commonalities and differences within and across Europe and Latin America. The chapters explore adult education and learning, vocational education and training, higher education and employment policies in Europe and Latin America with a focus on how decision-makers have designed and implemented them. These contributions analyse to what extent diverse providers offer opportunities to learners with a variable range of ages. Their main research questions focus on the interactions between providers, educational authorities and employers of graduates at local, regional and national geographical scales. This book invites the readers to broaden up the concept of lifelong learning beyond the scope of compensatory, upskilling measures. The chapters spell out subtle but powerful connections between lifelong learning, digitalisation, employability, social inclusion, strategic policy-making and local development. This volume will be a key resource for practitioners, scholars and researchers of lifelong and adult education, educational policy, education studies, sociology, political science and psychology. It was originally published as a special issue of International Journal of Lifelong Education.

Bringing together an impressive array of esteemed and emerging academics, the Research Handbook on Adult Education Policy addresses how adult learning and education policies are made, and the theories and methodologies which can be mobilised to study its developments.

The importance of adult education is growing steadily— be it in relation with migration, matters of inclus - ion, the work place etc. Thus, this international perspective on the most important research issues in adult education is a wealth of knowledge for anyone related to this field. The book is composed as a text book and thus, provides didactic material for discussion and further exploration of research in the field of AE from an international perspective. From the Contents: EU policy in Education and AE: links with Research opportunities on the field Support for Research in Adult Education in the European Union Main areas of Research in AE at the International level · Research on Migration. · Research on Inclusion, Access and Participation · Professionals, Assessment and Counselling · Learning in the Workplace International organisations and networks with influence to Adult Education

Lifelong learning and education is a key concept for the development of adult education as an area of practice and theoretical consideration. In recent decades, meanwhile, the idea of lifelong education and learning has been central to the guidance of various international organisations of many countries.

" With the first volume of Bochum Studies in International Adult Education we are launching a new series of publications from the Chair of Adult Education at the Ruhr-University of Bochum. BSIAE addresses not only researchers, university teachers and students of adult education but also those from related disciplines. While not explicitly addressing practitioners, except for providing them with up-to-date research overviews, each issue will also address politicans and policy makers. Each volume will be organised around one topic or issue which is of interest, importance or of particular relevance for adult education in general. This particular topic will be considered from various points of view, i. e. comparative, historical, gender, socio-political and cultural. The first volume of BSIAE intends to look closely at the topcis Language - Mobility - Identity and attempts to discuss these issues from the point of view of adult education. The intention of this volume is to create a compilation of different viewpoints and critical analyses on the three topics which together form an overview of their interrelation and their relevance for European development, adult education and adult's learning. "