Centre for Research in Lifelong Learning 4 February 2003

1
Centre for Research in Lifelong Learning4
February 2003

• Researching the social contexts of adult
  learning the contribution of social milieu
  analysis

2
Participation Research - some common
characteristics

• A recruitment paradigm?
• Participation (and its meanings) treated as
  largely unproblematic
• Strongly institutional focus
• Tendency to concentrate on non-participants and
  the hard-to-reach
• Over-riding focus on barriers and obstacles

3
Social milieu analysis

• Emerged in early 80s from ongoing research into
  lifeworlds (SINUS)
• Defined by Barz as a structure produced by (a)
  social position and (b) fundamental value
  orientations, daily routines, desires, anxieties
  and expectations of the future
• Barz 2000, 27

4
Seminal influences

• Pierre Bourdieu
• Conceptual contribution (cultural capital, social
  capital, habitus)
• Metaphor of the social space

5
Seminal influences

• World Values Survey
• Basic values beliefs
• 90 countries
• Evidence of cultural change
• Rise of post-materialist values

6
Seminal influences

• Michael Vester
• Early influence of E P Thompson Raymond
  Williams (Die Entstehung des Proletariats als
  Lernprozess. Die Entstehung antikapitalistischer
  Theorie und Praxis in England 1792-1848, 1972)
• Large scale research into changing social
  structures and values

7
New social milieus and pluralised class society
(1991)

• Funded by Marplan
• Drew on SINUS methods for studying habitus
• Vester et al, 1991

8
Survey instrument used in Vester study (60
minutes)

• Mentalities and politics - habitus, social
  cohesion (style of sociability),leisure
  (sociability practices), socio-political stance,
  political participation
• Social situation and position - socialisation
  form (household family), socialisation status
  (gender, age, faith), partners position (social,
  economic cultural capital), territorial milieu,
  own social status (cultural economic capital),
  parents grandparents social status

9
Survey Instrument - examples

• Habitus
• Mentality types
• 44 statements
• Four level scale

• I often have the urge to experience something new
  and striking
• For me, life means having fun and being able to
  do what pleases me
• I find the old work virtues of discipline and
  obedience totally loathsome
• Christian values play no role in my life
• In marriage, both partners should have their own
  circles of friends and acquaintances
• An ideal job is one in which you can realise your
  social and political values

10
Survey Instrument - examples

• Social cohesion
• Styles of sociability
• 39 statements
• Four level scale

• I enjoy celebrating my birthday with lots of
  other people
• I feel tightly bound up with my close friends
• I value good manners
• Outside my family, I have few friends and
  acquaintances
• Unfortunately I dont have enough time to keep up
  my friendships
• I really enjoy doing something silly with my
  friends
• I really dont like it when people visit
  unannounced
• My friends and I share pretty much the same views
• I can always count on my friends for help
• I enjoy flirting

11
Survey Instrument - examples

• Socio-political position
• Style of politics
• 45 statements
• Four level scale

• If you want to change something today as an
  ordinary citizen, you have to take things into
  your own hands
• I think its good when people go onto the streets
  for their political beliefs
• I cannot stomach politicians who are so polite
  and self-controlled all the time
• Foreigners living here in Germany should have the
  right to vote
• I think - politics is a men thing
• Trade unions, with their excessive demands, are
  holding back economic recovery
• Politicians can promise what they want, I dont
  believe them any more
• Most people who arent achieving have only
  themselves to blame

12
Core values of the SINUS milieus
13
Social milieus in West Germany according to SINUS
1998
Social position ?
Value orientation ?
14
Social milieus in West Germany according to SINUS
1998
Social position ?
Conservative-technocratic10
Liberal-intellectual 10
Modern bourgeois 9
Postmodern 7
Petty bourgeois 8
Modern workers 8
Aspiring 20
Hedonistic 13
Traditional workers 4
Traditionless workers 11
Value orientation ?
15
Social milieus in West Germany according to SINUS
1998
Social position ?
Value orientation ?
16
References to social milieu etc in the SSCI,
2000-2002

• Psychology 12
• Sociology/social work 11
• Health 7
• Politics 6
• Education 3
• Cultural studies 3
• History 1

17
Peter Alheit Map of milieus in the
contemporary German society
18
The Hannover Study (1997)

• Vester one of the directors
• Focus on participation in Arbeit und Leben (
  WEA)
• Expert focus groups, participation data,
  interviews, focus groups

19
Hannover - four participant types

• The traditionals
• Mostly aspirational and traditional workers
• Old skilled worker mentality, strong trade union
  loyalty
• Reservations over modernisation
• PEL seen as a hard won right
• Preference for traditional trade union education
  methods and topics
• Classical Arbeit Leben participants

20
Hannover - four participant types

• The educationally distant
• Mostly traditional and respectable
  traditionless workers
• Insecure and aggressive towards excessive
  intellectualism
• Nostalgia for economic stability and union
  organisation
• Included the resigned and the dissatisfied
  hedonists
• Classical Arbeit und Leben participants

21
Hannover - four participant types

• The self-determining
• Mostly modern workers, but some aspirationals
• Winners of social modernisation and confident
  about the future
• PEL as a combination of relevant skills and
  pleasure in life
• Preference for new, undogmatic themes and methods
• Rarely reached at present by Arbeit und Leben

22
Hannover - four participant types

• The performance oriented pragmatists
• Mostly aspirationals, some modern workers
• Well qualified and with high demand skills
• Performance oriented, functional view of
  education
• PEL seen as a week off work
• Arbeit und Leben does not easily match their
  orientation towards goals and efficiency

23
The Freiburg Study (Barz 2000)

• Used the SINUS milieu model
• Focus on participation in VHS
• Survey data, interviews, individual learning
  biographies

24
Freiburg - higher conservative milieu

• Virtually all had taken VHS courses
• Main interests European languages, arts crafts
• Social political subjects generally avoided
• Dislike of school type of environment
• Ideal building a beautiful old villa
• Enjoyed experiential learning styles
• Liked getting to know other participants
• Saw themselves as untypical VHS students

25
Freiburg - traditional workers milieu

• Second highest level of VHS-resisters (after
  Traditionless Workers milieu)
• Main interests arts crafts, cookery, literacy
• Preference for something useful
• Greatly enjoyed excursions
• Anxious that other learners might know more
• VHS viewed as wenig gemutlich and unattractive
• Irritated by title Hochschule

26
Freiburg - new workers milieu

• Much higher participation than among the old
  workers
• Wide range of subjects studied by individuals
• Main interests in personal development courses,
  especially where bridged private life and work
  life, sports and vocational skills
• Generally critical view of VHS experiences
• Complained of too much role play group work
• Enjoyed innovative pedagogies and
  self-realisation techniques

27
Freiburg - technocratic-liberal milieu

• Virtually all had taken VHS courses, but often
  some time ago
• Some had taught VHS courses
• Modern languages most popular, followed by arts
  and creative subjects and office technical skills
• Continuing education as concerned with the whole
  person (NLP, construction, psychodrama!)
• Enjoyed excursions and specialist speakers
• Focus on the subject and not happenings, but
  enjoyed active learning and individual initiative
• Disliked school-type environments and powdered
  coffee

28
Freiburg - hedonistic milieu

• Broken relationships with educational
  institutions
• Nearly all had studied at VHS, but sporadically
• Languages popular, but a rather exotic mix (eg
  Hebrew, Swedish, Conversational French for
  film-buffs)
• Often complained courses failed to live up to
  expectations, but also willing to revise view in
  discussion
• Preferred rural locations for block events
• Claimed to study just-for-fun
• Preference for autodidactic learning

29
Freiburg -understandings of CE

• Personal/social competence
• POMO
• HED
• NWM
• ASP TEC
• Reactive Active
• CON
• PTB
• TRW
• TLW
• Professional/vocational competence

30
Questions and implications

• Relevance to the study of adult learning in
  Scotland
• Gaps and weaknesses
• The problems of middle range theory