Learning for a living

An Inaugural Professorial Lecture The political consensus on lifelong learning which marked the end of the twentieth century fundamentally reshaped discourses on the role of lifelong learning. In a knowledge-driven economy, in which work is the new consumption, we are engaged in a lifelong competition for livelihoods, learning for a living. This lecture argues first that a learning revolution that reinforces inequalities and increases the gap between the powerful and the powerless is not a revolution; that popular beliefs in meritocracy and the openness of opportunities to all could evaporate very quickly as it becomes apparent that the qualifications chase eventually becomes a zero-sum game for all but the most advantaged. Finally, re-establishing the relationship between education and real life will mean linking 'learning for a living' to wider social purposes. Demands that people should 'take more control of their lives' have to be matched with expanded social entitlements, as a minimum condition for a learning revolution worthy of the name.

An Inaugural Professorial Lecture The political consensus on lifelong learning which marked the end of the twentieth century fundamentally reshaped discourses on the role of lifelong learning. In a knowledge-driven economy, in which work is the new consumption, we are engaged in a lifelong competition for livelihoods, learning for a living. This lecture argues first that a learning revolution that reinforces inequalities and increases the gap between the powerful and the powerless is not a revolution; that popular beliefs in meritocracy and the openness of opportunities to all could evaporate very quickly as it becomes apparent that the qualifications chase eventually becomes a zero-sum game for all but the most advantaged. Finally, re-establishing the relationship between education and real life will mean linking 'learning for a living' to wider social purposes. Demands that people should 'take more control of their lives' have to be matched with expanded social entitlements, as a minimum condition for a learning revolution worthy of the name.