Social Inclusion, Participation and Citizenship in Contexts of Neoliberalism: Examples of Adult Education Policy and Practice with Young People in the UK, The Netherlands and Ireland

This chapter focuses on contexts where public discourses regarding the education of young adults have been dominated by socio-economic perspectives, with a focus on the role of employment-related learning, skills and chances and with active participation in the labour market as a key concern for policy makers. A focus on ‘employability’ alone has been linked to narrow conceptualisations of participation, inclusion and citizenship, arising in the context of discourse shifts through neoliberalism which emphasise workfare over welfare and responsibilities over rights. A key critique of such contexts is that the focus moves from addressing barriers to participation to framing social inclusion predominantly as related to expectations of ‘activation’ and sometimes, assimilation. Key target groups for discourses of activation include young people not in education, employment or training (‘NEET’), while in- and exclusion of migrant and ethnic minority young people are often framed within the complex and contradictory interplay between discourses of assimilation and experiences of discrimination. These developments influence the field of adult education aimed at young people vulnerable to social exclusion. An alternative discourse to ‘activation’ is the promotion of young people’s skills and capabilities that enables them to engage in forms of citizenship activism, challenging structural barriers that lead to exclusion. Our chapter considers selected examples from EduMAP research in the UK, the Netherlands and Ireland which indicate that as well as framing the participation of young people as discourses of ‘activation’, adult education can also enable and facilitate skills related to more activist forms of citizenship participation.

Transforming Adult Education from Neo-liberal to Holistically Inclusive Adult Education in Baltic States

After regaining the independence and entering the market economy the Baltic states went through the neo-liberal changes resulting in some new developments in adult education taking the main direction in mobilizing people for transforming learning into a desirable consumer commodity. Active citizenship has been operationalized in adult education largely through developing citizens’ entrepreneurial attitudes and ability to be less dependent upon the state. The recent trend in adult education is promoting educational opportunities for developing job skills and work-embedded learning, non-formal and informal education as the means to proactively advance competences through project work, voluntary activities, self-employment and enabling the validation of competences learnt at job situations in formal adult education institutions. As a new direction, adult educators in the Baltic states have started to practice sustainable and holistic approaches in adult education practices that highlight personal self-development besides their employability goals. In this chapter, we explore how changes in adult education in the Baltic states appear at micro level, focusing on three dimensions of active participatory citizenship in the observed educational programmes and among the programme stakeholders’ reflections. We posit that holistic approaches in adult education may be illustrated through three dimensions of active participatory citizenship concept – politico-legal, socio-cultural and socio-economic.

Promising or Compelling Future in Hungary?

Adult education, employment and integration strategies have been characterised by somewhat fragmented and uncoordinated implementation practices in the context of CEE (Central and Eastern Europe) region. Some relevant data (OECD, EUROSTAT) on socio-economic factors may provide partial explanation for this. Additionally, this could be explained through considering some examples of Roma and young people with disabilities, in terms of how they can access adult education. Specifically, these examples demonstrate how the national and European reform goals, capacity building projects and financial supports remain isolated and incomplete. In this chapter, we outline how these factors undermine the opportunities for independent and democratic thinking and participatory citizenship. Low skilled and low educated young Roma from underprivileged family backgrounds (e.g. long-term family unemployment), living in poor rural areas, and youngsters with disabilities living in difficult environments are facing similar barriers to becoming active, responsible and educated European citizens. This chapter brings attention to the significance of the development and implementation of appropriate prevention strategies as well as regular evaluation and monitoring of relevant programs. Some cross-cutting characteristics and implications will be identified and considered, and future directions of adult education will be discussed, including its needs, demand and supply in the context of this region.

Adult Education as a Means to Social Inclusion in Nordic Welfare States: Denmark, Finland and Sweden

Denmark, Sweden and Finland are Nordic welfare states that historically have put a high value on both basic and adult education. Citizens should have equal opportunities to participate in education and society. Adult education has been a topical means to include citizens in active societal participation. This has been realised by providing special support for those in need. Currently, the dominance of neo-liberal market economies has challenged this educational ideology, and adult education has increasingly become reduced to only one of its functions, that of employability. Besides formal education, even informal learning has been harnessed for developing and maintaining work-related skills. Budget cuts have affected adult education while resources have increased on guidance and counselling, transition from basic to upper secondary education, education for the low-skilled and continuing training for workforce. Drawing on the history and present challenges this chapter discusses the possibilities to strengthen social inclusion through adult education. In the focus are groups that are at risk of staying outside the education society. The consequences of unfinished basic education and recently the educational needs of migrants and asylum seekers have revealed the largely unattended challenges of young adults and the vulnerability involved in comparison to the relatively high educated mainstream population. Our research focusing on social inclusion of vulnerable groups through differentiated support activities provides space to discuss, how adult education may regain its leading role in enhancing equal opportunities towards active political, social and economic participation in the Nordic societies.

Conclusion: Divergences or Convergences? Facilitating Active Citizenship Through Adult Education Across Europe and Beyond

The chapter draws the lines of discussion of the book together and scrutinises the findings from the perspectives motivating the EduMAP study. A multiplicity of adult education policies, programmes and actions presented in the book sought answers to the question: What policies and practices are needed in the field of adult education to include young adults at risk of social exclusion in active participatory citizenship in Europe? Each contribution in this volume approached the question from original social and educational starting points, which may further be elaborated on within the national, European and wider contexts. Chapter includes reflections on alternatives to the discourse of Neo-liberal Life-Long Learning and Adult Education, the expectations vs. reality of Adult Education as a means to prevent social exclusion, and key conclusions outlining the future challenges for Active Participatory Citizenship pursued through adult education.

How Are the Prospects for Refugees to Become Active Members of Society? – The Vision and Practices in Turkish Adult Education

Social integration of refugees is a major challenge for any country that hosts sizable refugee communities. Recently, Turkey has joined the ranks of such countries as it was transformed to become the country with the highest number of refugees in the world through an inflow of over 3.6 million mostly young and uneducated asylum-seekers from Syria in a matter of a few years. This chapter presents a critical analysis of the Turkish adult education (AE) sector by applying the concept of active participatory citizenship in the context of the current refugee crisis with a focus on its role in helping this vulnerable community to become active members of the society. This chapter argues that AE and Lifelong Learning (LLL) programs have the potential to empower Syrian refugees in such a way to make them into active members, contributing social, economic and cultural ways in Turkish society. To make its arguments, the chapter firstly provides a brief analysis of Turkey’s reform agenda in the field of AE since 1990s. By drawing on selected statistics it highlights the shortcomings in Turkey with respect to developing sustainable and gender sensitive AE programs, especially for young adults. Secondly, it investigates the major legal and institutional developments in Turkey since the first wave of the refugees entering to Turkey after beginning of the Syrian Civil War in 2011. Lastly, it will provide an analysis of how new AE programs for refugees are designed, which are characterised by a holistic view of social inclusion and target specific groups of refugees under the pressure of multiple vulnerabilities.

Active Participatory Citizenship for and with Young Adults in Situations of Risk – On the Cover and Under-Cover

Drawing on theoretical research findings of the EduMAP extensive study on national Adult Education (AE) policies in the European Union (EU) and as part of a broader qualitative data collection based on 40 case-studies, the following chapter investigates four selected adult education practices dealing with young people in situations of vulnerability, in France, Austria and Germany, respectively. The intent is to analyse how diverse conceptualisation of Active Participatory Citizenship (APC) and the educational strategies adopted in the different programmes impact on the learning outcomes of the interviewed learners. APC can be either explicit and on the cover, as a core objective pursued through an adopted education strategy, or it acts more implicitly and under cover. To prove this assumption, the findings have been systematised, first scrutinizing the endorsed APC concepts and the implemented educational approaches in the programme’s designs and from the providers and practitioners’ perspectives, and second investigating learners’ points of view on their learning outcomes in terms of competence development and reflected experiences. The third step analyses the factors that are relevant for successfully enabling young people in situations of risk to participate in the society and/or community. The findings bear out that how APC is defined and characterised in the AE programmes is not the only impacting factor but equally important is how this is incorporated in the educational practice and adopted in the pedagogical strategy.

Active Citizenship, Lifelong Learning and Inclusion: Introduction to Concepts and Contexts

This chapter provides insight into the rationale, background and key concepts of the book and will discuss relevant theoretical considerations, contexts and discourses. The complexity surrounding the conceptual understanding of active citizenship, adult education and vulnerability will be considered, and approaches towards achieving a shared understanding of the nature of adult education and lifelong learning will be addressed within this chapter. In this book, the concept of active citizenship is used as a conceptual lens to understand the role of adult education in including young adults in active social, political and economic participation and engagement. The findings indicate that the social, economic and political dimensions of active citizenship, encompassing the development of social competences, labour market skills as well as civic and political participation, have been related to various educational initiatives (programmes) to engage young adults in active participation. The chapter will open the discussion of the cross-national complexity and interdependencies between adult education, social inclusion and active participatory citizenship, which underpin the dialogue offered in the seven contributions within this book.

Active Citizenship Programmes for Unemployed Young Adults with Low Skills in Southern Europe: Participation, Outreach, and Barriers

The development of policies and targeted initiatives that promote or support active participatory citizenship for vulnerable young adults with low skills has largely passed unnoticed in Southern Europe in the last decade. Despite the existing lifelong learning (LLL) strategies, most countries in the area do not place active citizenship for low-skilled young adults as a priority. This chapter is based on the results of the European research project EduMAP (Horizon 2020), and focuses on participation of unemployed young adults with low skills (hence early school-leavers) in educational activities that either focus or promote active citizenship in Southern Europe (Greece, Cyprus, Malta, Italy, Spain and Portugal). More specifically the chapter explains the reasons behind low participation rates among vulnerable young adults in the region. South European countries are not yet showing any favourable conditions for increasing participation of the low-skilled unemployed young adults in such programmes. Some of the countries that were hit by economic depression in particular, face –not necessarily for the same reasons– major barriers for implementing policies to increase the number of low-skilled young adults in active citizenship oriented courses. The chapter concludes that one of the problems in promoting active citizenship through adult education activities is that the programmes delivered in the region are still not competence-based. Adult education is not high in the value system, and therefore low skilled young adults do not appear motivated to obtain such skills and competences. A key challenge therefore is to deliver a service that simultaneously meets the needs of the learners, provides sufficient responses to the needs of the local societies, and stimulates further demand.