Lifelong Learning from a British Political Perspective: The Case of the University for Industry
Keywords:
lifelong learning, higher education, work-related learning, learning for employability, branding, New Labour, misinterpretation, market-economyAbstract
This article purports to account for the British government’s resort to sell Ufi ltd to a private group of investors in 2011—after more than a decade of strenuous official efforts (both political and financial) to make of it a higher education success story. The central argument is that New Labour politicians’ superficial interpretation of the concept of lifelong learning, due to their tight market-economy party-political agenda, has caused the failure of most of their higher education reforms. This state of affairs forced some concerned academics to react.
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-The Ufi Charitable Trust is a company limited by guarantee and a registered charity, which was set up in 1998. Ufi aims to deliver a step change in adult learning and employability for all in the UK through the adoption of 21st century technologies. Prior to the sale, Ufi Charitable Trust owned and oversaw the management of Ufi Ltd, the organisation behind learndirect.
-“Ufi Charitable Trust sells Ufi Ltd and learndirect to LDC”, May 10 2011, http://www.ufi.co.uk/news/ufi-charitable-trust-sells-ufi-ltd-and-learndirect-ldc, (retrieved 06/08/2013 13:15).
-Ibid.
-Ibid.
-John O’ Leary, “Higher Education,” in Blair’s Britain, 1997-2007, ed. Anthony Seldon (Cambridge: CUP, 2007), p. 479.
- DfEE, The Learning Age: A Renaissance for New Britain (London: DfEE, 1998), p. 7.
- P. Scott, “Is Higher Education an Anachronism? The Development of a Comprehensive Post-School System in Britain.” Revue Française de Civilisation Britannique, vol. x, N° 3 (Paris : CRECB, 1999), p. 113.
- In P. Scott, “Is Higher Education an Anachronism?” p. 112.
- Ibid.
- P. Scott, “Is Higher Education an Anachronism?” p. 113.
- Ibid.
- Ibid.
- “‘University for Industry’ failed to attract private cash” <http://WWW.guardian.co.uk/education/2004/dec/10furthereducation.uk/print> (retrieved 16/05/2009 13:20).
- House of Commons, Committee of Public Accounts, Extending access to learning through technology: Ufi and the learndirect service (London: The Stationary Office Limited, 2006), p. 4.
- p. 19.
- John O’ Leary, op cit.
- Peter Jarvis, ADULT EDUCATION AND LIFELONG LEARNING, Theory and Practice, 3rd edition (London: Routledge Falmer, 2004), pp.29-33.
- John Field, Lifelong Learning and the New Educational Order (Staffordshire: Trentham, 2006), p. 2.
- Ibid.
- P. Scott, “Out of the Ivory Tower,” New Statesmen, Special Supplement: Lifelong Learning, UK universities (13 Nov., 1998) <http://www.findarticle.com/p/articles/mi_m0FQP/is_4411_127/ai_53290554/print> (retrieved 13/02/2008 22:55).
- P. Scott, “Out of the Ivory Tower,”
- Ibid.
- Peter Jarvis, Globalisation, Lifelong Learning and the Learning Society, Vol. 2 (London and New York: Routledge, 2007), p. 1.
- Post-Capitalist Society (New York: Harper Business, 1993), p. 42.
- Tom Bentley, “The New Landscape of Learning,” New Statesmen, Special Supplement: Lifelong Learning, UK universities (Nov. 13, 1998), <http://www.findarticle.com/p/articles/mi_m0FQP/is_4411_127/ai_53290554/print> (retrieved 13/02/2008 23:05).
- Ibid.
- Ibid.
- Peter Jarvis, Democracy, Lifelong Learning and the Learning Society, Vol. 3 (London: Routledge, 2008), p. 48.
- Nick Frostd and Richard Taylor, “Patterns of Change in the University: The impact of ‘Lifelong Learning’ and the ‘World of Work’,” Studies in the Education of Adults, Vol. 33, N° 1, (Apr. 2001), p. 50.
- The National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education, The Dearing Report (1997) Higher Education in the learning society, Main Report (London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office 1997), p. 9, 1.12.
- N. Frostd and R. Taylor, p. 50.
- P. Scott, “Is Higher Education an Anachronism?” p. 113.
- N. Frostd and R. Taylor, p. 51.
- N. Frostd and R. Taylor, pp. 51-52; see also Peter Scott “Out of the Ivory Towers.”
- N. Frostd and R. Taylor, p. 52.
- Ibid.
- Ibid.
- Celia Weston, “A New Acronym for Industry,” New Statesmen, Special Supplement: Lifelong Learning, UK universities (Nov. 13, 1998), <http://www.findarticle.com/p/articles/mi_m0FQP/is_4411_127/ai_53290563/print> (retrieved 13/02/2008 22:40).
- Josh Hillman, University for Industry: Creating a National Learning Center (London: institute for public Policy Research, 1997) p. 35; cf. the US Hotrod University.
- P. Scott, “Is Higher education an Anachronism?” p. 113.
- In C. Weston.
- Alan Smithers, “The Tale of an Educational Nonsense,” New Statesman, Special Supplement: Lifelong Learning, vocational education (Nov. 13, 1998), <http://www.findarticle.com/p/articles/mi_m0FQP/is_4411_127/ai_53290555/print> (retrieved 13/02/2008 22:43).
- C. Weston.
- In C. Weston.
- P. Scott, “Is Higher Education an Anachronism?” pp. 113-14.
- P. Scott, “Out of the Ivory Tower.”
- Ibid.
- P, Scott, “Academics have started to argue back on higher education reforms,” The Guardian, 12 Nov, 2012, (retrieved 06/08/2013 13:26).
