Conceptualizing Participation in Adult Learning and Education: Equity Issues

Understanding unskilled work as a condition for participation in adult education and training

“…The presentation is mainly based on a review conducted by Rubenson (2011); though it is complemented with present, primarily European studies examining participation in adult education and training focused on low and unskilled workers, and studies examining policies on adult education and training. The intention is to examine how they contribute to and condition the understanding of participation and non-participation in adult education and training.…”

“…According to Rubenson the past 50 years of research on participation in and recruitment to adult education can be divided into 5 partly overlapping traditions (Rubenson, 2011). It is suggested that a sixth tradition can be identified and must be added to Rubenson's mapping in order to get an adequate overview of the current research field.…”

“…Researchers in this tradition are preoccupied with comparing participants to non-participants. In this tradition's seminary work Volunteers for Learning by Johnstone & Rivera (1965), the authors examined how different groups described their motivation for taking part in adult education (Rubenson, 2011). They found that the expectation of being able to apply the acquired skills and knowledge in practise was the greatest incentive for participation.…”

“…(Johnstone & Rivera cited in Rubenson, 1975, p.113) The studies within the first tradition are predominantly descriptive and have subsequently been criticised for lack of theoretical foundation (Rubenson, 2011).…”

“…The goal of the second tradition is to examine how participants are motivated to participate in different types of adult education and how motivation can be conceptualised and measured (Rubenson, 2011). Research on motivation within the second tradition aims to examine what determines human action.…”