EXTENDED DEAD LINE FOR SUBMITTING ABSTRACT UNTIL 31 OF JULY, 2013

Welcome to the 2013 European Research Conference of the network of Access, Learning Careers and Identities

28 – 30 November, 2013, Linköping University, Sweden

Times of Change: The Role of Adult Education in Times of Crisis

European societies, and beyond, are currently undergoing a social, economic and political crisis. The ‘crisis’ has had an impact upon adult education at the institutional level in higher education through to community education in terms of cuts and reduced funding in relation to staffing, resources and provision. This situation reveals a contradiction in lifelong learning policy as education is perceived as the cure for economic problems and increasing economic competiveness by national governments and the EU. As adults experience turning point moments and transitions in their lives as a result of the crisis many are looking to and accessing learning as a way out of their troubles and a way forward to a better future. Engagement in the learning process involves transformation and changing identity as well as gaining educational, social and economic capital and benefits.

Once the journey has begun it may not always be an easy one and some may struggle with external and inner constraints while others will be determined to keep going and use their agency to develop a positive learning career. The transitional space of a learning institution may enable an individual to reflect back on their past and present biography while also imagining a future identity of who they want to be and become. A transitional space, therefore, implies being in-between in terms of identity whereby an individual lets go of part or all of their old identity and changes to assume a new or modified one. For some this may be problematic as it may distance them from their class, family and friends.

The conference is hosted by the European Society for Research on the Education of Adults (ESREA) and Linköping University, Department of Behavioural Sciences and Learning, division of Education and Adult Learning (pedvux).

ABOUT ESREA
ESREA is a European scientific society aimed at providing a European-wide forum for all researchers engaged in research focused on the education of adults and adult learning. ESREA promotes research through network meetings, seminars and conferences, a triennial research conference and through publications. More information at www.esrea.org

ABOUT EDUCATION AND ADULT LEARNING

Education and Adult Learning is a division of the Department of Behavioural Sciences and Learning, Linköping University. The division focuses on the conditions, processes and outcomes of adult learning, mainly in adult, popular and higher education. More than thirty teachers and researchers work with undergraduate and graduate education, research and external relations and belong to one of the most prominent university settings in the area of adult learning worldwide. For more information about the division of Education and Adult Learning, click here.

ABOUT IBL
The Department of Behavioural Sciences and Learning (IBL) is connected to the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as well as the Faculty of Educational Sciences at Linköping University. It is one of the largest departments of the university with a staff of about 250. At IBL the following disciplines are represented: Education; Psychology; Sociology; Adult, Popular and Higher Education; Psychotherapy; Disability Studies and Human Resource Management and Development. More information at www.ibl.liu.se