Researching Widening Access to Lifelong Learning Issues and Approaches in International Research

Governments around the world have committed themselves to increasing participation in access to further and higher education. In order to formulate and implement policies and interventions to this end, education policy-makers and managers need access to reliable, wide-ranging, and cutting-edge research derived from a range of qualitative and quantitative methodologies, and conducted in a variety of contexts. "Researching Widening Access in Further and Higher Education" is a comprehensive exploration of how such research can most effectively be conducted, the different forms it can take, and its significance and value for education policy.

This authoritative volume is a truly international contribution to the worldwide debate on how best to widen access to lifelong learning.The first section of the book comprises research studies from around the world, reflecting the diversity of contexts in which widening access is researched and considers issues central to the access debate, including different understandings of the concept of access, organisational and structural change, curriculum development, entry policies, performance and retention and labour market outcomes.The second section illustrates diverse and innovative methodological approaches that have been employed by researchers in the field, and considers the range of approaches available.Given the growing concern around the world on the need to combat social exclusion and to improve economic circumstances through access to lifelong learning, this book acts as a unique reference point informing the ongoing debate, exploring the relationships between research, policy and practice.

Part 1: Key Issues 1. An international perspective on researching widening access, Michael Osborne and Jim Gallacher 2. Researching widening access: an overview, Peter Scott 3. Researching access in a rapidly changing context: experiences from higher education in South Africa, Shirley Walters 4. Looking through the kaleidoscope: diversification, accessibility and inequality in Scottish higher education, Brenda Morgan-Klein and Mark Murphy 5. Discourses of access: changing views in a changing world, David Boud 6. Widening access and literacy, Joseph Lo Bianco 7. Widening access for the education of adults in the United States, Juanita Johnson-Bailey and Ronald M. Cervero 8. E-learning and access: getting behind the hype, Jo Barraket 9. Access as more: issues of student performance retention and institutional change, Hunter R. Boylan 10. After access: researching labour market issues, Ewart Keep Part 2: Methodological Issues 11. Participatory paradigms: researching 'with' rather than 'on', Ramón Flecha and Jesús Gómez 12. Questions of access and participation: some contributions from qualitative research, Beth Crossan and Michael Osborne 13. Biography and narratives: adult returners to learning, Barbara Merrill and Peter Alheit 14. Counting access: problems and puzzles, Alasdair Forsyth and Andy Furlong 15. E-learning, marginalized communities and social capital: a mixed method approach, Sara Ferlander 16. Organisation behaviour, research and access, Chris Duke 17. The case study approach to research in adult literacy, numeracy and ESOL, Rob Mark 18. Researching widening access: the future agenda, Jim Gallacher and Beth Crossan

Mike Osborne is Professor of Lifelong Learning, Co-Director of the Centre for Research in Lifelong Learning, University of Stirling and editor of the Journal of Adult and Continuing Education. Jim Gallacher is a Professor of Lifelong Learning and Co-Director of the Centre for Research in Lifelong Learning, Glasgow Caledonian University. Beth Crossan is Research Fellow at the Centre for Research in Lifelong Learning, Glagow Caledonian University.