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

1. The ‘Second Chance’ Myth: Equality of Opportunity in Irish Adult Education Policies Dr. Bernie Grummell Equality Studies Centre UCD School of Social Justice Equality and Social Inclusion in the 21st Century

2. 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 Equality and Social Inclusion in the 21st Century

3. 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 Equality and Social Inclusion in the 21st Century

4. Fleming (2004:15) the Irish state ‘has particular difficulty acting in the interestsof 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.’ Equality and Social Inclusion in the 21st Century

5. 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, 1998:16). • 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, 1998:7) • Aims: consolidation of existing adult education structures and facilitating equality of access Equality and Social Inclusion in the 21st Century

6. 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, 2000:12) • 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, 2000:28) Equality and Social Inclusion in the 21st Century

7. 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, 1980:187–8) • Individual/streamed approaches discourage collective responsibility and action Equality and Social Inclusion in the 21st Century

8. 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 • Freire’s 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, 1993:32) • move to transformationof institutional structures Equality and Social Inclusion in the 21st Century

9. 2. Neoliberalism, Economic Change & Market Competition • Economic myths (Hughes & Tight,1995:291): • 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,1996:112) Equality and Social Inclusion in the 21st Century

10. 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,1995:297) • 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 Equality and Social Inclusion in the 21st Century

11. 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) Equality and Social Inclusion in the 21st Century

12. 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,1997:11) • Analysis of how power operates to prevent colonialization of lifeworld (Habermas, 1987) • Need for ‘education of equals’ achieving ‘critical transivity’ (Freire, 1972) Equality and Social Inclusion in the 21st Century