The Second Chance Myth: Equality of Opportunity in Irish Adult Education Policies

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The Second Chance Myth Equality of Opportunity
in Irish Adult Education Policies

• Dr. Bernie Grummell
• Equality Studies Centre
• UCD School of Social Justice

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Introduction

• Examining the influence of state policies on
  adult education
• Focus on the contribution of adult education to
  democratic society
• Equality second chance learning
• Impact of neoliberal discourses
• Exploring themes of individualism, market
  competition, expert control leisure/consumerism

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Adult Education and Policy Making In Republic of
Ireland

• Emerged from voluntary cultural and agricultural
  movements
• Lack of state support until 1990s
• Due to pressures of modernisation
• Green Paper 1998 Adult education in an era of
  learning
• White Paper 2000 Learning for life white paper
  on adult education

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Fleming (200415)

• the Irish state has particular difficulty
  acting in the interests of this community or
  civil society because, some would say, it has
  been seduced, maybe corrupted, by the economy to
  act in its interests. In this way the tendency
  of the State is to support a vision of lifelong
  learning and adult education that sustains the
  economy and values learning that involves job
  skills and up-skilling. In fact the Government
  sets as a priority the learning that supports
  economic development. There is a rhetoric of
  social inclusion and equality but that too has an
  economic intent. There is a contradiction
  between the inequality the system needs
  (according to the Minister of Justice) and the
  objective of social cohesion or social justice.

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Discourse of Green Paper, 1998

• Definition of A.E. all systematic learning by
  adults, which contributes to their development as
  individuals and as members of the community and
  of society apart from full-time instruction
  received by persons as part of their
  uninterrupted initial education and training.
  (DES, 199816).
• Context an era of rapid economic change and job
  creation, where education and skill
  deficiencies must not pose a barrier to any
  person in accessing a livelihood (DES, 19987)
• Aims consolidation of existing adult education
  structures and facilitating equality of access

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Discourse of White Paper, 2000

• Definition of A.E.aspects of further and third
  level education, continuing education and
  training, community education, and other
  systematic learning by adults, both formal and
  informal (DES, 200012)
• Context Move from primacy of economic factors to
  address broader array of social and community
  issues, including equality and interculturalism.
• Aims consciousness-raising, citizenship,
  cohesion, competitiveness, cultural development
  and community development (DES, 200028)

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1. Individualism, Consumerism Reflectivity

• Individual autonomy unproblematic
  self-determination
• Lifelong learning and continual self-development
• Interculturalism A.E. enabling social inclusion
• State focus on provision of services facilities
• Neoliberal myth of unprecedented modernisation
  and societal change
• Cult of individualism' highlights 'promotion of
  the educated individual (Hargreaves, 19801878)
• Individual/streamed approaches discourage
  collective responsibility and action

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1. Individualism, Consumerism Reflectivity

• Reflectivity develop new understandings
  transformation from past experiences
• Essential in modern risk society (Beck, 1990)
• Over-reliance on individual rather than
  collective
• Freires first stage of situated pedagogy
• Lack of dialogic pedagogy critical
  transivity
• a critically transitive thinker feels empowered
  to think and to act on the conditions around her
  or him, and relates those conditions to the
  larger contexts of power in society (Shor,
  199332)
• move to transformation of institutional structures

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2. Neoliberalism, Economic Change Market
Competition

• Economic myths (Hughes Tight,1995291)
• Productivity myth education ?productivity
• Change myth competitive knowledge economy
• From public good to private good (Lawson,1998)
• Education as a controlling disciplinary force
• Working to the advantage of management in
  business and industry, professional organizations
  and large-scale institutions when individuals who
  depend on them appear to be voluntarily directing
  their educational projects through formal
  learning contracts and in accordance with
  institutional purposes (Collins,1996112)

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3. Institutional Control, Professionalism
Expertise

• Accepted unquestioned role of professionalism
  and expertise in meritocratic educational system
• Professionalism associated with instrumental and
  technical expertise (Schön,1996)
• alliance between the state, professions and
  capital (Hughes and Tight,1995297)
• Professional educators shape and deliver an
  educated public (Vincent, 1993)
• Feminist pedagogy neglect of tacit or
  implicit knowledge of everyday life/private
  sphere
• Presumption of universalism neglect of power

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4. Leisure, Consumerism the Voluntary Nature
of A.E.

• Traditional image of A.E. as a luxury and
  voluntary pursuit of hobby-based learning
• Critical and feminist pedagogy focus on tacit
  knowledge blurs private/public sphere divide
• Convergence between leisure and learning in
  modern consumerism technology (Strain,1997)
• 35-40 participation rate in A.E. (King et al.,
  2002 Sargant, 1996 Rinne and Kiniven, 1996)
• Marketisation of voluntary A.E. leisure as
  lifestyle commodity e.g. of business sports
• Used as incorporation mechanism (Inglis,1997)

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Conclusion the emancipatory potential of adult
education

• Constraining force of individual autonomy,
  economic competitiveness, expertise and
  consumerism
• Responsibility placed on the individual to enact
  change/privatisation of other forms of learning
• Empowerment is surrender and compliance to this
  power emancipation is resistance and
  transgression (Inglis,199711)
• Analysis of how power operates to prevent
  colonialization of lifeworld (Habermas, 1987)
• Need for education of equals achieving
  critical transivity (Freire, 1972)