Creating A Learning Society?

Lifelong learning is a key government strategy - both in the UK and internationally - to promote economic growth and combat social exclusion. This book presents a highly innovative study of participation in lifelong learning and the problems which need to be overcome if lifelong learning policies are to be successful. It:

provides a systematic analysis, based on innovative empirical research, of the social and economic realities which actually determine patterns of participation in lifelong learning;

shows what the factors are that shape people's participation, or their decision not to participate;

offers new insights into the processes of lifelong learning, which have important implications for the development of more effective policies.

Stephen Gorard is Professor of Education and Public Policy at Durham University. He is a member of the UK DfE Associate Pool, the British Academy grants panel, the ESRC commissioning panel for Strategic Networks, and Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences. He regularly gives advice to governments and other policy-makers, and is a widely read and cited methodologist, involved in international and regional capacity-building activities, and used as an adviser on the design of rigorous evaluations by central and local governments, NGOs and charities.