A question of value : achievement and progression in adult learning : a discussion paper by McGivney, Veronica, National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (England and Wales) instant download

A question of value : achievement and progression in adult learning : a discussion paper by McGivney, Veronica, National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (England and Wales) instant download

42 pages ; 30 cm, This is an important discussion paper that will make interesting reading for all those involved in adult education. It also feeds into the wider and enduring debates about the measurement of learning outcomes and the relationship between learning and learning outcomes. The competing interpretations of the concepts of progression, achievement, and outcomes are prevalent in all educational arenas but the debate is especially pertinent with regards to adult education. This paper explores the different definitions and the value positions that each represents. McGivney explores the gap between the priorities of policy makers, educational professionals and the learners themselves and the gap turns out to be very wide. When questioned about the benefits of taking part in formal learning activities, adult learners repeatedly talk about the intangible benefits such as increased self-confidence and enjoyment, whereas policy makers and funders of adult education are more concerned with qualifications. The problem for the researcher lies in finding ways to quantify the former and to enrich the discourses around the latter. Qualifications have dominated conversations about education policy for at least twenty years but there has also been an increase in interest in the wider benefits of adult learning to the individual and to society and the author sets her arguments in the context of a recent historical account of these developments. Central to the paper is the problem of combining an appreciation of what the author calls 'hard' and 'soft' outcomes of adult learning in policy debates and research projects. Helping learners to reflect on their own learning and to articulate their progression is crucial to moving the debate on: the perspective of adult learners on learning activities has hitherto been conspicuously absent from political conversations about adult education. As McGivney convincingly argues, discerning what the diverse population of adult learners