Each month Dr Andrew Dean of the Marchmont Observatory summarises the research, reports and publications that are shaping the field of learning. This month's round-up includes a report on how a person's mental resources change through life, the GDP cost of those who miss out on education through poverty and the problem with the over-educated.
Developing our brains from cradle to grave
The study into 'Mental Capital and Wellbeing' looks at how a person's mental resources change through life, as a child, adult and in old age, and identifies factors that can help or hinder their development. The consequences are substantial for individuals, wider society and the economy. Mental wellbeing changes from day to day and is linked to personal and social fulfilment.
http://www.info4local.gov.uk/filter/?item=999238
The GDP cost of the lost learning potential of adults who grew up in poverty
Growing up in poverty reduces employment prospects and earnings in later life. This has a negative impact on GDP through lost productivity. Quantifying these personal and public costs opens the way to discovering the potential impact of abolishing child poverty.
http://www.jrf.org.uk/bookshop/eBooks/2300-poverty-employment-earnings.pdf
Are over-educated people insiders or outsiders
The main aim of this research was to investigate the possible influences of job search methods on the likelihood of becoming over-educated.
http://www.esri.ie/UserFiles/publications/20080929121714/WP258.pdf
Vocational training in community groups: social capital, education and equality
This research sets out a position on the workings and benefits of such training arrangements, and uses a number of informal and formal case studies gathered from news reports and empirical studies to make the case.
http://www.skillsdevelopment.org/PDF/CSD%20Working%20Paper%20No.2%20-%20Vocational%20Training%20in%20Community%20Groups%20KS.pdf
Supporting all learners
The best way to ensure that learners from all sectors of society have real access, without barriers, to a technology-enhanced education is to involve them in the design of educational technologies, suggests a new report from education innovator, Futurelab. The report, 'Designing for Social Justice: People, Technology, Learning’, raises fundamental questions about who is best placed to make decisions in the design process and questions whether current technologies for learning are meeting the needs of all learners.
http://www.futurelab.org.uk/resources/publications-reports-articles/opening-education-reports
Do you know of research that should appear here? Send your information, research and links to Dr Andrew Dean at a.dean@exeter.ac.uk
