LIFELONG LEARNING
Monthly newsletter from VUP International
BOOK REVIEW BY PETER CRITTEN
http://www.mcb.co.uk/virtual-university-press/bookshops.htm
MANAGING CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN SCHOOLS
(1997) edited by Harry Tomlinson. Paul Chapman Publishing Ltd. London. ISBN
1 85396 345 3
NEW LINK IN THE EXHIBITION HALL
http://www.mcb.co.uk/virtual-university-press/exhibiti.htm
The World Association for Online Education (WAOE): an educators organization
dedicated to turning online education into a professional discipline.
Virtual University Journal
http://www.openhouse.org.uk/virtual-university-press/vuj/
Unique, refereed international journal focusing on lifelong learning
Some free access papers available in the archive
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Issue 3: Contents, Abstracts & Keywords
Alternatives to the functionalist paradigm: perspectives on individual
learning ( HTML | PDF)
Michael Strain
Several European states, including the UK, Ireland, Finland and the EU, have
recently published discussion papers on The Learning Society (OECD, 1995;
CEC, 1996; DfEE, 1997a; Department of Education and Science, 1998). The term
itself is imprecise and its conceptual and practical implications are
diffuse (Alheit, 1998) and not yet generally agreed. European Governments,
within a range of different emphases and rhetorical presentations, have
tended to focus on economic and industrial aspects of the Learning Society
and policies for its implementation have been framed within a narrowly
utilitarian and economistic perspective (Hughes and Tight, 1995; Tight,
1998).
Keywords: Functionalism, learning society, lifelong learning, learning for
life, strategic leadership, model of control, social action, learning
experience, NVQ, education policy, professionalised sectors, casualised
sectors, globalization, economic welfare.
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The Great Uncashed: Mature Students, CATS and AP(E)L ( HTML | PDF) Anthony
Wailey, Robert Simpson,
The implementation of the structural changes resulting from the introduction
of modularisation and credit based systems can draw attention away from the
quality of learning and teaching. The impact of recent organisational change
has highlighted key questions about how we meet students' needs and how
students maintain a sense of coherence of their learning experience in
Higher Education. These questions are particularly significant with
increased accessibility and student numbers rising to 1.3 million. Kennedy
(May, 1997) and Dearing (July, 1997) and the Fryer Report (November,1997)
set out the challenge of turning the vision of a Life Long Learning society
into reality. This paper proposes a framework for academic guidance within a
credit based system of Credit Transfer and which recognises the widening
range of different student experiences by attaching increased importance to
the assessment of prior certificated and experiential learning, AP(E)L, for
the greater numbers of mature students entering Higher Education. More
flexible systems of curriculum delivery, which are designed to rationalise
resources in the context of widening participation and mass expansion, have
often been bolted on and are not without their critics (Edward's 1992).
Given the decline in resource in what is still a transitional phase of
student expansion, it is essential that participants within the education
process are encouraged to understand the processes involved in their own
learning and are equipped to satisfy their own Learning Development needs.
These needs are defined from the situation of the student i.e. the demands
of the learning programme, the different levels of study, the demands of the
assessment and the teaching methods used ( Hurley 1994.) Students need
guidance in information retrieval, the setting of learning objectives and
more importantly in dealing with assessment.
Keywords: Learning needs, student guidance, teaching methods, tranisitional
phase, widening participation, flexible systems, stages of learning,
curriculum, assessment, learning programmes, learning objectives, levels,
achievement, life long learning, experiential learning, credit, APEL,
choice.
CALL FOR PAPERS
To submit a paper to VUP titles contact publisher Anne Christie
achristie@irdc.com
