Int Rev Educ (2012) 58:141–143 DOI 10.1007/s11159-012-9266-8 BOOK REVIEW

Lifelong learning in paid and unpaid work: Survey and case study findings By D. W. Livingstone (ed.). Routledge, London and New York, 2010, 247 pp. ISBN 978-0-415-56564-6 (hbk); 978-0-415-61983-7 (pbk); 978-0-203-85316-0 (e-book) Alan Rogers

Published online: 21 February 2012  Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2012

This important book brings into the public domain some of the findings of two major research projects based in Canada – New Approaches to Lifelong Learning (NALL) and Work and Lifelong Learning (WALL). The book focuses on ‘‘advanced capitalist market economies’’ (pp. 4, 239), i.e. Canada, with a welcome but brief excursus to Germany, but its messages apply to many other societies – and similar studies are needed in the emerging economies. This collection of papers seeks to explore ‘‘informal learning’’ in an expanded definition of ‘‘work’’ to include unpaid work in the household and in voluntary activities (in leisure and community-based organisations; these categories are seen as ‘‘relative and overlapping’’, p. 3). Some general surveys are first summarised, and this section is followed by some of the case studies prepared during the two projects (including lifelong learning and gender, disabilities, immigrants and teachers). The book recognises two key issues. The first is that the definition of informal learning used in the surveys and in some of the case studies was limited to ‘‘selfconsciously registered’’ (p. 15) learning (intentional, planned, purposeful). But these learning episodes take place within a wider context of learning. ‘‘Learning is a necessity’’ (p. 73), ‘‘… a continuous process with moments of greater intensity and identifiability’’ (p. 15); ‘‘humans inherently cope with their changing environment by learning’’ (p. 22). The book helpfully distinguishes: ‘‘Sometimes the learning process was intentional and conscious (self-directed), sometimes it was unintentional but conscious (incidental or … accidental), and sometimes it was unintentional and unconscious (tacit)’’ (p. 87). It (like Eraut and others) points to learning which is reactive and learning which is deliberative (p. 165). And learning is relational, springs from social interactions: ‘‘While it is the individual who learns, learning always happens in a social context and is socially constructed within the normative demands and values of different cultures’’ (p. 73). Such unconscious A. Rogers (&) University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK e-mail: [email protected]

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learning (or what has been called elsewhere ‘‘task-conscious learning’’ as distinct from ‘‘learning-conscious learning’’), which is by far the largest amount of learning that goes on, applies to everyone, so there is no such person as a ‘‘non-learner’’. It creates tacit funds of knowledge and values (pp. 16, 88–90) which are used every day to enable us all to negotiate our way through life; it creates our learning styles; and when brought into consciousness through critical reflection, forms the basis for new conscious learning. The book helpfully draws a distinction between informal learning and informal education (e.g. p. 20), and talks of ‘‘the invisible work of informal teaching’’ (p. 144). The book then constantly recognises the importance of the unintentional tacit learning which occurs during the course of everyday living, but points out that because this is ‘‘unrecognized even by the individual engaged in it’’ or not defined as ‘‘learning’’, self-referential surveys cannot reach these ‘‘learning practices situated in the everyday lives of ordinary people’’ (pp. 7–8). The case studies can enter into the area of unconscious learning more fully than can the survey. And here the second issue which the book openly acknowledges arises, the difference between the qualitative methodologies used by the case studies and the quantitative methods of the general survey (there is an interesting error on page 222 when discussing this). It regrets that the survey comes before the case studies (p. 7). But not everyone will agree that the purpose of the case studies is to ‘‘refine’’ and ‘‘ratify’’ (p. 223) the survey. Others will see ethnographic-style case studies as challenging the validity of the wide-sweeping generalisations resulting from the large-scale surveys. What this process of ‘‘cart before the horse’’ (pp. 6–7) means is that the assumptions behind the research are those of the researchers, not of the researched. Frankly, the sequencing in this case does not matter: the case studies are free to challenge the survey and indeed do so on occasion. Differences of opinion within the research projects’ teams are in fact aired in the volume (e.g. Chapter 12). One very welcome area explores the learning within housework (Chapter 3) and the possibility of transfer of skills into the (paid) workplace. Another looks at the transition between work and education. Workplace learning (including the role of mentors) also features. The claim that the learning achieved through participation in social movements (both advocacy and action) has been neglected does scant justice to the work of many academics and practitioners since the 1980s and even earlier (especially the trade union programmes). But (from a personal point of view) the most important statement in the book comes in this connection: ‘‘voluntary organizations provide few opportunities for volunteers to reflect individually and collectively on their learning experiences, … volunteers in community organizations are more likely to affect [sic] long-lasting social change when they can reflect on their informal learning, draw explicit lessons and act upon them’’ (p. 8). This is true of all the areas listed in this book – including paid work-places, homes and schools; as Vygotsky urged, helping learners to make the unconscious conscious is the foundation for all new learning, and this can be advanced by opportunities for critical reflection. One last important point: the book recognises that over-claiming for lifelong learning, as in ‘‘blaming … workers for having no paying jobs because they did not learn enough’’, is not just: ‘‘Canada [and other countries] does not have a shortage

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of skilled workers but instead a shortage of skilled jobs for workers’’. ‘‘Educational reforms should always be encouraged for human enrichment. But only economic reforms that address basic dimensions of work … can enhance substantially the quality [and quantity] of employment and its outcomes’’ (pp. 73, 236). At a time of international recession, employers tend to cut the budget on staff training. We need more learning opportunities for adults, not fewer; but these must be accompanied by structural changes and reflexivity. Otherwise, we shall once again blame the victims. This book will add mightily to the debates around these issues – and more such studies are needed in other contexts.

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