autumn 2014 volume 26 number 1

Learning Through Life Five years on: where now for lifelong learning?

the Inquiry’s legacy I shaping the future I NIACE’s manifesto for change contents adults learning autumn 2014

4 Commentary contact 6 Learning Through Life: how far have we come? DAVID WATSON and TOM SCHULLER, authors of Editorial Learning Through Life, the final report of the Inquiry into the Future for Lifelong Learning, ask what has Paul Stanistreet, changed since its publication and assess its legacy Editor, Adults Learning and relevance five years on NIACE, 21 De Montfort Street, Leicester LE1 7GE 10 Learning Through Life: where now for Twitter: @paulstanistreet lifelong learning? Email: [email protected] Learning Through Life has had significant impact on UK subscription rates thinking in the lifelong learning sector, but progress (print copy and e-edition) towards its broad vision has been slow. We asked the experts to assess the impact of the report’s Individuals £45 Organisations (single-user access) £75 recommendations, and to identify the challenges the Organisations (full-site access) £120 sector faces in achieving its vision Concessionary rate (part-time tutors and learners) £25 Extra copies £27 each 10 Recommendation 1 Base lifelong learning policy on a new, four-stage Overseas subscription rates model of the educational life course (print copy and e-edition) Karen Evans Individuals £60; Organisations £90 12 Recommendation 2 Electronic subscription only Rebalance resources fairly and sensibly across (UK and overseas) the different life stages Individuals £35 Stephen McNair Organisations (single-user access) £55 Organisations (full-site access) £90 To subscribe or to order back issues: Tel. 0870 6002400 Fax. 0870 6002401 Email: [email protected] http://shop.niace.org.uk/adults-learning.html Adults Learning is published by the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (England and Wales). It is a forum for debate on all issues affecting adult learning and contributions are welcome from those in the field. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of NIACE. The National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (England and Wales) represents the interests of adult learners. All contributions © NIACE. No reproduction in any form or by any means is allowed without the express permission of NIACE. Volume 26, Number 1 Autumn 2014 ISSN: 0955-2308 Designed and typeset by Prestige Colour Solutions Limited, Leicester Printed in Great Britain by The Russell Press, Nottingham a Learning Through Life: where now for lifelong learning? Page 10

2 ADULTS LEARNING AUTUMN 2014 contents adults learning autumn 2014

15 Recommendation 3 Build a set of learning entitlements Lifelong learning is still the Tom Wilson `Cinderella’ sector, some 16 Recommendation 4 Engineering flexibility: a system of credit and way behind the economy, encouraging part-timers Claire Callender immigration, health, and 19 Recommendation 5 school education in the Improve the quality of work Ewart Keep priorities of the main parties. 21 Recommendation 6 Construct a curriculum framework for citizens’ Nevertheless, if we are to capabilities Ruth Spellman address the demographic and 22 Recommendation 7 technological challenges we Broaden and strengthen the capacity of the lifelong learning workforce Jim Crawley face as an economy and as

23 Recommendation 8 a society, we need a skills Revive local responsibility… Keith Wakefield strategy fit for the times.

24 Recommendation 9 …within national frameworks coverpic John Field ‘Shaping the sector’s future’, page 4

26 Recommendation 10 Make the system intelligent Mark Ravenhall The next UK government, 28 Lifelong waiting The vision of Learning Through Life was broad and we believe, should recognise generous, but the wait for an inclusive, resilient and imaginative lifelong learning strategy fit for its role in forming a new the twenty-first century continues, writes ALAN TUCKETT social contract that enables 30 A manifesto for lasting change Learning Through Life has helped shape NIACE’s and encourages investment thinking, inspiring work such as the Citizens’ Curriculum and the Mid-Life Career Review. NIACE’s in skills for adults of all manifesto, which offers a vision for skills and lifelong learning and calls for a new settlement fit for the ages to benefit our economy twenty-first century, aims to take the debate forward. TOM STANNARD explains and society.

‘A manifesto for lasting change’, page 30

AUTUMN 2014 ADULTS LEARNING 3 commentary

n 2007 NIACE commissioned the review of their future options, is one ambitious and far-reaching Inquiry legacy of the stage-not-age approach. into the Future for Lifelong Learning. This was a major piloting of an idea we IOver two years, the Inquiry brought have championed in our recent manifesto, together experts from government, which is being adopted by the major business, academia, trade unions, public parties in the run-up to the next election, services, providers and the third sector, as and some version of this policy is likely to well as learners, to help the commissioners be a key feature of adult learning during build a broad consensus on the future the next Parliament. of lifelong learning in the UK. Its main Learning Through Life, of course, report, Learning Through Life, was recommended a fair rebalancing of published in 2009. learning resources across the different This issue of Adults Learning considers life stages. The report emphasised the the legacy of the report and the situation need for public agreement on the fair and now. Since its publication, there has effective allocation of learning resources been a change of government and in achieving this. Our manifesto takes some important policy shifts, while the up this recommendation in calling for economic context has presented new a major, independent review into the and significant resource challenges that long-term skills needs and funding issues

Photo: Ed Melia are forcing bold experimentation in the facing the UK over the next 20 years. funding of education. Despite these often This, we argue, should take the form of profound – and sometimes unexpected – a four-nation, cross-party commission to changes to the ecology of the sector, the develop a long-term settlement for skills Shaping the sector’s future The Inquiry into the Future for Lifelong Learning aimed to build a long-term consensus about the future of the sector. Five years on, with a general election in the offing, it is timely for us to review progress since then, saysDAVID HUGHES

recommendations made by the Inquiry and learning which supports occupational remain relevant and we built on them in up-skilling, re-skilling and lifelong our manifesto, Skills for Prosperity, which is learning. Critically, this must address the setting the agenda in the run-up to next incentives given for employers to invest year’s general election. in their workforces and for people to The Inquiry’s key recommendation, invest in their own learning and skills. It that lifelong learning policy should be is not enough to simply concentrate on based on a new model of the educational government spending on learning and life course, with an emphasis on stage skills. A commission should be capable of rather than age, is probably more urgent producing recommendations (we hope, by today than it was five years ago. It is clear 2018) that all parties, and wider society, that the balance of resources remains can agree on. unfairly skewed towards young people. The Inquiry recommended a set This is despite more and more compelling of learning entitlements with funding evidence about the need to support people channelled through a national system of to have more productive and better-paid learning accounts. This, too, we take up in careers which last longer into their lives. our manifesto. One of our priority actions The Mid-Life Career Review, which has is for a new personal skills account for all provided more than 3000 adults aged adults, linked to an entitlement to career between 45 and 65 with access to a holistic reviews, to help people decide what skills

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development will work for them and to past five years has supported the Inquiry’s opportunities for people to progress in life give them real power about what, where recommendations, notably on citizenship and work. and how they learn. There is increasing and strengthening the capacity of the As the recent UKCES report Growth policy interest in exploring this funding lifelong learning workforce. The report’s Through People shows, there are wide approach, despite the well-documented call for a common framework of learning skills gaps and skills shortages across our and easily remedied failures in the opportunities aimed at enhancing people’s economy, with low productivity sitting implementation of Individual Learning control over their lives led to our current alongside millions of people stuck in low- Accounts a decade ago. development of a citizen’s curriculum. paid work or not able to access full-time This is not the only area of policy This initiative is being enthusiastically work. We also have an ageing population in which Learning Through Life has adopted by a variety of adult learning and we need more people in work to continuing relevance. The report providers and policy leaders across the find ways to improve their skills. The called for faster progress towards an country. We are also active in a series of dysfunction of the current skills system effective system of credit transfer and initiatives to broaden and strengthen the was recently highlighted by the OECD accumulation, in order to support adults capacity of the lifelong learning workforce, report Skills Beyond School, which states wishing to combine study with other in partnership with organisations such as that England and Northern Ireland ‘stand activities. Our work has shown that the Education and Training Foundation out as countries where, relative both to unitised qualifications are a powerful (ETF), the Association of Colleges and the other countries and to potential demand, approach for many people entering Association of Employment and Learning there is limited provision of postsecondary learning at lower levels. We will continue Providers. vocational training, potentially leading to work with Ofqual and awarding The report stressed the importance to a shortage of mid-level skills.’ We organisations to make sure that those of decentralising the delivery of skills. must find a cross-party consensus which bite-sized qualifications still exist. The Many of the recommendations made in provides confidence to learners and announcement by Ofqual, that they will Learning Through Life were accepted by employers as well as colleges, universities dismantle the prescriptive Qualifications the Heseltine report No Stone Unturned, and training providers to invest in and and Credit Framework, points to the while the development of City Deals and deliver a highly trained, motivated failure of the system to fully enable the role of Local Enterprise Partnerships workforce of individuals who can thrive in flexibility and unitisation. It does not demonstrates the continuing relevance their careers. diminish the need and demand from of the Inquiry’s emphasis on the need to I hope that you will find this edition of learners for what it should have offered. ‘restore life and power to local levels’. Adults Learning informative, challenging What remains, regrettably, is an under- The report’s call for a single and inspiring. The vision of Learning developed part of our thinking about department with lead responsibility Through Life remains fundamental to the learning and skills. for promoting lifelong learning is also successful development and long-term Learning Through Life’s emphasis on reflected in our manifesto. There is a need planning of lifelong learning in the UK. improving the quality of work, and on for a greater co-ordination at the heart We have made some progress but it is how skills are used in the workplace, has of government, hence our call for a single sobering to reflect on how much more been reflected in numerous influential UK government department responsible needs to be done. Too many people of all reports since its publication. There for education, skills and work, bringing ages are not able to access the flexible, has been a flurry of reports in recent together schooling, further and higher high quality and motivating learning months, from the UKCES, OECD and education within one department of state, and skills they need to be active citizens CBI, among others, addressing concerns along with the welfare-to-work policies of and successful in the labour market. Too about workplace productivity and the the Department for Work and Pensions. many employers are facing up to how role skills can play for people of all ages. Overall, this edition of Adults Learning hard it is to be successful when skills gaps There remains a long list of issues which shows that there has been progress in and shortages are widening. We need a challenge policy today: how localism will many areas over the past five years. new learning and skills strategy which work; where funding will come from to However, the stark reality is that the works for people, employers, society support the 5 million people in low-paid credit crunch has led to lower investment and the economy and we need the next jobs; and how we can reach a more stable by employers and by the government in government, whatever its complexion, to policy position which gives the freedoms learning and skills. The last government grasp these challenges. required for true innovation and creative publication on numbers of people solutions. I could go on – too much time supported in learning showed large and effort is spent on trying to reform decreases at all levels and a particularly the education and training system which worrying drop in people learning at supports young people transitioning into Levels 3 and 4 and in part-time higher work and not enough on trying address education. All of this is felt in the the needs of people over 21 who face economy, by businesses and by adults. careers of perhaps 45 to 50 years. The results are lower productivity, less David Hughes A good deal of NIACE’s work over the successful and inclusive growth and lower is Chief Executive of NIACE

AUTUMN 2014 ADULTS LEARNING 5 lifelonglearning Learning Through Life: how far have we come?

DAVID WATSON and TOM SCHULLER, authors of Learning Through Life, the final report of the Inquiry into the Future for Lifelong Learning, ask what has changed since its publication and assess its legacy and relevance five years on

n September 2009 NIACE published Learning Through The commission made 10 recommendations to shape this Life, the final report of the Inquiry into the Future for agenda. The final recommendation stated that we had to make Lifelong Learning. It offered a thorough, independent the system intelligent, with the support of a triennial ‘State of Iexamination of the UK’s lifelong learning sector, led by a Learning’ report. The system, we argued, will only flourish group of 10 prominent commissioners and involving widespread with consistent information and evaluation, and open debate consultation, the publication of some 30 research and discussion about the implications. Our view today is that there is growing papers, and the maintenance of an active web-based discussion. awareness of this need, and that the capacity to deliver the Here we offer an invitation to readers of Adults Learning to join analysis and evaluation is greater than it was in 2009. The us in assessing developments in and through lifelong learning crucial need is for a process to bring together the relevant since then. information, and generate informed discussion on an ongoing Learning Through Life received widespread endorsement across basis. the political, professional and public spectrums, nationally and This article can be taken as a kind of State of Learning internationally. It performed two major tasks: one empirical and report, albeit two years late and necessarily underpowered. one conceptual. The overall picture is not very encouraging. Five years on, in a Substantively, it was the first time data on all sources of context of post-crash austerity, a coalition government that has spending on all types of post-compulsory education and training run out of steam, and international tensions at a height not seen in the UK was collected and categorised. Public and private since the end of the Cold War, it is a good time to see how much resources invested in lifelong learning amounted to more than progress (if any) has been made on the other nine big ideas. £55 billion in 2009. That’s around about 3.9 per cent of GDP – reaching approximately £93 billion if opportunity costs are Stage not age added. The first recommendation was to base lifelong learning policy on Theoretically, the report consolidated the argument for access a new model of the educational life course, with four key stages, up to to lifelong learning as a right. The commission started from 25, 25–50, 50–75 and 75 plus. Our approach to lifelong learning, the premise that the right to learn is a human right, connected we argued in the report, should deal far more positively with two with personal growth and emancipation, prosperity, group major trends: an ageing society and changing patterns of paid and community solidarity, as well as global responsibility. Our and unpaid activity. instincts were against compulsion and fixed formulae. Instead, The commission found that the transition into young Learning Through Life set out a framework of opportunity, adulthood was taking longer. There used to be an assumption structured around investment, incentives and capabilities. The that this occurred at around 16 years, then 18. Now it’s not report’s vision was of ‘a society in which learning plays its full until around 25 that directions appear to be set. Young people role in personal growth, prosperity, solidarity and local and are growing up both faster and slower. Cultural independence global responsibility’ (pp. 8–9). Our goal was to set an agenda is juxtaposed with economic dependence. Then there is the for lifelong learning that would make sense for the next quarter- heartland experience of work, family and other responsibility, century. and (it seems) temporarily declining satisfaction (these are the

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**IFLL report Cover**LIVE.qxd:IFLL final report 4 26/8/09 14:57 Page 1 zero-sum focus on the material tensions in the way private wealth erigTruhLife Through Learning Tom Schuller • David Watson and public benefits are distributed across generations. Learning Learning Through Life rarely figures, even when dependency issues are discussed. A welcome exception is the Foresight Ageing Project, a cross- Inquiry into the Future for Lifelong Learning sectoral initiative based in the Government Office of the Chief Based on the belief that access to learning throughout life is a human right, Learning Scientific Adviser, which is due to report in 2015–16. Through Life is the definitive report on the future for lifelong learning in the UK. Allocation of resources The report argues that our current system of lifelong learning has failed to respond to Learning the major demographic challenge of an ageing society and to changes in employment In response to some of these trends, the report proposed patterns, as young people take longer to settle into jobs and older people take longer rebalancing learning resources fairly and sensibly across the different to leave work. Through life stages. Their distribution, we argued, should reflect a Drawing on original and broad-ranging analysis it presents a radically different view of coherent view of our changing economic and social context. how we should meet the learning needs of people at all ages and stages of life. Broad allocations have changed little since 2009. At present, the Learning Through Life is the main report from the independent Inquiry into the Future allocation of resources is approximately as follows across the four for Lifelong Learning, sponsored by NIACE. It presents: Tom Schuller • David Watson Life quarters of a potential one hundred year life-span: 86: 11: 2.5: G the first authoritative and coherent strategic framework for lifelong learning in the 0.5. The report proposed that it should be modestly re-balanced UK for the next 10–15 years; Inquiry into the Future for by 2020, as follows: 80: 15: 4: 1. The adjustment costs of this G an overview of the current state of learning in the UK; and Lifelong Learning change would be reduced by the projected drop in the numbers G radical recommendations for long-term change. of young people in the next decade. For government, employers, civil society, the lifelong learning sector, broadcasters, The big change to have taken place in educational funding in researchers and the international community, the report provides unique insights and recommendations guaranteed to generate debate across all areas of social policy. the years since we reported has been the formal shift of a large part of responsibility for the costs of higher education (with the Tom Schuller is Director of the Inquiry into the Future for Lifelong Learning and former exception of Scotland) from the state to students, with funds Head of the Centre for Educational Research and Innovation at OECD. David Watson is an historian and Professor of Higher Education Management at the Institute of advanced through the Student Loans Company, to be recovered Education, University of London, and Chair of the Inquiry into the Future for Lifelong on an income-contingent basis. The evidence, however, is that Learning. it is not going to work as its designers (the coalition) hoped. Declining estimates of the recovery rate of loans now mean that

ISBN 978 1 86201 433 6 the system is likely to be more expensive to the public purse than the one it replaced. The loans approach has now been extended to 19–25 year olds in further education, with results that are, as

9 781862 014336 yet, very unclear. Meanwhile, enrolments of mature and part- time students have collapsed, marking a major shift away from lifelong learning. Front cover of the Inquiry’s final report, published in September 2009. There are some signs that older workers are getting more a access to training opportunities. Apprenticeship numbers dominate the pre-election political bidding war, without being ‘time pressure’ years). At the third stage, the assumption that located in the wider context of vocational learning pathways. work continues until we simply fall into official ‘retirement’ at 60 However, the political imperatives sparked by severe youth or 65 is seriously outdated. We found evidence of an increased unemployment and controversy about university fees have negotiation of types of work and responsibility from the mid-50s excluded any debate on a more rational allocation of resources onwards, and saw this stretching through to around 75. Finally, across the life-course stages. One key issue is whether we can we drew on substantial evidence that learning in older age have this debate without exacerbating latent intergenerational (75–100) can reduce dependency as well as enrich life. tensions. Since 2009 there have been some significant changes. Intergenerational sensitivities could be said to have increased, Learning entitlements without very much practical attention to their alleviation. Learning Through Life’s third recommendation proposed The age for compulsory education will rise to 18 in 2015. The building a set of learning entitlements. Structurally, we felt that phenomenon of the ‘boomerang’ generation – of young people some entitlements should be universal, including basic skills at unable to leave, or having to return to, the parental home all ages and a ‘threshold’ or ‘platform’ to step off into lifelong – has intensified. Consciousness of demographic pressures learning, from the equivalent of high-school graduation and is growing, and has sparked some creative (as well as some university matriculation, as well as access to IT. Above all, panicked) thinking about pensions and the need to reduce the lifelong learning should foster not a crude selective meritocracy retirement cliff-edge. Longer working lives are now firmly in (as in Michael Young’s satire) but recurrent opportunity. Other the frame, including through the deferral of the state pension, entitlements should relate to working life. ‘Learning leave’ is a often through part-time and self-employment. So there is some powerful device here. We suggested that this could be funded awareness of the need to change the way we think about ages and by redeploying the £3.7 billion of corporation tax relief then stages. But old categories die hard. The debate has had a strong granted for training. Yet others could support voluntary and

AUTUMN 2014 ADULTS LEARNING 7 involuntary transitions, such as a ‘welcome’ entitlement for those to make good use of a wide range of skills and experience. A crossing borders to join new communities, or leaving institutions particular issue is whether the increasing qualifications of women such as prisons or care. will be properly recognised at work, allowing genuine careers ‘Entitlement’ has since become a term freighted with negative stretching over several decades and including breaks (another connotations. The political bidding war on immigration has argument for taking our life-course approach seriously). led to a presumption against ‘welcome’ benefits, and English The big story, though, is about how austerity has bred language provision, in particular, has suffered. One bright precarity. The political self-congratulation over the number of feature is the continued flourishing of Unionlearn, with new jobs should be tempered by the knowledge that many of government support, strengthening the entitlement of poorly them are low-grade, fragmented and insecure, taking us further qualified employees to learning, but even here there have from a genuine high-skill economy. The rise of ‘zero-hours’ been cuts. The contribution of substantial tax relief has been contracts, the growth of unpaid internships, and the macro- recognised, but there has been no move to earmark it for economic evidence about increasing income disparity, makes the learning leave. prospect of more, better jobs increasingly remote.

A system of credit Citizens’ capabilities Fourthly, the report argued that we need to engineer flexibility, The report proposed constructing a curriculum framework via a system of credit and by encouraging part-time study. It was for citizens’ capabilities. A common framework of learning clear that much faster progress was needed in the UK to opportunities should be created, which should be available implement a credit-based system, making learning more in any given area, giving people control over their own lives. flexible and accessible with funding matched to it. Crudely, we There should be a common core of provision: of content have the systems, but we are very reluctant to use them. The (initially around digital, health, financial and civic capabilities commissioners felt that adopting approaches to funding that – the downsides of lacking these are all too clear), of local and are agnostic in mode, across the whole array of post-compulsory contextual customisation, of quality assurance, and of support education, was vital to unlock this potential. for teachers and other key ‘intermediaries’ (such as Citizens’ Research shows literally no progress on this front. The Advice Bureaux advisers, probation officers and health visitors). UK – even in Scotland, which has made a great play of policy Regrettably, over the past five years, the prospect of a commitment in this area – remains a laggard, behind North coherent framework has, if anything, receded, though NIACE America in terms of credit-transfer between institutions and continues helpfully to press on this theme. Confusion and stress behind continental Europe in terms of student mobility. The have grown in the intermediary services mentioned above, often Open University continues to make a heroic contribution to this because of privatisation or economic pressure. Massive health effort, but is increasingly constrained by funding assumptions service reforms could both support and undermine the necessary linked to full-time learning. preventative public health agenda. Entitlements to learning support continue to fluctuate wildly, including according to Quality of work political fashion. Yet, in an unplanned way, the prospects of The fifth recommendation stressed the need to use learning to achieving some of these capabilities are probably increasing, for improve the quality of work. The debate on skills, we argued, has those who can find their way. There are, for example, flourishing been too dominated by an emphasis on increasing the volume of and imaginative local initiatives around community-based skills. There should be a stronger focus on how skills are actually learning, but they, too, buck the funding trend. used. The report pointed to ‘a naïve belief that upgrading We should acknowledge here one area which Learning Through qualifications for the population as a whole will produce all of Life did not do enough to address: the growth of technology- the benefits which are only accrued by the subset of people who enabled learning. There are very varied views on how far online currently have those qualifications’. Instead, the report said, we learning (for example through MOOCs) replaces or complements need more genuine and portable accreditation, notably of what more traditional modes of adult learning, but this is definitely an have been identified by Lorna Unwin and others as ‘expansive’ area where change is accelerating and opportunity is expanding. rather than ‘restricted’ learning environments at work. There was an equity issue here too, we found, with access to training Strengthening the workforce diminishing down the status ladder. Our thinking about capabilities led us to recommend broadening There are signs now that the debate on skills is becoming and strengthening the capacity of the lifelong learning workforce. more nuanced, aiming to bring supply and utilisation into Stronger support, we argued, should be available for all those some kind of relationship, instead of just boosting the numbers involved in delivering education and training (including of qualified people. Recent academic and think-tank analysis intermediaries). gives us a more fine-grained picture of supposed labour- Most of the creative thinking in this area since seems to have market polarisation, including recognition (by the Institute for been in the corporate sector. Microsoft presents a good example, Public Policy Research and others) of the continued creation with accredited courses not only for its own employees, but also of jobs in the bottom half of the occupational ladder. We must for those using their products across the industry. Learning also challenge the idea that job quality is purely technology- Through Life’s prediction of a growth in private providers has dependent: there is space for managing the organisation of work certainly been vindicated, with quality seen as largely market-

8 ADULTS LEARNING AUTUMN 2014 Shuuterstock c determined. The Education and Training Foundation has been some strategic local capacity, but it will be a long road back. set up to promote workforce development within the sector, but, overall, it’s probably true that the adult teaching workforce National frameworks continues to fragment. There is less support for individuals to At the same time, we argued (in our ninth recommendation) maintain their competences, and less pressure national frameworks matter. There should be effective machinery on employers to use professionally qualified staff. for creating a coherent lifelong learning strategy across the UK, and within the UK’s four nations. Learning Through Life argued Local responsibility that we need a single department with lead authority on lifelong The remaining two recommendations flowed together. First, learning, and an independent body to check on progress. there was a call to revive local responsibility. We should restore There is no sign of progress on this. Responsibility for skills life and power to local levels, we argued. This could be achieved ricochets around ministers, and policy silos are as entrenched by a variety of steps: stronger local strategy-making by local as ever, as Sir Bob Kerslake’s farewell speech as head of the Civil authorities; greater autonomy for further education colleges, as Service, in September 2014, acknowledged. Devolution could the institutional backbone of local lifelong learning; stronger continue the Balkanisation of policy, provision and performance local employer networks; a major role for cultural institutions; – though it will offer the opportunity for interesting comparisons and local ‘Learning Exchanges’: for connecting teachers with between national systems. learners, providing a single information point, social learning We have sketched a rather gloomy picture. Nevertheless, spaces and an entitlement ‘bank’. our sense is still that there is a compelling logic to the inquiry’s It is now common ground across the political spectrum that approach, powered by broad social trends which run counter to the current system in England has become over-centralised, and the insensitivity, lack of ‘memory’ and structural despair of much insufficiently linked to local and regional needs. The Scottish current policy thinking. Learning Through Life started a debate referendum debate put this issue centre-stage. Whether this will about all of these issues. How can we revive and continue it? lead to genuine and effective devolution at different levels is another matter. David Watson was Chair and Tom Schuller Director of the Inquiry into One of the specific casualties of austerity has been local the Future for Lifelong Learning (IFLL). They are joint authors of authority finance, and its strategic capacity. Libraries have Learning Through Life (NIACE, 2009). closed, and the spread of new school types – financed by public money but relatively outside public control – has undermined the Many of the Inquiry’s papers are still available at: http://www. concept of community service. New school models (free-schools niace.org.uk/lifelonglearninginquiry/ and academies) threaten to undermine the ‘full service’ school project. There are some signs of fresh thinking on how to restore To contribute to the debate email: [email protected].

AUTUMN 2014 ADULTS LEARNING 9 lifelonglearning Learning Through Life: where now for lifelong learning?

Learning Through Life has had significant impact on thinking in the lifelong learning sector, but progress towards its broad vision has been slow. We asked the experts to assess the impact of the report’s recommendations, and to identify the challenges the sector faces in achieving its vision

Recommendation 1: Base lifelong learning policy on a new, four-stage model of the educational life course Karen Evans

he Inquiry into the Future for Lifelong undifferentiated state. The problematic nature Learning (IFLL) called for lifelong of this assumption was highlighted long Tlearning policy to be based on a new ago by adult educators who argued that the four-stage (up to 25, 25–50, 50–75 and 75- early stages of adult life were differentiated plus) model. Its report argued that the UK’s from the middle and later years by the goals, approach was ‘not responding adequately priorities and preferences characteristic of to two major trends: an ageing society and each stage. The increasing heterogeneity of changing patterns of paid and unpaid activity.’ life experience, combined with the recognition It recommended that people in the first stage of the diversifying effects of social change, (up to 25) ‘be looked on as a whole, with all then challenged the uncritical application of its members having claims to learning and of a life-stage approach. This was, in turn, development’; that learning in the second succeeded by a notion of diverse and changing stage (25–50) ‘should aim at productivity life patterns involving the interplay of life, work and prosperity, but also build strong family and learning. The IFLL model, while based lives and personal identity’; that educational on the notion of life stages, avoided its pitfalls opportunities be ‘greatly enhanced’ for those by focusing on changing configurations of life, in the third stage (50–75); that we should work and learning, particularly in the later develop a ‘more appropriate approach to the years. curriculum offer in later life’ (75+); and that The rethinking of existing models for 25, 50 and 75 should be seen as ‘key transition the timing and sequencing of educational points’, each requiring access to advice and participation has been established to some guidance through life planning. degree. It is now widely recognised that a single Historically, the education of adults has training period before entry into the labour been treated as though adulthood is an market is no longer sufficient, and that future

10 ADULTS LEARNING AUTUMN 2014 lifelonglearning

workers have to be prepared for continuous plight of young people affected by the recession learning as well as re-skilling throughout may be undermining the case for rebalancing their working lives. Policies, it is understood, in favour of older age groups. But the emphasis need to respond to these changes and take a on the damaged prospects of the young does broader, longer-term view, with greater focus not weaken the case for long-term rebalancing. on the utilisation of knowledge and skills in It actually strengthens it. The economic crash and beyond the workplace, incentives and has affected young people disproportionately the quality of working environments. While and is likely to affect their lives into the long- a flexible, reasonably permeable structure of term future, not only in terms of lifetime education is a strength of UK arrangements, earnings but also in terms of health and as Learning Through Life noted, its operation civic life, which tend to build in tandem with depends on the extent to which policies work careers as social networks develop. enable people to return to education after a Furthermore, the recognition is growing that problematic start, and provide the resources and structure to enable lifelong learning as people change direction and pursue new opportunities or ways of realising their The rebalancing of resources potential. The rebalancing of resources advocated by IFLL has not advanced since 2009. Indeed, the advocated by IFLL has not advanced process appears to have gone into reverse. The dominant economic view is that the returns to since 2009. Indeed, the process public investment of adult learning are too low to warrant large-scale public funding, with a refocusing of resources on early years. Yet, the appears to have gone into reverse. evidence on low returns has been challenged by recent research carried out by the Centre The dominant economic view is that for Learning and Life Chances in Knowledge Economies and Societies (LLAKES) that shows the returns to public investment significant returns to participants in lifelong learning, with improvements in both their employability and employment prospects. of adult learning are too low to Under conditions of growing social polarisation and economic uncertainty, lifelong learning warrant large-scale public funding is shown to have a significant protective effect by keeping adults close to a changing labour market, alongside the wider benefits that have many of today’s young people are likely to already been demonstrated. experience poorer longer-term prospects and Instead, we have seen the reversal of historic less prosperity than their parents’ generation. gains in adult participation in education. In And adults now in their late thirties are likely higher education, for example, older students, on average to have significantly better lifetime especially part-time undergraduates, have prospects than those aged under 30 who have been deterred from entering HE because felt the full force of the recession and will of the new funding arrangements. Between experience the consequences for many years to 2010–11 and 2013–14 the number of UK and come. EU part-time undergraduate entrants to HE The report of the independent Social institutions in England fell by 46 per cent, Integration Commission, published in according to Oxford Economics. Some part- October 2014, underlines tensions between time undergraduates can now access student age groups, in its predictions of a ‘path to a loans to cover their tuition fees. However, as fragmented society’. Declining social mobility Claire Callender points out, take-up has been and increased isolation among some economic, far lower than predicted, suggesting that ethnic and age groups portend problems loans are not necessarily perceived by would- in employment, health and social stability. be students as an adequate safeguard against The report estimates that a lack of social the risks of part-time study (the majority of integration is costing the UK around £6 billion potential part-time students do not, in any each year. LLAKES research has also identified case, qualify). According to Callender, part- these trends, showing how lifelong learning time study has become unaffordable for many can contribute to improved social integration potential students. by achieving greater equity in the distribution Some advocates of rebalancing fear that the of knowledge and skills – not just raising levels

AUTUMN 2014 ADULTS LEARNING 11 of knowledge and skill but also attending to and participating in recreational and cultural how skills are spread around the population. events. They will be caring for children and Effective policies for the future influencing the young in many ways. And should include: an integrated policy approach, many older adults will face increasing risks of instead of a concentration of efforts on selected poverty and exclusion as income declines or problems; consideration of the interaction as instabilities of earlier life stages intensify in between labour-market changes and other their effects on income and wellbeing. This aspects of the transitions of adult life, ‘third age’ of active older adults gradually such as living arrangements, family formation gives way to a ‘fourth age’ often characterised and health; consideration of ‘outsiders’ and by a decline into inactivity, a characterisation minority groups and approaches that facilitate disputed by some. Learning support here participation, integration, and empowerment; can assist adjustment to ageing, offer mental support for second and third chances, enabling stimulation and provide the resources for new recovery and repair after a problematic start roles, as community volunteers, grandparents or unforeseen setbacks later in life; and and carers. The case for rebalancing resources opportunities for lifelong learning that expand in this direction could potentially be tied to human capabilities and horizons throughout health issues, with illness prevention and later- the life course and into old age. life wellbeing as outcomes, but the prospects The ageing society was identified by IFLL for this are subject to the uncertain effects of as a major driver of change. According to health service reform. the standard definition used by the United Finally, the IFLL position on key transition Nations, societies where the proportion of the points recognises that transitions in youth and population aged 65 and over is greater than adult life are markers of diversification of the seven per cent, 14 per cent or 20 per cent are life course, opening up new opportunities as called, respectively, ‘ageing societies’, ‘aged well as challenges. Current change in access societies’, or ‘super-aged societies’. The UK to pension funds is an example of a policy-led became an ageing society in 1929 and an aged development that opens up social challenges society in 1976 and it is projected to become a as well as individual opportunities and risks. super-aged society by 2021. This is slower rate Good-quality guidance and adult learning of change than experienced in many countries, will be key ingredients in negotiating these particularly in Asia, but there is an increasing changes. Gaining a better understanding momentum to the debate on the impact of of changing demands and how these are demographic changes. negotiated in changing social landscapes and With longer working lives now firmly throughout the life course demands a new established, there are already upward trends perspective, moving from narrow versions in training by older workers. The third age of rational choice theory towards models of has become the ‘second middle age’ in which biographical negotiation as promising avenues individuals continue their life activities for effective policy-making. in a modified form. They may work part time in so-called bridge jobs that provide a Karen Evans is Chair of Education (Lifelong gradual transition from a full-time career to Learning), at the Institute of Education, University retirement. Meanwhile, they may be doing of London volunteer work, maintaining a busy social life,

Recommendation 2: Rebalance resources fairly and sensibly across the different life stages Stephen McNair

erhaps the most radical proposal of the to reflect the fact that young people now take Inquiry was that, as a society, we should longer to become established in full adult roles, Prethink our understanding of the life and that a substantial period of later life (the course. Public policy should, in future, replace ‘third age’) is spent in new forms of extended the three-phase model (youth, adulthood and working life and active retirement, before the retirement, divided at 18/21 and 60/65) with onset of traditional ‘old age’. Such a model a four-phase one (divided at 25, 50 and 75), would challenge the way we now distribute work

12 ADULTS LEARNING AUTUMN 2014 Shuuterstock c and other roles: expecting people in the 25–49 be used to fund a much larger expansion of phase to take on a wide range of very high- (cheaper) older people’s learning. This would pressured roles, before beginning to dismiss make economic sense. As people are retiring them from the workforce after 50, when they later, and the pace of change in technology and remain active and motivated and often have knowledge accelerates, the need for updating more time and resource to contribute. and retraining later in life, and well into the The Inquiry used the four-phase framework third phase, is strong. In the third and fourth to assess the fairness and efficiency of the phases, learning is also important to maintain distribution of resources and participation in social engagement, to find productive activity, learning. It estimated that total expenditure on as well as to maintain health and wellbeing. post-school learning from all sources, public, Has any of this redistribution of private and voluntary (including individual participation, money or attention taken place? learners and employers), is of the order of There is some good news. NIACE’s annual £55 billion, of which only 46 per cent is public survey of adult participation in learning expenditure (even in the broadest sense). The shows that the impact of age on participation balance of spend between the four phases was has diminished: where participation used to very heavily skewed to the youngest group: fall steadily from 20 to 65, it now remains expenditure per head in each of the four broadly level from 25 to 50, but then still falls phases was £8045, £283, £86 and £60, and off steeply. The two national surveys of older the imbalance was even stronger for public people’s learning, conducted by NIACE in spending. 2006 and 2012, provide more detailed evidence Although there is a clear case for spending about the two oldest groups. For people over most on the first phase, when people are 50, the total volume of learning (in all forms) entering adult life and establishing themselves remained broadly similar, with 20 per cent in the workforce, the Inquiry challenged the undertaking some learning in the past three scale of the disproportion in the context of an years. However, where they were learning had ageing society. It proposed that some of the changed significantly. There has been a large- savings resulting from the shrinking numbers scale withdrawal of public further and higher of (expensive) young people in education might education institutions from this market, with

AUTUMN 2014 ADULTS LEARNING 13 the proportion of older learners studying in FE on skills and knowledge to others’, followed by colleges falling from 21 per cent to eight per ‘getting and keeping paid work’. For those aged cent, and in HE from 14 per cent to seven per between 65 and 74, on the other hand, health, cent. At the same time, self-organised learning digital engagement and managing caring roles by older people appears to have grown were the priority. For those aged 75-plus the dramatically, with the U3A now reporting a first benefits were in social engagement, health membership of over 270,000 people (a similar and managing life crises. number to the number lost from FE and HE, However, since the Inquiry, government though perhaps not the same people). Between policy has not changed much and tension the two surveys, the proportion ‘learning remains between departments. Although more online’ rose from almost nothing to 13 per cent training for the over-50s could help achieve the Department for Work and Pensions’ objective of keeping older people active longer in the labour market, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has Although more training for the concentrated resources increasingly on young people entering the labour market, and age, over-50s could help achieve beyond 25, is not mentioned in BIS plans for the reform of publicly funded post-school the Department for Work education. Furthermore, people over 50 were removed from the priority groups for the National Careers Service. and Pensions’ objective of On a more positive note, older people are potential beneficiaries of the government’s keeping older people active community learning initiatives, which adopt partnership and ‘pound-plus’ approaches to longer in the labour market, the public funding available. NIACE’s 2010 paper Choice and Opportunity aimed to help local partnerships, led by local authorities and the Department for Business, local health trusts, to review and stimulate learning for older people at local level, Innovation and Skills has although it is not clear that this has made much impact as yet. One major step forward was the agreement by BIS in 2012 to fund NIACE to been concentrating resources lead a national pilot project to test demand for a ‘mid-life career review’ of a kind implied in increasingly on young people the Inquiry report. The evidence, from over 3000 careers sessions, was very positive and it entering the labour market now seems possible that, through the National Careers Service and other partners, people will in future have access to a life review around the age of 50, which can help them make of the total (a high proportion of them older, informed decisions about the third phase of well-educated men). This also raises a question life, including retirement decisions and further about whether people’s understanding of learning. This would be a major achievement of ‘learning’ is changing: do we (should we?) now one of the Inquiry’s ambitions. think of looking things up on Wikipedia or We are still far from the grand vision of Google as ‘learning’? Learning Through Life, but there is progress. The 2012 survey found that, while NIACE continues to pursue the issues affecting learning participation does decline with age, older people, including continuing to convene employment status is more important than the National Older Learners Group: a forum age itself: those who stayed in paid work (a for national agencies concerned with all aspects growing number) were more likely to stay in of older people’s learning. With the group, we learning. For the first time, the survey asked are now updating our previous policy papers, about the benefits older people gained from to make the case (again) for investment in older learning, using the 10 benefits of learning people’s learning, identifying key challenges for older people identified in NIACE policy and making policy recommendations. papers. The most surprising finding is that the most commonly reported benefit among Stephen McNair is a Senior Research Fellow people aged between 50 and 64 was ‘passing at NIACE

14 ADULTS LEARNING AUTUMN 2014 Recommendation 3: Build a set of learning entitlements Tom Wilson

very child has a right to learn. Why not a quarter of a million learners every year. The adults? That was the idea behind the language and reality of entitlements matters. EInquiry’s notion of an entitlement to learn. But how can we take forward the idea of Looking back, it seems slightly naive. The entitlements? One idea is to create a personal language of rights seems to run counter to learning allowance (PLA). Many organisations today’s language of austerity. But the economic are discussing something like this, including and moral case for learning entitlement is just the Workers’ Educational Association, unions, as powerful as it was five years ago. the Labour Party and, of course, NIACE. But Most people would agree that children government is wary of anything that looks should go to school or college and emerge at like Individual Learning Accounts (ILA), a 18 with the basic skills and knowledge (roughly programme that was badly handled and had Level 2) needed to be an active citizen. It is a to be withdrawn. But the ILA programme short step to accepting that the state should survives and flourishes in Scotland and in fund those first years of learning. If it is against a different form in Wales. In thousands of the law not to be in education or training then companies (including the Army) employees the state should surely pay for it. are entitled to some kind of learning grant. And if people leave school or college Sometimes this is linked to employer aims or without Level 2, is that their fault? How can to continual professional development. Very they manage in today’s complex society and often it is also open-ended, allowing employees increasingly complex job market? So the to pursue their own ideas, as at Ford. There is obligation on the state continues, hence the already fertile ground for the idea of a similar Inquiry’s idea of a general, lifelong, legal general adult entitlement. and financial entitlement, roughly to Level A PLA could be a grant or an entitlement 2. As with the NHS, the argument was that it to a tax rebate on learning. A grant would should be free at the point of use. Loans or help those who don’t pay tax but a tax rebate an insurance model inevitably deter the most is essentially the same idea. Adult learners disadvantaged and add needless cost. could use it to help to pay higher or further Beyond Level 2 it gets more debatable, education fees. There might be conditions hence the idea of a transitional entitlement, attached, such as limiting it to courses which to be triggered at different ages, to cope lead to recognised qualifications. Employers with difficult times, such as a new job or new are already entitled to such tax allowances direction. Sadly, this was an idea before its which add up to almost £5 billion per year. time; a casualty of austerity. But other countries Switching just 10 per cent of that funding have similar models. In Denmark, workers would create a £500 million PLA pot. Already, receive little redundancy pay but much more HE or FE students are entitled to a subsidised generous entitlements to retraining at any age, loan – so learning entitlements for adult with largely preserved wages. Our UK system learners plainly work already. Calling for a of a legal entitlement to small lump sums PLA is not fanciful idealism. of redundancy pay is much less effective at In fact, it makes hard-headed economic helping workers cope with job change. sense. Every political party and most employers What about the theory? Five years ago we recognise the vital need to improve skills. The thought the language of entitlements would question is, how? Increasing apprenticeship strengthen choice and motivation. People numbers is part of the answer but the existing are more likely to use something if they feel workforce need training too. People want entitled. Rights remove stigma. training on their own terms, training of That is certainly true of union learning. their own choosing. Giving everyone a real Union learning representatives were given entitlement, with financial help, provides both statutory rights in 2003 to paid time off, to an incentive and a sense of ownership. The discuss learning needs with their members, to Inquiry was right. carry out surveys and to meet with employers. Those rights have been invaluable. Today Tom Wilson is Director of Unionlearn and was there are 30,000 union learning reps helping an IFLL commissioner

AUTUMN 2014 ADULTS LEARNING 15 Recommendation 4: Engineering flexibility: a system of credit and encouraging part-timers Claire Callender

his article addresses Schuller and Watson’s schools sector). In England, there remains no fourth recommendation on ‘engineering official articulation between the QCF and the Tflexibility’. They propose moving quickly HE framework. Consequently, in practice, the ‘to a coherent system of credits as the basis for QCF does not facilitate credit accumulation organising post-compulsory learning’ which and transfer arrangements between vocational allows ‘lateral as well as vertical progression’. qualifications and HE institutions, or the Schuller and Watson also suggest that progression of learners between the QCF and employers should ‘integrate the training they the FHEQ. How can a genuine credit-based offer into a credit framework’. They make qualifications system be developed when only various recommendations about funding some types of qualification are included? too, calling for the ‘funding for learning Consequently, despite various promising (both fees and student support)’ to be ‘mode- reforms, England still lacks a coherent free’ so that it does ‘not discriminate against and nationally recognised system of credit part-time provision or part-time students’. In accumulation and transfer in post-compulsory addition, the funding should be ‘credit-based’, learning. rather than related to a specific qualification. Schuller and Watson argue for more part- Finally, Schuller and Watson argue for ‘much time provision to meet people’s ‘complex living greater fairness and consistency in the funding and working patterns’ and changes in funding of further and higher education’. Sadly, to promote this. Since they wrote Learning hardly any of these recommendations have Through Life, the funding of lifelong learning been achieved, at least not in the manner in England has been reformed, but not in envisaged by Schuller and Watson, despite ways they could have anticipated. Here we the policy rhetoric of ‘students being at the focus on the effects of these funding changes heart of the FE and skills system’ and the on part-time undergraduate HE. Have they HE system. The exception perhaps is that encouraged more people to engage in part- now some employers are more involved in time study and promoted more part-time lifelong learning following the expansion of provision? apprenticeships. Overall, though, there is little In 2012–13, first, the government withdrew evidence of any commitment to the notion of most of the money it gave universities for flexibility in lifelong learning strategies or in teaching undergraduate students. Second, policy developments over the past five years. so that universities could recoup this lost Indeed, some recent policy changes have made income, the cap on undergraduate tuition the system more inflexible, with part-time fees was raised to £9000 a year for full-time undergraduate study declining and access undergraduate courses, and to £6750 for becoming more restricted. part-time courses. Third, students qualified Schuller and Watson suggest that a flexible for government-funded student loans to cover and coherent system of credit accumulation all of these higher tuition fees, including some is indicative of whether a system is learner- part-time students for the first time. The terms centred or not – it is essential for choice. and conditions of these loans are broadly Progress on this in England has been slow with similar for both full- and part-time students. the three frameworks grouping qualifications Loan repayments and the interest charged are into the same levels from entry to Level 8: the based on graduates’ earnings, and graduates National Qualifications Framework (NQF); the pay nine per cent of their annual income over Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF); £21,000 until they have repaid their loan, with and the Framework for Higher Education any outstanding debt forgiven after 30 years. Qualifications (FHEQ). The 2011-revamped So, in keeping with Schuller and Watson’s QCF enables credit for smaller achievements recommendation, the funding for learning and allows employers (mostly large ones) and has become ‘mode-free’ with regards to tuition practitioners to contribute to the content of fees and part-time provision. Institutions now the framework. However, the QCF is limited to are being ‘funded for part-time students on vocational qualifications outside the HE sector the same basis pro-rata as full-time students’. and is not particularly well integrated with HE However, student financial support is not or professional qualifications (and those in the ‘similarly even handed’ because part-timers

16 ADULTS LEARNING AUTUMN 2014 remain ineligible for any financial help with public benefits of part-time HE are high, the their other study and living costs, unlike their financial returns tend to be lower than those full-time peers. It is assumed that, because experienced by younger graduates of full- part-timers are employed, they can afford these time study in terms of earnings growth and costs. employment opportunities. The early impact of these changes has So, prospective part-time students’ concerns been disastrous for the part-time sector and about taking out a loan may be well founded. part-time students. Following the 2012–13 The costs of studying part-time may outweigh reforms, part-time tuition fees doubled or the financial benefits, unlike the costs of most sometimes trebled. Between 2010–11 and full-time study. Secondly, the loan eligibility 2013–14 the number of UK and EU part-time criteria are far too restrictive. Only about a undergraduate entrants to HE institutions third of prospective part-time students are and FE colleges in England fell by 46 per cent eligible for these loans. This is mainly because (Oxford Economics, 2014). The student groups most already have a HE qualification which most affected were those: aged 55 and over; is higher or equal to the qualification for with low-level entry qualifications or none at which they intend to study, and therefore are all; and studying a ‘bite-sized’ course – less disqualified from receiving a loan. The same than 25 per cent of a full-time course. All these rule applies to potential full-time students groups fall within the widening participation too but it particularly disadvantages part- agenda, and suggest that access to part-time timers because of their different educational HE is becoming more unequal. backgrounds. As significantly, it inhibits

Figure 1 Part-time and full-time UK and EU undergraduate entrants to English higher education institutions and further education colleges, 2002/03 – 2013/14

Source: Pressure from all sides: Economic and policy influences on part-time higher education (HEFCE, 2014)

The reasons for these falls in demand are lateral progression, promoted by Schuller and numerous. First, student loans are unattractive Watson. Consequently, these potential part- to part-time students. Loan take-up of just 20 time students wanting to re-skill have to pay far per cent has been far lower than predicted, higher tuition fees up front, and out of their suggesting that loans are not necessarily own pocket. perceived by would-be students as an adequate The unwillingness of would-be part-time safeguard against the risks of part-time study, students to take out a loan or to pay high and with good reason. The justification for tuition fees for an uncertain return is not student loans is predicated on the financial surprising. Part-time students are older and returns of HE and other private benefits, and have family and financial responsibilities and the idea that those who benefit financially from obligations such as children and mortgages. HE should contribute towards its cost. Yet, These financial commitments are likely to research shows that while the non-financial and take priority over part-time study costs when

AUTUMN 2014 ADULTS LEARNING 17 experiencing financial pressures, especially of part-time programmes. The part-time in times of economic hardship or uncertainty. undergraduate market is more volatile than the Discretionary and non-essential spending, full-time market and demand more difficult including spending on study, is likely to be to predict. It is more costly and risky for HE squeezed. And for such people, an additional institutions to provide part-time courses than nine per cent marginal tax to repay their to offer full-time courses. A funding system student loan may well be unaffordable. that does not discriminate between part- and Macroeconomic conditions, therefore, have a full-time provision means that there is little greater impact on the demand for part-time incentive for providing part-time courses. study than for full-time study, and part-time Higher education institutions that can recruit study is far more price sensitive. Put simply, full-time students will continue to do so rather than fill their places with riskier part-time students. As demand has fallen, universities are closing down part-time courses. Between There is little evidence of any 2010–11 and 2012–13, the largest declines in part-time entrants were in undergraduate commitment to the notion of courses leading to vocationally-orientated sub-degrees and shorter modules/courses flexibility in lifelong learning leading to institutional credits, many of which are continuing education courses. This has been particularly pronounced among the most strategies or in policy developments prestigious and research-intensive universities. Higher education institutions are exiting the over the past five years. Indeed, market for study below the Bachelor degree level, ceasing to offer institutional credit for some recent policy changes have short courses of study, and focusing their part- time undergraduate provision on Bachelor degree courses. In part this is because of made the system more inflexible, the terms and conditions associated with the receipt of the new student loans. Only students with part-time undergraduate study registered for a qualification are eligible for loans, but those seeking additional credits without pursuing a Bachelor’s degree are not. declining and access becoming As a result, the system has become less flexible and opportunities for credit accumulation are more restricted declining rather than expanding. Such course closures mean prospective students’ opportunities to study part time and now part-time study is just unaffordable for their choices of what and where to study are many potential students because of higher actually being restricted rather than broadened tuition fees and changes in student financial by the 2012–13 funding changes – again, support. contrary to Schuller and Watson’s aspirations. These outcomes bring into question the Such a narrowing of options particularly affects suitability of student loans and their eligibility part-time students because their work and criteria for part-timers. Basically, they ignore family commitments make them far less mobile the characteristics of part-time students. Loans than full-time students. They usually attend are not designed for the ‘average’ part-time their local HE institution (if not studying via student with little disposable income who distance learning). So when local part-time is likely to be in their mid-30s, has small courses close, the door to HE also closes. All children, is paying off a mortgage, is already these developments are a very long way from employed but has yet to reach their peak Schuller and Watson’s vision of engineering earnings capacity. Instead, they are designed flexibility through a system of credit and for young people who enter HE straight from encouraging part-timers. school and who, on graduation, enter the labour market for the first time. Claire Callender is Professor of Higher Education The drop in demand for part-time HE Policy at Birkbeck, University of London, and undergraduate study is only part of the story of Professor of Higher Education Studies at the the demise of the part-time sector. At the same Institute of Education, based in its Centre for time, there also has been a fall in the supply Higher Education Studies

18 ADULTS LEARNING AUTUMN 2014 Recommendation 5: Improve the quality of work Ewart Keep

earning Through Life’s fifth q Work that allows limited discretion and room recommendation, on the need for a for decision-making and creativity is more Lstronger policy focus on how skills stressful and can pose serious physical and are used, remains important and topical. mental health risks. Predominantly, policy, especially in England, q In many large UK organisations, creativity has continued to obsess about skills supply and innovation are the prerogative of senior (mainly in relation to young people), and has management, while creativity on the part simply assumed high demand for skills and of others, if it disrupts established one-best- their effective deployment once created. The way models of operation, is a disciplinary reality is very different. offence. Research suggests that even more The latest data we have on over-qualification junior managers (for example, retail store in UK workplaces paints a bleak picture. The and café managers) are unable to make even OECD’s 2013 adult skills survey demonstrated small, incremental changes in products or that, out of 22 countries, the UK had the processes, as these are determined in minute dubious distinction of the second-highest level of detail by head office. over-qualification in its workforce, beaten only by Japan. Some 30 per cent of workers indicated From a public policy perspective, investment in a mismatch between the qualifications required education and training is often producing weak to get their job today and the qualifications returns (in terms of increased wages or boosts which they held. What is even more alarming to productivity) because the skills that the is that employers themselves are aware that taxpayers’ investment has created are not being their workers have skills that they are not using mobilised to maximum productive effect, and properly. Questions in the UK Commission for are often being wasted. Employment and Skills’ Employer Skill Survey, As Learning Through Life noted, how the which elicited employers’ views on whether workplace operates influences how well segments of their workforce are over-skilled employees’ skills are used. Workplaces that or over-qualified for their current job roles, are configured in ways that allow people to indicated that, in 2013, UK employers believed innovate, and to use their skills well, are also that about 16 per cent of their workers had likely to offer rich learning environments. under-utilised skills. In other words, there is a virtuous circle in These depressing figures exist within the operation, wherein the manner in which context of a set of wider challenges facing work is organised, how jobs are designed and the UK economy and labour market – youth structured, how work processes are configured unemployment, falling real wages for many and people managed in performing them, workers, under-employment, new forms of all have a profound impact on the volume, casualised employment relationship, lack of depth, breadth and overall quality of informal employee ‘voice’ in the workplace, the adoption workplace learning (i.e. learning that is of transactional rather than transformative embedded in the inherent challenge encoded employee relations policies and practices in the productive process), and how those skills in many businesses, and a poor record on are then used to productive effect. Elsewhere in productivity. There are also major problems Europe, broader models of workplace innovation with job quality and low pay (which have been policy are built on this understanding, while reviewed in previous issues of Adults Learning). in England innovation policy still means hard From the perspective of the individual science, R&D and knowledge transfer involving student or worker, weak opportunities to deploy a small technical elite rather than anything that skills and knowledge have a range of negative comes from the bulk of employees. impacts: Even more unfortunately, from a UK policy perspective, the European Survey of Working q Over-qualification generally carries a wage Conditions demonstrates that the incidence penalty, which can be long-lasting. of the kinds of workplace configuration and q Work that is repetitive, has short job-cycle management style (labelled ‘discretionary times and where employee discretion is learning’ by researchers) that are supportive limited, is often dull and does not engage the of higher levels of innovation, skill acquisition worker in what they are doing. Employees and usage, are very unequally distributed are unable to realise their full potential. across the EU. The UK scores better (about

AUTUMN 2014 ADULTS LEARNING 19 35 per cent of employees in workplaces with establishing a series of pilot projects on skills these characteristics) than some Southern utilisation, whereby colleges and universities European countries, but on the whole it finds could deploy their expertise with selected itself lagging a long way behind the Northern employers to help facilitate better usage of skills. European leaders: the Netherlands (64 per The result was the funding, from 2009, cent), Denmark (60 per cent) and Sweden (52.6 of 12 action research projects, selected by per cent). By contrast, the UK has the highest the SFC through a competitive tendering proportion of employees of any EU country process. The call for bids was formulated to in workplaces characterised by some form of be as open as possible in the sense that the ‘lean production’ (40.6 per cent) – a model that funding council held no predetermined model carries with it far lower levels of opportunity for of what a skills utilisation project might look learning and for innovation. like, and there was an expectation that as Moreover, figures suggest that opportunities these were experimental ‘proof of concept’ for organisational learning are very unequally tests, some projects might not develop as distributed across the UK workforce in terms of planned, or deliver the intended outcomes. differences between managers and workers. The The programme was genuinely exploratory UK scored third from bottom out of the EU 15 in nature, and, from the outset, the skills (behind Portugal and Italy) on levels of learning utilisation projects were seen as a means of inequality (calculated by dividing the share of finding out what worked (and what might not) workers engaged in discretionary learning by through action research. the share of managers in that category, and The projects are extremely varied innature, subtracting the resulting percentage from 100). ranging from some that follow a fairly The three best-performing countries on this traditional model of seeking to better match measure were (from the top) Denmark, Finland course content and skills developed to what and the Netherlands. employers need (an employability-plus agenda), These findings underline the scale of to a business-development and knowledge- the challenge that UK policy makers now transfer focus, while others aimed to help face in trying to configure workplaces and employers re-think production processes and working practices in ways that can match those re-design work organisation and jobs. Some were found in some of our high-innovation, high- managed by a single college or HEI and others productivity international competitors. We are involved consortia of HEIs, colleges, or HEIs in this mess because poor skills utilisation is, and colleges. in large measure, a symptom of much more The Scottish Government has also been deep-seated problems with how too many UK pressing on with efforts to raise the profile organisations seek to compete, how they specify of skills utilisation issues, not least within the and choose to deliver the goods and services public sector via inspection, objective setting they generate, and how they organise work and performance review systems. At the same and design jobs to enable this to happen. This time, the SFC is now exploring how it can help suggests that skills utilisation policies need to colleges and HEIs to ‘mainstream’ the lessons integrate different policy agendas (for example, gleaned from the skills utilisation pilot projects. science and innovation, economic development In Wales, the government is just embarking and business support, tackling low pay, and on two sectoral skills utilisation pilot schemes improving the overall quality of employment (in construction and the creative industries), relations) to create a mutually re-enforcing and is thinking about what else might be done. suite of policies that can over time help propel In England, the ticking policy parcel has been a larger proportion of organisations onto high- handed to the UK Commission for Employment road competitive strategies that would provide and Skills, and has taken a back seat to their a demand ‘pull’ for more skills, better people work on employer ownership. The main hope management, more expansive forms of job seems to be to find ways to promote the wider design and greater workplace innovation. adoption of high-performance work practices, In terms of policy development, what has though how this is to be achieved is hard to actually been happening across the UK to see. Given the UK’s productivity problems, and address these issues? The leader has been the mounting social and economic cost of ‘bad Scotland. In 2007 Scotland embarked upon the jobs’, it seems clear that, sooner or later, skills development of a skills policy incorporating utilisation and workplace innovation are going radical new elements, particularly seeking to become more prominent in the policy agenda. to address the ineffective utilisation of skills. Having looked at workplace innovation support Ewart Keep is Chair in Education, Training and in Finland, the Scottish Government decided Skills, at the Centre on Skills, Knowledge and to task the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) with Organisational Performance, Oxford University

20 ADULTS LEARNING AUTUMN 2014 Recommendation 6: Construct a curriculum framework for citizens’ capabilities Ruth Spellman

he Workers’ Educational Association creativity are now key twenty-first century skills (WEA) was closely involved in the and need to be brought into thinking on the Tdevelopment of Learning Through Life and curriculum. played an important role in disseminating At its heart, a citizens’ curriculum is about its recommendations. Although a formal responding to the needs of students and their citizens’ curriculum has been hard to pin communities. Our experience has taught down, it has become central to our provision. us that flexibility is key. Courses need to be Improving digital skills, helping people take tailored according to the requirements of control of their own health and wellbeing, students in order to be effective. developing numeracy skills for everyday life For example, our eastern regional team and encouraging people to take an active role recently developed a digital inclusion initiative in their local communities are all reflected in with Sainsbury’s, through which WEA ICT our own course themes of employability, health workshops are held at store cafes. The course and wellbeing, community engagement and has enabled many local residents to improve cultural studies. Implementing the curriculum their basic digital skills and become immersed has, in many respects, been the easy bit. in the digital world. For those who feel Agreeing what a written curriculum should disconnected from their local community, look like is more challenging. it is an invaluable way of re-establishing old With an ageing population, and increasing networks and making new ones. health and financial inequalities, along with A crucial element of the course is that it disengagement with the political process, enables students to learn at their own pace. the notion of a citizens’ curriculum is as This personalised approach gives students important as ever. It reflects a holistic whole- greater motivation as they can control their life approach to learning, not just training own learning. for work – something the WEA and the other A citizens’ curriculum has the potential to be Specialist Designated Institutions have been the framework by which we can help to address doing for decades. From the Ministry of the UK skills deficit and reap rewards for Reconstruction’s review of adult education individuals, our society and our economy. But following the First World War through to it must be flexible enough to respond to local the Leitch review of skills and the Richard need and it needs a fundamental re-evaluation review of apprenticeships, we have continually of how courses are funded. Like NIACE, the called for and implemented a comprehensive WEA also sees introducing personal skills approach to learning. accounts and more support for informal The evidence of the impact of this approach learning as essential to creating a citizens’ can be seen in our students. A typical example curriculum because it is only then that students is Melrose Logan, who took part in a WEA can develop the different competencies they Tandrusti health course. It not only improved need at their own pace. her health through better diet and exercise These are significant challenges, but ones but also helped her develop the confidence to which we should continue to seek to address for volunteer in her community and eventually the sake of individuals, families and society. get a full-time job. This interlinking of skills is something we see every day and has Ruth Spellman is Chief Executive and General transformational impacts on the lives of people Secretary of the Workers’ Educational Association across the country. Underpinning the curriculum, we also have to emphasise the need to develop capability. What use is information if people are not able to understand and interpret it? The need to develop capability was true before the digital age and will be the case as society adapts to a changing world. The ‘four Cs’ of critical thinking, communication, collaboration and

AUTUMN 2014 ADULTS LEARNING 21 Recommendation 7: Broaden and strengthen the capacity of the lifelong learning workforce Jim Crawley

hen Learning Through Life was development funding from the now defunct published, none of its contributors Learning and Skills Improvement Service, and Wcould have anticipated what the next there have been some innovative approaches five years would hold. The government’s to the curriculum addressing workforce austerity measures, and its far-reaching development by providers from across the reform of the education sector, have created a sector. challenging environment for everyone working As Lingfield published his report in 2012, in the field of lifelong learning. the Department for Business, Innovation Funding for adult skills has fallen by 35 per and Skills published evidence that teacher cent, while the requirement for teachers in education was having a positive impact the sector to be qualified was removed at the on the teaching workforce, and that this recommendation of the Lingfield report (only was beginning to suggest positive impacts having been introduced in 2002). Research on teaching, achievement and teacher provides evidence of how the sector’s workforce professionalism. Grades from Ofsted for initial has continued to be undervalued and how teacher education have steadily improved over managerialist and performative approaches 2012–13 and 2013–14, and the work of the still dominate among employers. More sector’s teacher educators has been mentioned expansive and employee-centred philosophies in positive terms in a recent Ofsted report on have gained little apparent traction across teaching, learning and assessment in further the sector despite strong evidence of their education. The number of union learning potential value and impact. The hard-won representatives has continued to grow and parity with teachers in schools, achieved the range and scope of the learning they are through Qualified Teacher Learning and supporting has increased. The University Skills legislation, still exists, but it has not had and College Union, in collaboration with the desired penetration into the workforce other sector stakeholders, leading academics and its future after the closure of the Institute and workforce practitioners, has done some for Learning is uncertain. The training, excellent work on developing the notion of support and continued development of other ‘democratic professionalism’. The central ‘intermediaries’ working with lifelong learning argument for democratic professionalism is sector professionals has also suffered through that a more engaged, activist, collaborative and funding cuts, and the already diverse and connected approach will support professionals varied nature of the workforce and the sector in and across the sector in working together, continues to mitigate against the development building alliances, taking action and gathering of a uniform, confident and outward-facing confidence in ways which will empower them, professional identity. and develop a more positive and unified On the evidence seen, the pathway towards professional identity and image than has achieving recommendation seven, to ‘broaden previously been the case. and strengthen the capacity of the lifelong The five years since the publication of learning workforce’, has been obstructed by Learning Through Life have, therefore, been significant challenges and barriers. Despite a journey down a road which has been this hostile and difficult environment, there obstructed, blocked and, at times, almost is still evidence of some forward movement. barricaded against the sector’s workforce. More than 80 per cent of the teaching Somehow, and with all credit belonging to the workforce now hold or are working towards a spirit and perseverance, resilience, imagination teaching qualification. The newly revised and and professionalism of the sector workforce, simpler professional standards have helped there has been forward movement of note providers of initial teacher training and CPD along that road. For the next five years, to to incrementally redesign, upgrade and update maintain and enhance the gains which have their programmes, with more genuine control been made, and to reduce the impact of further over that process than was possible during the barriers, the workforce of the sector needs to previously managed changes in 2007. This become ever-more actively democratic. Seeking was helped by practitioner consultation and out and grasping opportunities to build

22 ADULTS LEARNING AUTUMN 2014 confidence in small steps, working together professionals, able to design the future in a more outward-facing manner with other rather than being trapped by the present, groups, and engaging more directly and on we will continue to make progress towards equal terms with employers on the basis of recommendation seven. strong evidence and success stories are all essential components of this process. Jim Crawley is Senior Lecturer and Teaching Fellow If we can become more ‘connected’ at the School of Education, Bath Spa University

Recommendation 8: Revive local responsibility… Keith Wakefield

ive years ago, Learning Through Life delivered the programme – including in my identified an ‘over centralised’ system own city of Leeds – the figures were much Fas one of the biggest barriers to having higher, at 69 per cent. This is because we know fit-for-purpose skills training. It described our area, we know our labour market and we how training was insufficiently linked to local know the skills shortages we face. and regional needs, how a ‘one size fits all’ It’s tempting when talking about Core approach was holding back our learners and Cities to imagine that we all have the same set depriving our local economies of the skilled of issues in common. But training and skills people they need to grow. Half a decade on, demonstrates how different places can be. For not much has changed, but there is a wider agenda around the UK’s cities that wants to make sure skills and training are better tailored and more relevant to local need. Local government needs to support I sit on the cabinet of Core Cities UK, a group of 10 UK cities which are lobbying for change to England’s over-centralised and businesses in creating more and unbalanced system of government. We believe that a combination of fiscal independence from better jobs. We need to get people Whitehall and radical public-sector reform can help our great cities achieve their full potential. out of unemployment and into jobs, Boosting skills and jobs is high on our agenda. We know that without good people our cities will not grow and talent will not flourish. and we need to enable greater in- It’s important to remember that our cities are already contributing their fair share to work progression so that people UK plc. England’s core cities deliver 27 per cent of the country’s wealth and more than 16 million people live in Core Cities urban areas, can move out of low pay. We have a third of England’s population. Our research indicates that the eight English Core Cities to work closely with employers to alone could, given the right financial freedoms, generate £222 billion and create more than ensure training meets their needs, 1.1 million jobs by 2030. That’s roughly the equivalent of adding Norway’s economy to that of the UK. But we can only do this if we make now and into the future sure that our city workforces are full of trained and skilled people. At Core Cities we know that a local approach example, the picture in Cardiff is completely works. Take the government’s Youth Contract. different from Bristol, largely due to employer The Department for Education’s national need. That’s why we want to move to a more evaluation, published in the summer, indicated demand-led system with good intelligence that national providers had managed to get about the current and future needs of a city 28 per cent of young people into education, labour market. training or employment in the first year of the Local government needs to support programme. However, where local councils businesses in creating more and better jobs.

AUTUMN 2014 ADULTS LEARNING 23 We need to get people out of unemployment reducing dependency on public services. and into jobs, and we need to enable greater We will also set hard targets, to reduce skills in-work progression so that people can move shortages and gaps, increasing the number out of low pay. At the moment our training of apprenticeships as well as those with a programmes operate semi-independently minimum NVQ Level 2 qualification. of employers, turning out people who may And we will press for widespread reform of not be able to find a place in an increasingly the Work Programme: we want cities to be able competitive labour market. What we need to to commission the programme, and to have do is link them both up, working closely with a single performance framework across all 10 each sector to make sure that the training we Core Cities. The Work Programme has the commission and offer meets a business’s needs potential to contribute an average of £134.4 now and into the future. million to the UK through tax benefits and We believe each city should have the option could create a further £195.6 million in benefit of a minimum five-year Skills and Labour savings per annum. Market Agreement (SLMA) with the aim of Greater freedom for England’s cities could moving more people from welfare to work. help deliver some of the aims of Learning This SLMA should include a framework for Through Life. This is about creating opportunity coordination for colleges and schools, a single and reducing the burden on the tax payer. It is plan and investment framework with devolved about unleashing talent and making sure our budgets from government and advice and great cities, and the millions who live in them, guidance services linked to large employers fulfil their potential. and growing sectors. Through SLMAs, Core Cities will undertake to work with Local Councillor Keith Wakefield is Leader of Leeds Enterprise Partnerships and other local City Council and Core Cities cabinet member for businesses to build a commissioning framework Employment, Skills and Welfare – removing duplication, increasing skills and

Recommendation 9: …within national frameworks John Field

he commission’s ninth recommendation in education and training, the European said that there ‘should be effective Commission asked member states to nominate Tmachinery for creating a coherent national a national coordinator to bring the different strategy across the UK, and within the UK’s providers and policy bodies together. In this four nations’. As I see it, we have done rather case, the UK government appointed NIACE better on the first of these two goals than on as its national coordinator, and NIACE then the second. worked with other partner bodies across the Policy across the four ‘home nations’ UK to help promote the five priorities, raise is far from being coherent, but at least to awareness of adult learning, and improve the some extent it is co-ordinated. This is partly contribution of adult learning to other policy because the UK is required to respond to goals. wider international policy debates, particularly Similar co-ordination arrangements within the EU, and this in turn means that exist, often on a larger scale, for other the UK has to present a coherent face to the European activities, such as the Erasmus+ outside world. programme and the European Commission’s The main international organisations have structural programmes. And, of course, treated adult learning as a central focus for the UK government is involved in making policy in recent years. For example, following European policy, through its membership of the debates over lifelong learning from the the European Council and the Commission, mid-1990s, the European Commission issued a as well as its committees. The devolved communication on adult learning in 2006, and administrations of Wales, Scotland and followed it up with an action plan for the period Northern Ireland also have permanent 2008–2010, which was then superseded by the representative missions in Brussels. European Agenda for Adult Learning which set If the UK seems to present a reasonably five priorities for the period up to 2014. coherent face to the outside world, I can see As with most other policy initiatives very little consistency internally. Although the

24 ADULTS LEARNING AUTUMN 2014 four nations each have a named minister who is On the other hand, there is surely much responsible for adult skills and learning, there to be learned from dialogue and from each is little, if any, trace of planned co-ordination other’s experiences. In Scotland, for example, at ministerial level, and established connections the experiment of involving learners in policy between civil servants have become steadily development is surely worth watching. And weaker as devolution has proceeded. While while much may diverge, there is a great deal there are some marked policy similarities – for more which is common to us all. The rise example, part-time adult learning has been of MOOCs, the rapid development of social heavily cut in Wales, Scotland and Northern media, the explosion of digitised information, Ireland in recent years – this is more because the growth of citizen science, the persistent of shared views on the relative priority of adult problems of inequality and exclusion, and the learning at a time of recession. Among providers, the picture is more comforting. There is certainly a well- established ‘home nations’ system of networks If the UK seems to present a and institutions in higher education, and this is reflected in the co-existence of the UK-wide Universities Association for Lifelong Learning reasonably coherent face to the with a lively Scottish UALL. More broadly, NIACE has a major presence as an umbrella outside world, I can see very association in England and Wales, while the Forum for Adult Learning Northern Ireland little consistency internally. (FALNI) brings together the larger provider bodies, and two organisations – Scotland’s Learning Partnership and Learning Link Although the four nations Scotland – play a leadership role north of the border. each have a named minister This is not to suggest, though, that all is hunky-dory among the providers’ responsible for adult skills organisations. NIACE and the Scottish organisations have suffered cuts in income in the past few years, and this year the and learning, there is little, Scottish Government withdrew funding from Adult Learners’ Week; budget cuts have cost if any, trace of planned co- Northern Ireland the Workers’ Educational Association, Ulster People’s College and the Educational Guidance Service for Adults. ordination at ministerial level, My experience in a number of UK-wide bodies, including UALL, is that few meetings and established connections reach the coffee break without someone muttering about the numerical dominance of between civil servants have the English. The demographic asymmetry of our four nations means that genuine dialogue involves a lot of work, and a lot of tolerance. become steadily weaker as Moreover, as further policies are devolved, and the institutions edge steadily down slightly devolution has proceeded different national pathways, so the space for easy dialogue shrinks. So I don’t think we have seen much challenges and opportunities of an ageing and progress since 2009 in creating coherent diverse population are surely experiences that national strategies across the four nations, we face together – as we do with colleagues and nor in bringing together the different players partners in other parts of the world. Rather effectively within the four nations. That is than vainly seeking coherence, then, it might partly because policies are slowly developing in be better to accept a degree of messiness and different directions, not least because closely try to advance the common interests of learners related policy areas, such as employment and in a chaotic and dynamic world. health, are also largely devolved. Coherent strategies that bring together very different John Field is Chair of Scotland’s Learning government departments across four different Partnership and Emeritus Professor at the administrations are simply not on the agenda, University of Stirling. He was a commissioner on at least not at present. the Inquiry

AUTUMN 2014 ADULTS LEARNING 25 Recommendation 10: Make the system intelligent Mark Ravenhall

t this time of year I am always reminded achievement, together with information on of the words of a researcher who was innovation and capacity’. There was even Alooking at participation. It was mid- mention of linking with Public Service noughties, about the time the Inquiry into Agreements, which were blown away on the the Future for Lifelong Learning was getting cold winds of austerity. going. The researcher was based at the Part of the problem undoubtedly has been European Social Fund and I rang up to ask the cuts since 2009. NIACE, the sponsor of how many adults were participating in learning the Inquiry, was hit by the meltdown of the programmes on the ESF. After a considered Icelandic banking system. But in England at pause, and much consultation with colleagues, least the Department for Business, Innovation I was told that they could not tell me precisely and Skills has continued to fund R&D in adult as ‘it is like counting blowing leaves’. learning – often to the envy of our colleagues Blowing leaves? across Europe. The reason was, he said, that on the ESF at But is state-sponsored research the same that time ‘beneficiaries’ and their ‘outcomes’ as an independent state of the nation report? were often not defined in terms of learning – it Since 2009, the imperative in government has was all about getting a job, or being healthier been to fund support for research into existing (so you could get a job). Besides, adults tended policies and programmes. Increasingly, this to come on and off courses as part of ESF has been evaluative, with a strong emphasis programmes in a way that made it difficult to on making current policies work, rather than count. asking whether they were good ideas in the I finally got a figure, of course. A first place or how they affect other parts of the conservative estimate – based on what the ESF system (the one that springs to mind here is could count – was around a quarter of a million the introduction of income-contingent loans in adults. I’m not sure that this number ever further education). appeared in the official stats. There are exceptions, of course. NIACE’s Blown leaves. annual participation survey continues to define What was great about Learning Through Life learning in a way that embraces its informal, was that, among other things, it attempted to non-formal and formal aspects – the way it count the blowing leaves. It took the time to is in the real world, in other words. And this analyse systematically the state of the nation is interesting when set against the findings in lifelong learning. In this, it was unusual on from the employer surveys undertaken by the a number of fronts: one, it was about the whole UK Commission for Employment and Skills of lifelong learning and not the component (the ones that tells us that most employers parts it is often broken into, largely for don’t invest in training their staff). And I administrative convenience; two, the nation was know NIACE is doing some work looking at the UK and not its ‘components’; and three, it this alongside research from CEDEFOP and talked about a system rather than a sector, and the OECD. But all of this is still rooted in recognised that we engage with that system in ‘education and training’ in the way Learning different ways at different stages in our lives. Through Life was not. It also talked about funding, which is always Part of the problem is the interesting. compartmentalisation of policy making. The tenth recommendation was about Since Ed Balls’s time we have seen the parts continuing this good work and, by and large, it of the system pulled apart like Lego bricks, is not something we have lived up to. Although in England at least. The Department for there continues to be a lot of research about Children, Schools and Families (now the parts of the system, there is little about the Department for Education) could be seen as a entirety. To paraphrase E.M. Forster, we might noble attempt to join up ‘children’s services’. see it steadily, but we do not see it whole. But, on the other hand, it created a bifurcation There has been no State of Learning in the funding system between young adults report, as Learning Through Life recommended. (particularly those with high needs) and adult This report, the Inquiry suggested, should learning. Important initiatives like family be published every three years and include learning have continued despite these changes ‘statistics on participation, expenditure and not because of them. In looking hard at one

26 ADULTS LEARNING AUTUMN 2014 part of the system, we have neglected other parts – arguably those most important to To analyse the disconnect people on the ground. To analyse the disconnect between between departments is departments is a thesis in itself, and is particularly important at times of cutbacks. This is because the lack of joined-up policy a thesis in itself, and is making is wasteful. Think of the costs of administering the UK-wide Work Programme particularly important at (Department for Work and Pensions) alongside the adult skills programmes in four devolved nations. This is not to argue the system is times of cutbacks. This wrong – necessarily – but that someone needs to look at it as a whole. is because the lack of Such an analysis could bring in another aspect of recommendation 10 where there joined-up policy making is has been some progress. NIACE has done much work on the social return on investment in adult learning, led by Emily Jones, Penny wasteful. Think of the costs Lamb and the econometrics report by Daniel Fujiwara. There is also the Benefits of of administering the UK-wide Lifelong Learning (BeLL) project that includes work in Finland, Germany, Italy, Romania, Switzerland, Slovenia, Spain, Czech Republic, Work Programme alongside Serbia and the UK. There are any number of lonely, disconnected reports sitting on the the adult skills programmes shelves of think tanks, university departments and government agencies. in four devolved nations. This What is lacking is the will to see the system as a whole. There is even the feeling – a little like Margaret Thatcher’s view of society – that is not to argue the system there is no such thing as a system. But that depends if you see the system as planned or is wrong – necessarily – but emerging naturally. My favourite paper that contributed to Learning Through Life was the that someone needs to look one on local learning ecologies. That paper has the most resonance with me when visiting learning providers; it tells me that what we do at it as a whole in adult learning has a broader impact and that there are collaborative leadership implications because of this. Milburn, gives an indication of how this You can look at collaborative provision run might be done and presented to people. The in a local care home on dementia awareness. current NHS Five Year Forward Plan engaged It is led by the local FE college, the attendees a wide range of players and support – and is come from the NHS, or private sector carer generating a serious debate about longer-term agencies, or from voluntary agencies. They are funding. There has been the RSA’s City Growth cooks, occupational therapists, carers, nurses, Commission – and other work on systems-wide volunteers. There is an impact on their work leadership of place. All give glimpses of a way lives, their personal lives – many have elder forward. care roles at home – as well as people suffering Perhaps now is the time to start counting from dementia. This is a learning programme those blowing leaves. that led to dementia-friendly cutlery, cups, even toilet seats; the sort of impact that Mark Ravenhall is Chief Executive of the Further is invisible if you analyse the system by its Education Trust for Leadership constituent parts, or merely by outputs like qualifications. I think there is an increasing recognition of the need to see things both steadily and whole. The recent State of the Nation 2014: Social Mobility and Child Poverty, led by Alan

AUTUMN 2014 ADULTS LEARNING 27 lifelonglearning Lifelong waiting The vision of Learning Through Life was broad and generous, but the wait for an inclusive, resilient and imaginative lifelong learning strategy fit for the twenty-first century continues, writesALAN TUCKETT

ajor reports on the education of at first you don’t succeed, you don’t succeed’, adults cannot only be measured remains true for too many adults today. by their short-term impact. While It is important, then, to avoid overhasty Mthe 1919 report of the Ministry of judgements on the impact, five years on, of Reconstruction led to an expansion of provision, the independent Inquiry into the Future for particularly by local authorities, it remains a Lifelong Learning that NIACE commissioned key reference point for anyone making the while I was Chief Executive. Nevertheless, argument that adult learning is a key foundation it is hard not to feel frustrated that such an stone of an educated democracy. The Russell impressive report failed to secure the serious Report, published in 1973 – the year I started policy engagement that it deserved, despite the work full time in the adult education sector warmth of response to it by politicians on both – was shelved by Margaret Thatcher, but its sides of the Commons and by practitioners. focus on ‘disadvantaged adults’ helped set the NIACE was prompted to mount the Inquiry agenda for a generation of adult educators following the findings of a wide consultation, who campaigned for national programmes ‘The Big Conversation’, in 2006. This identified for the right to read, introduced English for a serious lack of coherent policy thinking Speakers of Other Languages, sought equal on lifelong learning. It came at the end of Photo: Ed Melia access to high-quality provision for adults with a bruising four-year period, in which the disabilities, and insisted on gender equality in expansion of adult learning opportunities seen participation. They also overhauled the adult during the first Labour government was eroded curriculum to make women less invisible and and overturned by an increasingly narrowly promoted education that was alive to difference focused policy, perhaps most simply summed up and diversity. in Alan Johnson’s call for ‘plumbing not Pilates.’ Like the Russell Report, the Advisory Council The Institute’s board decided to spend one for Adult and Continuing Education’s report million pounds of its own reserves to facilitate of 1984 suffered from being commissioned a wide-ranging and independent review. We under one (Labour) government and delivered persuaded Sir David Watson, then Professor under another (Conservative) one. Its key of Higher Education Policy at the Institute of recommendation was that there should be an Education, and a distinguished former vice- independent national development council chancellor, to chair it, and appointed Tom for what was then called adult continuing Schuller, the head of the OECD’s Centre for education – with a budget of £1,500,000. Educational Research and Innovation, to lead What the government offered instead was a it, backed by a team of NIACE research and £50,000-a-year Unit for the Development of administrative staff. Adult Continuing Education (ACACE), with By the time Learning Through Life was an agenda to be agreed with government. The published in 2009, the Inquiry had published Tomlinson Report, Inclusive Learning, was met 30 separate studies on aspects of policy. Each with bewilderment by the Further Education makes interesting reading, and some offer Funding Council when it was first published, exceptional contributions. But it is the main yet has had a profound impact on how further report that has attracted the most attention. It and adult education is organised. Meanwhile, contained two significant innovations: the work the key finding of the Kennedy Report, that ‘if calculating the total learning economy in the

28 ADULTS LEARNING AUTUMN 2014 niacemanifesto

UK, and the proposals to segment the adult I think, too, looking back, that the Inquiry’s life-span into four periods – up to 25, 25–50, thinking on work and the labour market failed 50–75 and 75-plus – and to re-balance the total to engage with or sufficiently excite the attention investment (whether from public or private of major employers, of training agencies, sources) attributable to each, to secure increased awarding bodies, or of individual trade unions, investment in the later years. At the heart of despite its endorsement of Lorna Unwin’s the four-ages critique was a recommendation, powerful analysis of the need to foster expansive if not a demand, that the collection of data on rather than restrictive workplaces. learning and skills should not stop at the end of Perhaps Learning Through Life lacked enough the conventional working life at 64, but should detailed engagement with the institutions be fully lifelong. through which so much post-compulsory Both innovations attracted interest. The education is undertaken. The absence of Commission for Employment and Skills cited detailed recommendations about what colleges, the work on the learning economy in its overall universities or community centres should do skills policy review, and used a modified was, I recall, a conscious decision. But it did version of the methodology to produce updated mean that when the central political machine figures, interestingly omitting tax relief for failed to engage sufficiently with the report, money spent on development by self-employed there were fewer practical measures for workers. However, there has yet to be a shift in institutions to take forward in the meantime, thinking at the Office for National Statistics. and it was easier, too, for vested interests to One proposal which has been picked up in a ignore the report’s challenges. modified form is the Mid-Life Career Review The largest failure, though, was in suggestion developed by Stephen McNair, who dissemination. It certainly sold well, shifting was part of the Inquiry team. in excess of 2000 copies in the first months. Other than that, the rich analysis that But sales are only one measure of success. We underpins the proposals on a citizenship should, on reflection, either have held back curriculum based on capabilities (digital, perhaps a quarter or more of the budget to financial, health and civic – I lost the argument ensure that the ideas were as widely promoted for including culture), the arguments for as they deserved, or we should have raised improved quality of work, for a strengthened significant additional funds to undertake that credit system, for a better-trained workforce, work. As it was, Tom Schuller and his colleagues and for an intelligent system, has joined the did an impressive range of presentations within plethora of well-argued proposals generated the limited budget available, and NIACE since the Second World War – valued more extended its budget for the work by another obviously by decision-makers in Hungary or quarter million, despite the increasingly difficult Canada than in England. economic context affecting it alongside all kinds In part, the reason for this can be laid at the of other adult learning bodies. feet of the bankers, whose excesses triggered the Notwithstanding these caveats, Learning 2007–08 recession. An inquiry begun in good Through Life remains the single most impressive times (you could say like Russell and ACACE piece of work generated by NIACE during before it) reported when confidence and bold the time I worked there. The breadth and judgment was in short supply. In part, too, generosity of its vision reads as freshly today as the timing of the report’s appearance, nine or when it was first written. Many of its ideas are 10 months before a general election, meant it there to be recycled and adapted for changing arrived too late to affect the major policy work circumstances, and its core proposal, that that informed the party manifestos, and too learning is a human right to which everyone, early for the fresh thinking any new government throughout their lives, should have access, is would need to undertake. In addition, its focus one that NIACE and all who work with adult was broad, at a time when the bulk of post- learners should properly endorse. Meanwhile, compulsory education thinking, influenced we continue to wait for government to adopt by successive skills White Papers, and by the an inclusive, resilient and imaginative lifelong Foster Review and the Leitch Report, was learning strategy fit for the twenty-first century. concerned with the narrower task of securing more qualified (as distinct from more broadly Alan Tuckett is President of the International educated) workers in the over-simplistic Council of Adult Education. He was Chief Executive belief that more qualifications would lead of NIACE when the Inquiry into the Future for automatically to improved productivity. Lifelong Learning was commissioned in 2007

AUTUMN 2014 ADULTS LEARNING 29 niacemanifesto A manifesto for lasting change

Learning Through Life has helped shape NIACE’s thinking, inspiring work such as the Citizens’ Curriculum and the Mid-Life Career Review. NIACE’s manifesto, which offers a vision for skills and lifelong learning and calls for a new settlement fit for the twenty-first century, aims to take the debate forward. TOM STANNARD explains

s the contributions to this special issue the challenges set out in the report. As Claire of Adults Learning attest, Learning Callender, for example, argues, we are no closer Through Life, the ground-breaking to the flexible, credit-based system envisaged Areport of the NIACE-sponsored by Learning Through Life. In fact, in some Inquiry into the Future for Lifelong Learning, respects, we are moving faster in the wrong has been an inspiration to many in the sector, direction. Nowhere is this more evident than as well as a major challenge to government and in higher education where the government’s providers. funding reforms have led to a dramatic decline As David Hughes notes in his commentary, in part-time student numbers. We know how you don’t have to look far to see the influence crucial this sort of learning is to our economic the report has had. The Mid-Life Career success – the benefits have never been better Review, which has provided more than understood and there is broad understanding 3000 adults aged between 45 and 65 with of the demographic challenges we face and the access to a review of their future options and role of learning and skills in addressing them. looks set to become a permanent part of the Yet, as Karen Evans puts it, some ‘historic gains’ education landscape, is one legacy of the in adult participation in learning are being approach set out in Learning Through Life. eroded.

Photo: Ed Melia The Citizens’ Curriculum being developed Keith Wakefield makes a welcome call by NIACE is another which we hope will for adult skills and local growth strategies make a real difference to the learning lives of to be better joined up, something NIACE adults. Whether you are concerned with the wholeheartedly supports. The Inquiry was development of the lifelong learning workforce, particularly prescient in proposing a revival the quality of skills or the need to ‘restore life in local responsibility and in its criticism of and power to local levels’, the Inquiry’s vision what had become an ‘over-centralised’ system, of ‘a society in which learning plays its full ‘insufficiently linked to local and regional role in personal growth and emancipation, needs’. The coalition has acknowledged this prosperity, solidarity and global responsibility’ and made some welcome moves in the right has continued relevance. direction. There is growing agreement that Despite its enduring relevance, however, it we need increased investment in skills and is clear that we are some way from meeting all that there must be considerable local influence

30 ADULTS LEARNING AUTUMN 2014 over how it is spent. The development of to-work policies of the Department for Work Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) is an and Pensions. This new department, we argue, opportunity here. But, all too often, LEPs should develop a national, integrated skills and local authorities do not take a sufficiently and industrial strategy to support what we holistic view of skills and economic growth, term a ‘new localism’ which ‘integrates skills developing separate strategies when there is with economic growth strategies and provides a clear need for greater joining up. As David leadership through LEPs and combined Hughes has argued, we need a three-pronged authorities’. approach here: LEPs and local authorities need To inform the new department’s work, our to understand and signal what skills are needed manifesto also calls for a major, independent in their areas; learning providers and employers review into the long-term skills needs and need to ensure the right courses are offered funding issues facing the UK over the next 20 that develop those skills; and people need to be years, to report by 2018. The reasons for this are persuaded to increase their skills and take up obvious. We have had a decade of remarkable loans available to them. Getting this right is vital and ongoing change, including change to for our cities and for our country. the demographic make-up of society and The latest government data on adult technological changes which would have been participation in learning, which highlight the unthinkable a generation ago. We know that very low take-up numbers for adult learning improving skills is crucial in responding to these loans, also demonstrate how far we have still to challenges, and in realising the potential of all go. In 2012–13 more than 400,000 people aged our people. Yet, while we should be spending 25 and over participated in learning at Levels 3 more on skills and learning, investment by and 4. However, in 2013–14 only 57,100 adults employers and the state is reducing. The wider paid for their Level 3 and 4 learning with a benefits of lifelong learning are well-recognised loan. Loans have also had a significant impact yet participation is declining. Meanwhile, we on apprenticeship starts, where there has been have seen multiple reviews of policy areas and a fall in the last year of more than 66,000 in wave after wave of reform, doing little to bring advanced apprenticeships and 900 in higher coherence across the piece. We desperately apprenticeships. Evidently, this is all profoundly need a review that will help develop a coherent damaging not only to individuals but also to and sustainable policy and funding system employers and the economy. As Ewart Keep for skills after the age of 18. We believe that argues, as an economy we face major challenges through a four-nation, cross-party commission concerning productivity and workplace we can deliver a long-term settlement for skills innovation. We need more (and different) and learning which supports occupational up- individuals to develop their skills through skilling, re-skilling and lifelong learning. training and we need more employers willing NIACE’s vision is of a truly lifelong learning and able to utilise those skills. As we argue in society in which all adults have opportunities our manifesto, Skills for Prosperity, we can no to learn and benefit from their learning at longer, as a society, afford to allow people to all stages of their lives. We want to see the stagnate in their careers. We need to ensure learner more in control of the learning they people have the right sorts of opportunities to do, supported by career review and co-funding learn, at every stage of their lives. from the state and employers, channelled, in One of the key concerns of Learning Through the spirit of Learning Through Life, through Life was with the lack of a coherent national personal skills accounts. We want a new learning strategy for lifelong learning. It called for a culture across the country in which all citizens single department with ‘lead responsibility have opportunities to learn throughout their for promoting lifelong learning, with cross- lives. The next UK government, we believe, government targets for lifelong learning’. The should recognise its role in forming a new social case for greater coherence is as strong as ever, contract that enables and encourages investment yet, as John Field argues, we seem no closer in skills for adults of all ages to benefit our to achieving it. That is why we take this key economy and society. Our aim is the same as policy aspiration forward in our manifesto. that of the Inquiry and its inspirational final We call for greater coordination at the heart report: to set an agenda for lifelong learning of government, specifically for a single UK that makes sense for our times. department responsible for education, skills and work, bringing together schooling, further Tom Stannard is Deputy Chief Executive, leading and higher education, as well as the welfare- NIACE’s work on policy and strategy

AUTUMN 2014 ADULTS LEARNING 31 NIACE Events and Publications NIACE Training Courses New Books from NIACE

Demonstrating Impact for Quality Handbook of the Recognition of Prior using RARPA: 1-day training Learning: Research into Practice

HRPL_Layout 1 05/09/2014 15:56 Page 1 Thursday 9 December 2014, London Edited by Christine Handbook of the Recognition Prior Learning Handbook of the Recognition of Prior Learning

Edited by Judy Harris, Christine Wihak and Joy Van Kleef

In the Handbook of the Recognition of Prior Learning: Research into 9.30am–4.00pm Wihak, Joy vanPractice, experienced researchersKleef consolidate and extend their research in terms of its implications for practice. Recognition of prior learning (RPL) is emerging as a distinct area of academic research with a growing body of scholarly literature. This handbook, organised thematically, consolidates the major research findings of experienced RPL researchers from around the world, identifying future research directions and drawing together evidence-based implications for policy and Judy Harrisand practice. This internationally relevant text will be of particular interest to academics, researchers and students in education, policy studies, widening partici pation, lifelong, adult, continuing, recurrent and initial

education and learning; practitioners concerned with RPL policy and Edited by Judy Harris, Christine Wihak and Joy Van Kleef actual RPL practice who wish to understand research and its relationship How to use Reading for Pleasure to practice or wanting to research (and improve) their own practice; and human resources managers.

September 2014About the editors Judy Harris is a freelance researcher and Adjunct Professor at Thompson Rivers University, Canada, where she sits on the Board of to support adult learning and skills: Directors of the Prior Learning International Research Centre. Handbook of the Christine Wihak is the Director of the Prior Learning International £29.95 Research Centre at Thompson Rivers University, Canada. Recognition of Joy Van Kleef is CEO of the Canadian Institute for Recognizing Learning and sits on the Board of Directors of the Prior Learning International A one-day workshop Research Centre at Thompson Rivers University, Canada. Prior Learning This handbook consolidates Research into practice http://shop.niace.org.uk ISBN 978-1-86201-861-7 Twitter: @NIACEhq Edited by Judy Harris, Christine Wihak @NIACECymru and Joy Van Kleef Wednesday 10 December 2014, the major research findings@NIACEbooks (Publications) of London experienced recognition of prior learning (RPL) researchers 9.45am–3.45pm from around the world, identifying future research directions and drawing together evidence-based E-learning tools for English and Maths implications for policy and practice. teaching: One-day training Learning to Make a Difference: Friday 9 January 2015, Leicester Student-Community Engagement and 9.45am–3.30pm the Higher Education Curriculum Juliet Millican and How to be a Functional Skills teacher: Tom Bourner A one-day workshop November 2014 Thursday 15 January 2015, London £24.95 10.00am–3.30pm Of equal importance to international academic and Using social networking to improve community audiences interested adult literacy: A one-day workshop in learning partnerships, this comprehensive guide presents Thursday 22 January 2015, Leicester the latest thinking and innovations in development 9.30am–4.00pm and professional practice in student–community engagement – an area of increasing interest and value to higher education institutions and communities alike.

For more information and Visit the NIACE bookshop at http://shop. to book places: niace.org.uk to buy and view titles from our full catalogue. NIACE publications are also available to buy in printed and ebook formats http://www.niace.org.uk/events from all good retailers and library providers worldwide. For full ordering details, please visit http://shop.niace.org.uk/how-to-order. General enquiries and in-house Terms and conditions training requests, contact us at: Please note that the price and availability of publications is subject to change without notice. NIACE reserves the right to amend or withdraw any [email protected] product or service featured. Orders for products not yet published will be fulfilled when stock becomes available. For full terms and conditions, please visit http://shop.niace.org.uk/terms