This book weaves together different strands of research in the area of lifelong learning that concentrates particularly on learning in alternative settings and ways, such experiential learning and informal and community learning. Drawing upon international research, the book examines how these strands of research can contribute to each other.

The contributions to this book are based on material presented at a conference at the Centre for Research in Lifelong Learning, UK, and they focus on research into key issues of policy and practice in lifelong learning. Establishing a wider framework for debate about the meaning and significance of lifelong learning, this timely and thought-provoking book provides practitioners in the field with a relevant and current discussion on some very important ideas about non-formal education.

This book weaves together different strands of research in the area of lifelong learning that concentrates particularly on learning in alternative settings and ways, such experiential learning and informal and community learning. Drawing upon international research, the book examines how these strands of research can contribute to each other. The contributions to this book are based on material presented at a conference at the Centre for Research in Lifelong Learning, UK, and they focus on research into key issues of policy and practice in lifelong learning. Establishing a wider framework for debate about the meaning and significance of lifelong learning, this timely and thought-provoking book provides practitioners in the field with a relevant and current discussion on some very important ideas about non-formal education.

This book explores the way in which the pressures of globalisation are shaping higher education funding and access across the world. Higher education is seen as a way of developing human capital and building knowledge economies, but major debates continue about who should attend university; how the costs of higher education should be distributed between the individual student and the state; how students from non-traditional backgrounds can be helped to succeed in higher education; and the intended and unintended consequences of widening access initiatives. Globalisation is not a uni-directional force, but is accompanied by movements to reinforce the local and the regional, often driven by fears of loss of identity. Universities across the world have become more powerful and autonomous from the state, but at the same time students as consumers of education have an increasingly powerful voice. They frequently find themselves in opposition to the business model which infuses higher education systems and student protests have had a strong influence on policy development. This book explores the way in which the twin pressures of globalisation and localisation play out in higher education across the developed world, often reflected in more specific debates on fees regimes, access and culture.