Lifelong Learning in Europe II:
Differences and Divisions

Lisbon, Costa da Caparica, 14^th to 16^th of May 1998

Papers and Abstracts

The conference results have been published as:
Walther, Andreas/Stauber, Barbara (eds.): Lifelong Learning in Europe. Volume II: Differences and Divisions. Strategies of Social Integration and Individual Learning Biographies. Neuling: Tübingen 1999.

Index

Opening Lectures: The Concept of Learning Society

• Maria João Rodrigues
• Manuela du Bois-Reymond: The ,Hows' and ,Whys' of Learning. Differences and Divisions in the Learning Society

Forum I: Lifelong Learning and the differences in labour market positions and educational attainments

• Andy Furlong: Lifelong learning in the context of different labour market positions and education levels.
• Wolfgang Jütte: Access to Lifelong Learning. Indicators of the Learning Society
• Andy Biggart: Should I Stay, or Should I Go?: Low attaining young people and their decision to remain in post-compulsory education in Britain.
• David van Ypersele: Conditions of successfull lifelong learning among unqualified people
• Jutta Goltz, Anne Schwarz, Roberta Paltrinieri, Roberta Bartoletti: Success Criteria of Further Training for Women
• Elizabeth Kiely: Struggling With Lifelong Learning in The Irish Context: A Case Study Of One Community Training Workshop
• Morena Cuconato: The ,Incubator': a learning model for women's self-employment

Forum II: Lifelong Learning and the differences of biographies in the context of gender hierarchies

• Claudia Born: The Importance of Gender Relations for the Concept of Lifelong Learning
• Veerle Stroobants: Learning and working in women's biographies
• Lydia Sapouna: EU Migrant Women in Ireland; the struggle for social citizenship and self-determination
• Maria Teresa Tagliaventi: The relationship between education and child work
• Esther Alcala Mangas: Older Adult University in Granada: Permanent Classroom of Open Education
• Arno Heimgartner: Learning processes of older people through participation on and work in social projects

Forum III: Lifelong Learning in the context of changing generation relationships and everyday culture

• Sven Mørch: Lifelong learning and social contextualisation
• Maria do Carmo Gomes, Ana Micaela Gaspar, Rui Banha, Steve Miles, Axel Pohl: Lifelong Learning and Cultural Activities for "Disadvantaged" Young People
• Cristina Limoncini, Massimiano Bucchi: Youth and new information technologies: Results from a recent Italian Survey
• Federica Zanetti: Young People's Identities in the Context of Ethnic Minorities in Europe
• Mafalda Margarido Santos: Community education and the development of a European citizenship
• Gabriele Lenzi: Lifelong learning against AIDS: The Importance of Being Networked
• Mark Cieslik: Community activism in areas of multiple disadvantage: creating social capital and promoting lifelong learning

Posters

• Donatienne Desmette: The Process of Integration: The role of self-efficacy within training schemes
• Virginie Carlier: Lifelong Learning in Europe: a French case study, the "Individual Training Leave" (Congé Individuel de Formation).
• Andy Bennett: The Frankfurt 'Rockmobil': Music training and young people

Opening Lectures: The Concept of Learning Society
 

Maria João Rodrigues, ISCTE, Lisboa / European Commission
 
 

Manuela du Bois-Reymond, University of Leiden

The ,Hows' and ,Whys' of Learning. Differences and Divisions in the Learning Society.

• The notion of 'Learning Society' suggests that social integration increasingly depends on the individuals' participation in education and training measures. At the same time it is introduced by educational politicians as the major tool to overcome social inequality and to prevent social exclusion.
• In the perspective of the political system increasing participation rates in education and training are success criteria for social integration and the development of the learning society.
• From the individual perspectives however, learning is a question of motivation: Why should I learn? What should I learn? How can I learn? Am I able to learn?
• Cognitive psychology differentiates between 'intrinsic' and 'extrinsic' motivation depending on the source of motivation: internal interest or external pressure.
• According to intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation a typology of learners and learning situations will be suggested.
• These learning types stand for different life course patterns and can be characterized with respect to different dimensions: history and culture, social structure and gender, formal and informal learning.
• From this typology it will come obvious that learning motivation is not independant of social structure and that lifelong learning and the learning society themselves are far from being independent of the unequal structures of the labour society.
• A policy of lifelong learning has to take that into account.

Forum I: Lifelong Learning and the differences in labour market positions and educational attainments
 
 

Andy Furlong, University of Glasgow

Lifelong learning in the context of different labour market positions and education levels.

Young people today face a new set of risks which they are increasingly expected to negotiate as individuals rather than as members of a collectivity. New forms of standardization have been introduced, alongside different sources of diversification. The demand for advanced educational credentials and flexible specializations associated with post-Fordist economies means that individuals are constantly held accountable for their performance and face increased risks should they fail. In this paper some critical comments will be offered on the concept of a learning society.

Although we can detect trends towards lifelong learning across many European societies, it is argued that increased participation in education and training frequently serve to maintain and entrench existing inequalities rather than representing a new set of opportunities.

The paper begins with an overview of European trends in education, training and labour market entry and then focuses in more detail on the experiences of young people in the UK. Recent research on school to work transitions is used to highlight vulnerabilities associated with protracted and complex transitions. It is argued that while lifelong learning requires young people to actively engage in the shaping of their own biograhies, with unequal access to economic and cultural resources new sources of vulnerability have been introduced. Theoretical and empirical material is introduced in order to provide a new perspective on lifelong learning.
 

Wolfgang Jütte, University of Flensburg / UNESCO Institute for Education, Hamburg

Access to Lifelong Learning. Indicators of the Learning Society

In order to analyse the transition towards lifelong learning inselected developing and industrialised countries,the UNESCO Institute for Education (UIE) in Hamburg and the NationalInstitute for Educational Research (NIER) in Tokyo developed and realised ajoint research project. The project "Transition towards lifelonglearning" generated studies of eleven countries from four regions: Africa (Burkina Faso, South Africa), America (Canada, Mexico), Asia - Pacific (Australia, Japan, Thailand) and Europe (Czech Republic, Germany, Sweden, Spain).

Empirical research projects on lifelong learning are scarce. Therefore specialemphasis is put on methodological aspects. This concerns especially theunderlying set of quantitative and qualitative indicators, through whichthe construct of the "lifelong learning society" shouldbe captured. From which observable and meaningful characteristis can the transition towards lifelong learning be deduced? The significance of the "problem of indicators" can be seen against the background of the work of inter- and supranationalinstitutions. Under their direction a renaissance of international projects, which are working with educationalindicators, has taken place and the OECD has declared the development ofindicators in the field of adult and continuing education to be a matter of priority.

The theoretical and practical framework of the study isexplained and the importance, approaches, and models of internationaleducational indicators examined. Special attention is given to the set ofindicators itself, its selection and classification. Some research resultsare presented and the relevance of indicators, their scope and limits, discussed.

Indicators of transition towards Lifelong Learning

In order to guide the national teams in each country in the production of the national report and to facilitate the analysis, each national case-study will be undertaken on the basis of a set of indicators significant in regards to the shifting policy environments we want to study. The transition towards lifelong learning implies concurrently a change of perspectives regarding
1) initial education,
2) postcompulsory or tertiary education
3) the participation and provision patterns into adult education and training,
4) the different learning environments, and
5) the global lifelong orientation

(1) Indicators related to the transformation of initial education

1.1. The level of provision of pre-school education (in particular for the milieus remote to the school culture)
- age group, enrolment statistics (in relation to rural/urban, ...)
- policy measures to guarantee the access to pre-school education
- ...

1.2. The way the crisis and the inequalities of initial education are being exposed and dealt with in each society, since adult education participation is correlated to the level of initial education,
- national pattern of initial compulsory education (duration),
- out-of-school education system for youths (organization, institutions etc.)
- statistics of participation:

1) primary level
2) secondary level
3) access to post-compulsory education

1.3. Changes in the content, method and quality of initial education towards a lifelong learning system
- Whether creativity - the development of the learning potential of the young learner, of her or his autonomous capacity to go-on learning - is being considered in the national debates on the quality of education.
- Whether the lifelong dimension and the capacity for self-learning (learning to learn) is beeing considered in the national curriculum.
- Whether basic preparation for social participation as citizen/civic education is being considered in the curriculum and extra school curriculum activities.
- Whether the role of the teacher, their qualification and training is changing
- review of national program of teachers training
 

(2) Indicators related to the transformation of tertiary education

2.1 The enlargement of accessibility of universities and other institutions of tertiary education
- diversity of institutions and participation rate (by age, sex, race ...)
- percentages of part-time students, of 'adult students' 25 years and over, of females students
- measures to guarantee the access of adults and/or young students without formal required diploma
- ...

2.2 Change in the content and method of teaching and learning
- measures for the teachers and instructors to cope with the changing pattern of tertiary education
- flexibility of time schedule
- ...

2.3 The transfer of content between initial and further education of university professionals

2.4 Cooperation between institutions of tertiary education and the community and industry
- extension department
- integration and non-integration within the community
- ...

2.5 The present relation between the financing mechanisms and the transformation of the university clientel
- full time equivalent quota
- age quota system
- lifelong learners conditions attached to location to grants
- analysis of the discourse
- ...
 

(3) Indicators of the changing provision-participation patterns to adult education and training

3.1 The way the "less visible" but increasing social demands for adult education are being monitored, articulated and responded by the different social groups and institutions.
Two Key indicators of changing adult education demand, provision and participation:
- Institutional or programme statistics gathered from the relevant national statistical offices to obtain a comprehensive overview of major ADED/NFE programmes (including distance education) available in each country, their characteristics in terms of type, field of study, level equivalent, capacity, number of participants, teachers or trainers,
- Sample survey data on participation to organized adult learning opportunities describing the universe of learning activities in which the adult population is engaged.
- short monograph on emerging learning needs not met yet through organized responses.
- measures taken to monitor the needs of the disadvantaged groups such as ethnic minorities, and to support them to participate in various learning opportunities
- ...

3.2. Changes in the organization, content and quality of adult education and training
- provision of specific system for participation (part-time courses, correspondence, sandwich courses, etc.)
- the shifting boundaries between general and vocational education
- professionalization of adult educators (types and categories of teachers, their qualification and training system)
- ...

3.3. Recognition and utilization of adult education achievement
- utilization of qualification/certification acquired in adult education
- impact of the achievement of adult education upon the condition of work (incl. salary)
- indications of the contribution of adult learning to the community and the society
- recognizing of diploma and certification
- ...

3.4. The transformation of work and the way the problem of the shrinking number of paid jobs, which remain an important path to adult education, is addressed and negotiated in each society,
- changing average duration of working time,
- statistics on training-within-industry in relation to size of firms, economic sectors, occupational status and age.
- availability of incentives in relation to the work place
- shift from passive to active labour market policy
- the presence, in the national economic debate, of the issue of re-training the active population (whether and how adult education is becoming at the forefront of economic discourse of government, management and labor).
- ...

3.5. The directions that are being taken concerning the uses of the new social spaces created by the uneven increase of non-working-time; and whether the notion of productivity is beginning to be disentangled from paid work,
- inference from participation survey,
- flexibility of working time,
- adult learning on health, environment, population ...
- ...

3.6. The way the critical life transitions are being experienced by peoples and "dealt with" by institutions.
3.6.1. The two critical work-related life transitions, from initial education to the active life and from paid work to retirement,
- inference from participation survey,
- review of national studies on these two life-transitions,
- statistics on transition patterns from school to regular work status,
- statistics on transition patterns from regular work status to retirement.
- ...
3.6.2 The other critical life transitions in private life (migration, illness...),
- inference from participation survey,
- review of national studies.
- ...

3.7. The recomposition of the role of the state and of the other actors in the provision of adult education, versus civil society and ways societal objectives, like equality or sustainability,construction and development of democratic society are attended,
- Short monograph describing the different actors (public, private, voluntary) and assessing whether and how communication and coordination is being developed between these actors,
- changing role of the state and of the different ministries.
- ...

3.8 The changing patterns of funding adult/continuing education and training
- financial statistics on adult and continuing education, distinguishing the different sectors,
- the diversification of funding sources,
- the diversification of activities being funded,
- analysis of the discourse concerning alternative financing mechanisms (e.g. self-financing, individual entitlements, "parafiscal" funds)
- analysis of the discourse concerning the benefits to be expected from the educational investments at adult age,
- ...

3.9 Presence of incentives for participation
- Paid educational leave, voucher, sabbatical, scholarship and other financial support such as partial exemption from taxation, etc...
- ...

3.10 The development of bridging mechanisms in the formal system and between formal and non-formal education
- prior learning accreditation services
- special credential policies for adults, etc.
- flexibility of re-entry, of getting diploma, in the formal system (special admission clause)
- "quota - system"
 

(4) Indicators related to the learning environments

4.1. The critical impact of the diverse learning environments on initial and adult education, by creating advantages or constraints, by stimulating or cooling out curiosity and participation
- reading practices
- presence of books or other learning sources at home or in the community
- the availability of information and counselling services for adults
- the issue of learning enterprises and learning cities or communities
- ...

4.2. The impact of the media on educational participation and cultural practices; the accessibility of the other cultural institutions (museum, libraries, etc) and of the services and products of the cultural industries,
- the uses of electronic media
- accessibility and use of new information technology

4.3. Within or besides initial education and adult education, the emergence of educational alternatives and innovative initiatives.
- use of out-of-school learning materials
- ...

4.4. The participation of the different social groups and sectors in the debate and social negotiations regarding initial and adult education

4.5 Policy measures taken to secure various spaces and facilities for learning
- public libraries
- open-door of university libraries
- ...
 

(5) Global Indicators related the transition of Lifelong Learning

5.1 Change of the formal education system and training system towards Lifelong Learning
- short monograph

5.2 The presence of lifelong learning in the official policies, and of explicit lifelong education policies and legislation,
- policies giving general orientation on LLL; policy statements, including laws, regulations, recommendations or reports
- creation of special LLL agencies or mechanisms.

5.3 The life-wide development of lifelong learning:
- involvement of other sectors: agriculture, culture, environment, health, labor, justice, population, etc.
- articulation and cooperation between different learning providers
- inference from participation survey relating organized learning, informal learning and cultural practices at different life phases,
- ...

5.4 Changing relation between education policies and policies on labor, social, and cultural affairs.

5.5 Indications of lack of effective lifelong learning policies or educational synergy
- financial constraints
- patterns of resistance

5.6 Process of internationalization and impact on national lifelong learning patterns and policies
- impact of global economy, migration, environment, provision of education ...
 

Andy Biggart, University of Edinburgh

Should I Stay, or Should I Go?: Low attaining young people and their decision to remain in post-compulsory education in Britain.

Compared to most of the rest of Europe, the UK has fared quite badly in terms of levels of educational participation. For example in 1990, in Germany, France, Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands more than three-quarters of young people between the ages of 16 and 18 were in full-time education, compared to only 40 per cent in the UK. (DfEE, 1993). However, over the last decade patterns of participation in education in the United Kingdom have been changing quite radically. In Scotland for example, recent figures suggest that nearly four out of five (79%) young people, who became eligible to leave school in 1992, remained in education for at least one additional year.

While there have been increases in participation across all attainment groups, the highest increases in participation have occurred among those with below average attainment. These changes in educational participation have been linked to a number key factors, the collapse of the youth labour market, the lack of confidence in the main alternative, Youth Training, and the expansion of vocational courses catering for those with below average attainment.

This paper draws on qualitative interviews conducted during 1996/97 with young people between the ages of 16 and 19 who had below average attainment and had made the decision to remain in full-time post-compulsory education. The majority of this group, until fairly recently would have made direct transitions from compulsory education to the labour market. The paper explores the reasons behind their decision to remain in education, the perceived benefits of remaining in education compared to the alternatives, and the extent that they feel able to control and actively shape their own biographies.
 

David van Ypersele, University of Leuven / CERISIS

Conditions of successfull lifelong learning among unqualified people

The access to lifelong learning is limited by several prerequisites likely to perpetuate social inequalities- It is of critical social importance to deal with these prerequisites so as to broaden the access to lifelong learning - The present broadering the access to lifelong learning implies the organisation for long term unemployed, unqualified people of a complex first stage. This stage includes resocializetion of the candidate, a drastic improvement in self esteem, self-efficacy and self-confidence and finaly an initial basic professional qualification.

We criticaly evaluate such a project integrating several steps, financed by EC Urban program. This project covers a 7000 inhabitant with 1000 unemployed people. It includes the three above mentionned elements : pretraining, resocialization, professionnal orientation step and basic qualified training. To be effective, such a program should be perceived as a whole.

Evaluation is performed on the basis of semistructured questionnaires applied to 11 project organisers and to 40 unemployed adults. It relies on several psychosocial concepts such as : social identity theory, relative deprivation theory, learned helplesness and cognitive alternatives.

Several conclusion emerge from the evaluation. First, there is a significant discrepancy between the intended (by the organisers) and the perceived (by the beneficiaries) cohesion of the various steps. It is thus necessary to better define the objectives of each step so as to allow its appropriation by each beneficiaries who are successfully completed the whole training but failed to find a sustained employment with eventual frustration and anger.

It is thus advised to broaden the step of the objectives of each step beyond the pupose of employment. Emphasis should be made on personality benefits intended to improve quality of live.
 

Jutta Goltz, Anne Schwarz, IRIS Tübingen / Roberta Paltrinieri, Roberta Bartoletti, SinForm Bologna / University of Bologna

Success Criteria of Further Training for Women

Frame conditions of further training situations
The living and working conditions of the 2. Modernity (Giddens 1994, Beck 1994) make it necessary that employment requires a bunch of new skills from the individuals. Giddens and Beck speak of the necessity to be able to communicate on different levels for different needs and with different persons. They must learn to deal with individual and general questions and problems in a new manner and besides of traditional discourses. These competences often are described as key skills.

We agree with this discourse but it needs to be completed because it is too instrumental. In our opinion it is also necessary to have a look at the motivational and biografic conditions of each individual - that is what we call subject-oriented. Connecting this with the increasing lack of orientation and perspectives the individuals tend to be oriented on the last secure reference point or place they still have: their own selves. In our opinion it is important to consider how the participants of further training feel and how they are able to refer the learing contents to their personal situation.

The further training situation of women is concerned in a specific manner by this problem. On the one side their educational attainments are high enough to justify equal labour market participation, on the other side they have less opportunities to participate in further training which could lead them to adequate professional positions as men. This mostly depends on the quality of jobs and of difficulties to reconcile work, training and family. Even more these difficulties caused by the hierarchical gender relationships on the labour market concern women who try to re-enter the labour market. In the end however, in most cases they are alone to cope with these contradictions.

The research project
Based on this briefly presented theoretical background we started an international research project financed by the programme LEONARDO DA VINCI in Dec. 1996. The research takes place in the regions Baden-Württemberg (Germany), Emilia Romagna (Italy) and Navarra (Spain). Our common task is to evaluate qualitative success criteria of further training processes of women within regional models. We operationalized the following evaluation questions:

- what are the several success criteria of further training in the perspective of women, of enterprises and of further training institutions.

- what kind of conditions do women need to take part in further trainings
- how can undiscovered potentials of women be made visible and developed
- which political strategies do we need to appreciate and to use reproductive qualifications of women in further trainings.
- which is the demand for further training from the side of women and of enterprises,
- how can further training be improved in the perspective of women's need and the needs of enterprises.
- how further trainings can developed in a way that they increase job chances,
- how can we transfer the innovation knowledge of women and enterprises into further training concepts,
- how can effective cooperations between enterprises further training institutions and women be developed by considering the respective knowledges, competencies and needs.

Research results from two of the involved regions will be presented revealing considerable differences. The results and the regional differences can be developed into success criteria for women's further training participation.
 

Elizabeth Kiely, University College Cork

Struggling With Lifelong Learning in The Irish Context: A Case Study Of One Community Training Workshop

Very high participation rates characterise Irish education in the 1990s. At a surface level, this would suggest that the principle of lifelong learning has been realised in the Irish context, where nearly one third of the population are engaged in full-time education according to the Department of Education (Department of Education 1992 / 1993).

However higher participation rates in education have important implications for the fortunes of unqualified or poorly qualified school leavers. It has been argued that the less qualified have fewer opportunities not than in previous decades and the indications are that this trend is set to continue.

This paper critically examines the programme developed to address the educational and training needs of the less qualified in Ireland. A case study approach is taken to examine the views and opinions of staff and participants on the Youthreach programme in one particular community training workshop. It will be argued that at a national level, sufficient measures have not been taken to address the problems that impact on participants on the Youthreach programme and that this group have to contend with considerable difficulties in negotiating appropriate transitions so as to avoid exclusion from the labour market and other social systems.

Introduction
In Ireland there are strong links between socio-economic disadvantage, school non-attendance, early school leaving and unemployment(refs).
Over 78% of school leavers who entered the labour market in 1993 without qualifications were unemployed one year later, compared to 47.6% of those who completed the Junior Certificate examination and 28.5% of those who completed the Leaving Certificate Examination (Murphy & Whelan, 1995). In 1996, the unemployment rate among leavers with no qualifications stood at 61% compared with 8% among those with a leaving certificate (Williams & Collins 1997). These percentage figures would indicate that it has become increasingly important to have a Leaving Certificate level of education rather than the lower secondary or junior cert level which was the norm in the past. Yet a significant number of young people do not achieve this level of education. According to one survey, 4% of leavers left school with no qualifications while a further 4% left at the lower second level without obtaining a pass grade in the Junior Certificate examination. Closer analysis of this group, revealed that approximately 60% of the early leavers were male and that just under a half of all unqualified leavers of each gender left the secondary system in their second year (Williams & Collins 1997).

In Ireland, "Youthreach" which was introduced in 1988, is the main programme targeting young people (aged 15 - 18) who leave school unqualified. The Youthreach Programme is the main focus of this paper. The paper is divided into six sections. In the first section there is a brief overview of the Irish education system, the next section introduces the Youthreach Programme, sketching it's origins and development over the years. The third section provides a review of the problems associated with the Youthreach Programme, which have been documented. In the fourth section, background information on the case study is given and the fifth section presents the actual findings of the case study structured under key themes. In the concluding section, the issues raised are discussed in the context of the challenges they pose to a concept and practice of lifelong learning which aims to increase social integration and challenge structural inequalities in Irish society.
 

Morena Cuconato, University of Bologna

The ,Incubator': a learning model for women's self-employment

My paper will report on the experience of the incubator-women enterprise, a model dealing with the creation of womens enterprise developed in the USA, which has been adopted and applied in Bologna, Livorno, Ragusa since 1994. An incubator is the collective and temporary place of residence of new enterprises: a nursery, which offers to the enterprises a global solution to their growth problems until they reach complete autonomy. That means they obtain the capability and the means to become indipendent.

The municipality of Bologna accepted the proposal of a woman's association called "Women and Development", who identified, in the economical structure of Bologna, (microenterprises have a well-established and ancient tradition in the whole of Emilia-Romagna) as this, the right place to test the American model, thus seizing also the opportunity of using the EU-funds of the Program NOW. The city offered the premises for the incubator and launched a campaign against gender discrimination in the labour market and in the education system.

The aim of my research is to point out some contradictory aspects of this public policy for women. It was originally targeted for unemployed women or women with little cultural and social capital, who failed in coping with the passage from school to work, or, with re-conciling the double task of wife/mother and worker. The results of this model had demonstrated to be so successful, that it was decided to apply it also to target groups that were not contemplated in its original development. Therefore losing its gender specific and social connotations and becoming more and more like any other labour market oriented policy of lifelong learning. Now the model is no longer emancipatory in its perspective like it was when implemented for the first time.

The key-questions of my research will adress are:

- Who are the women who can profit from this opportunity?
- How have they obtained access to the information?
- What kind of knowledge and biographical experience have they brought into the project?
- What did the municipality of Bologna and the EU concretely do to substain these groups of disadvantaged women in order to avoid their economical-cultural and social exclusion? Did they really take into account their lack of self-confidence, education, time and economical means?

Forum II: Lifelong Learning and the differences of biographies in the context of gender hierarchies
 

Claudia Born, University of Bremen

The Importance of Gender Relations for the Concept of Lifelong Learning

Inspite of the many differences with respect to function and goals, and also to expectations and misgivings, that are associated with the concept of lifelong learning - and that are best exhibited in the system for further education and training - scholars who concern themselves with this topic appear to agree on at least three points: first, lifelong learning is perceived as a European problem that requires European solutions; second, lifelong learning seems to be indispensable in solving present and future problems in a humane and civil way and should become a normal part of the biography and third, the individual should be the focal point of lifelong learning. In order to motivate and interest individuals for such learning processes it is considered important that learning takes places in a concrete life world that has to be incorporated into the process. This means that from this point of view the organization of the biography and of lifelong learning is regarded as an individual project, a matter of individual choice and accomplishment..

However, the life course and the actions of which it is composed is not solely subject to the control of the individual, since the lifecourse is also structured by institutions such as the educational system, the family, insurance and care system, social policy. These institutions standardize to a high degree f.e. labour market perspectives and assumptions of continuity. On the basis of two empirical research projects dealing with gender, life course, and biography it will be shown that there are fundamental differences between male and female life courses and normal boigraphies that result from the structuring power of these institutional regulations of the german life course regime. Enequalitiy especially concerning labour market integration and participation between men and women are discovered as structural not individually produced. For the content of the paper it will be shown that the constitution of gender relations and the (typical for Germany) systematic institutionalized irreconcilability of family work and paid employment focuses attention on the specifity of gender as a structural category and forces us to abandon the concept of lifelong learning as gender neutral.

Though I rather think that this would be the cases for all European member states which makes it indespensable to discuss the gender related effects on lifelong learning on this level in generel, it is assumed that with respect to institutional regulations the german life course regime when compared to other EU states, exhibits certain peculiarities (socio-structural and cultural conditions) that influences lifelong learning in a specific 'national' way.

Using the example of West Germany, the goal of this paper is to explicate, that in general strategies for the implementation of lifelong learning need to bear gender (as a generic term for both sexes) as an structure category in mind and that only the communication about the institutional regulations relevant to the life course prevalent in individual member states enables the development of a european lifelong learning concept and its implementation strategies.
 

Veerle Stroobants, University of Leuven

Learning and working in women's biographies

We are interested in the way women learn to handle the changing meaning and position of work in their lives and in society. Moreover we want to understand better the way labour for women is thematized in society and in educational settings and the way these learning processes can be adequatly supported. We situate these research questions against the backdrop of current societal changes.

Today labour is an ambivalent reality. On the one hand work holds promises for self-development, emancipation and integration. On the other hand the modern concept and practice of labour fails to keep these promises ans seems to have reached its limits. Especially for women labour has become a multiple reality. For them labour has become a common right and real option in life at a time a paid job for everyone isn't any longer a matter of course. We claim labour to be an emancipatory issue as well as a matter of life politics. The question is not only whether one has a job or not - an opportunity in life - , but also what kind of a job and what the meaning of this job is in relation to other values in one's life and in society. We are curious to know how women learn to handle these new dimensions of (work) reality.

Most often - in the dominant trends in adult education - individuals are approached as 'victims' of modernization processes. Either they are adapted to the changing demands of society and the labour market in instrumental ways (without training programmes garantueeing a good job). Or people are prepared to keep up with the societal evolutions in a personal manner without taking into account the structural contexts. Both approaches tend to consider women from a deficient point of view and to consolidate existing structural patterns. However adult education is not only reproductive but also productive, seen from the learner's point of view. This becomes clear when women are considered as competent actors who make choices and develop strategies to cope with reality. Of course they act within structural and cultural limits, but these are not deterministic. In contrast they are inconstant and changeable. In this respect we have studied different theoretical perspectives on adult learning and have become very intrigued by the theory of biographical learning. This theory takes into account the structural as well as the subjective elements of learning, working and living and states that both structure and subject are constantly changed. The key-concept to shape one's life within given limits is called biograficity. It is an important concept to understand the way women look for balances concerning the ambivalences of labour in their life and work situation. In our reseach we want to further examine this learning perspective and the ways in which these can be supported.

In our PhD research project, we are currently preparing our empirical research by concretizing our research questions, by making explicit our sensitizing concepts and by exploring methodological options. We would like to report about this stage of our project at the 2nd Euroconference.
 

Lydia Sapouna, University College Cork

EU Migrant Women in Ireland; the struggle for social citizenship and self-determination

This paper aims to discuss the experience of EU migrant women in Ireland and more specifically to explore aspects of their social participation in Irish society. The discussion is mainly based on the findings of a research project into the gender implications of intra-community migration. The project was financed by the Equal Opportunities Unit of the European Commission and was co-ordinated by the University of Plymouth. The empirical work involved life-history interviews with over 400 women in five member states (Sweden, Greece, Portugal, Ireland and the UK) between May and September 1995.

The free movement provisions within the EU have been heralded as forming the basis of an evolving European citizenship and access to a broad range of important social rights. The development of the EU's role in this area has profound implications for women both as spouses of migrant workers and also as workers in their own right. This is particularly true because of the specific interpretation of the terms "worker" and "spouse" under community law.

During a period in which member states are shifting responsibility within the mixed economy of welfare in favour of informal unpaid care for women, the development of a form of citizenship based on occupational status is a key concern. The development of a positive set of rights for migrant workers and their families has led the foundations of the social dimension to European citizenship. However, this expansion of social entitlement has been based upon a male bread-winning model of family and responsibility. In particular this research was interested to examine the impact of this family model on the shaping of European citizenship.

This paper will focus specifically on the experience of EU migrant women in Ireland. This is going to be discussed by exploring life opportunities, through learning relationships which determine the individual's place in relation to their fellow-citizens.

For the purpose of this presentation two indicators will be used. The first is concerned with citizenship rights; a formal aspect of social participation and consolidation of migrant women's position within the host society. However, this research aimed to move beyond this formal definition of citizenship to evaluate how women interpret and negotiate formal structures of constraint to synthesise their own form of citizenship. The Irish interviews raised a distinctive set of issues concerning migrant women's responses to Irish policy on family and reproductive rights. Therefore the second question to be explored is how such formal structures of constrain on reproductive rights affect the social participation of migrant women in Irish society. What is the impact of an institutional formal and cultural framework of constraint on structuring women's experience of citizenship?

In conclusion, the knowledge and skills-base needed for the negotiation of citizenship rights by migrant women will be discussed. This research articulated responses to restrictions of residential, political, social and reproductive rights. It will be argued that such a process can generate an awareness which, in its own right, can become a mechanism for effective negotiation of social citizenship. In this context, the potential of the research process to become a "learning relationship" will be discussed.

References:
Ackers, L. " Negotiation of citizenship; the struggle for reproductive self-determination in Ireland", Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law, Summer 1996
Ackers, L. (1995) "Women, Citizenship and European Community Law: the Gender Implications of the Free Movement Provisions", Summary of Final Report to the European Commission.
Dolors, M. ,Ramon & Monk, J. (1996) Women of the European Union, Routledge, London
Mahon E, (1995) "From Democracy to Femocracy: the women's movement in the Republic of Ireland" in Clancy et al (eds.) Irish Society; Sociological Perspectives, Dublin IPA.
Mahon, E. (1994) "Ireland: a private patriarchy" in Environment and Planning 26:1277-96
McDowell Linda & Pringle R (1992) Defining Women; Social Institutions and Gender Divisions, Polity Press, London
Mulcahy, M. & Sapouna L. (1995) "A Study of European Migrant Women's Lives: the Irish Experience" Interim Report from the Irish Partners.
Murphy-Lawless, J. (1993) "Fertility, bodies and politics: the Irish case", Reproductive Health Matters 2:53-64.
Wilkinson B (1995) "Free movement of workers: nationality, discrimination and European citizenship" in J. Dine and B. Watt (eds.) Discrimination Law, London, Longman.
 

Maria Teresa Tagliaventi, University of Bologna

The relationship between education and child work

This paper originated from a sociological research on working children in the industrialized countries. The child work is a question that doesn't belong only to the past but seems increase in the post-modernity world. The developing countries that have introduced legislation setting a minimum age for work and tried to regulate children's involvement often have been discouraged by the results.

Drawing on case studies through the biographies of young girls and boys and exploring the many different ways child work and education are interconnected, I'll seek to pinpoint priority concerns that characterize child work in the west.

Genders differences in levels of work and education participation, a school that lose in quality and training, a culture of the work that comes out with the crisis of labour market (in relation with the effects of unemployment) and a cultural orientation that put on the principal value to have a job (the new fears about not to get a job even if with high grade of school), seems to take the place of economical variables and exclusion that were considered as principal cause of early children's introduction to work since few years ago. So although work is commonly held to be the main cause of school drop-out the reverse is also true: school can be cause of work..

The mean of child work is now connected to personal development and social integration, work is a way to learn abilities and ethical behaviour for future employment, things that school doesn't teach.

The idea of making education universal is probably an old problem. What I want to do is open some question and try to build new paradigms. What does lifelong learning for young people that choose different ways to grow up mean and that seem to refuse the formal way of vocational training?
 

Esther Alcala Mangas, University of Granada

Older Adult University in Granada: Permanent Classroom of Open Education

In Spain, the "Classrooms of the Third Age" began to work in the year 1975. In Granada, the older adult university is designated "Opened Classroom" or "Permanent Classroom of Opened Formation". The enrollment age has gone descending from 65 years with which was begun, to less of 50 due to wide emerged demand. Academic training is not a criterion of admission. The group of students is rather hetereogeneous, and there are between 150 and 200 registered older adult participants per course. Number of Courses are, actually three, though it is demanded by the student community to widen the program up to five years of courses.

Based on these university-dependent older adult educational programs in Granada results of a research with participants of these courses will be presented. The dimensions valued in this research were the following: Degree of satisfaction with respect to the location of the resources, contents, teacher evaluation, induced participation, spontaneous participation, active versus passive methodological approach (in the programming as well as in the own classroom), degree of satisfaction with classroom ratio and ideal ratio, degree of participation in docent activity (willness of participation, induced participation and real participation).

These results will be discussed before the background of the concept of ?interactive education" defined by Garcia Minguez (1998) as "a nonformal educational intervention model that has as purpose the personal accomplishment and social participation of older adult individuals through a feedback process". In contrast to the objectives of education for young people, which pretends a prompt occupational incorporation, Older Adult Education must be directed to the human being as a whole.
 

Arno Heimgartner, University of Graz

Learning processes of older people through participation on and work in social projects

The presented study follows the question if the participation on social projects can offer useful experiences and learning of competencies. Conditions like involvement in decision-making, autonomy of planning, amount of responsibility, concretness of supervision and reflection, phases of regeneration, and educational possibilities are therefore considered. As special aspects, there are emphasized:

• the lowness of the threshold of this learning setting
• the orientation to the life circumstances of the participants
• the professional organizing and the limits of integrating people
• the diverse influences on the local social field
• the critical relationship to gender and age
• the different directions of influence on local employment
• the far-reaching consequencies to the political and economic dimension

Forum III: Lifelong Learning in the context of changing generation relationships and everyday culture
 

Sven Mørch, University of Copenhagen

Lifelong learning and social contextualisation

From practical experience we know that learning often takes place in everyday social situations. Learning seems to be a practical consequence of contextual activities. We might talk about contextual learning as a broad description of the process in which competencies for managing everyday life are created.

This perspective on contextual learning has stressed the significance of understanding the "contextualisation of modernity" and the possibilities of "participation" in these contexts.

In many ways, however, the idea of contextual learning has not been foreign to the theory of socialisation, which has stressed the "informal" learning of social norms and roles. Socialisation theory points to learning which takes place in ordinary social situations. But socialisation theory have some shortcomings when the issue of life long learning is brought into discussion. It has restricted itself mostly to childhood learning of norms and values appropriate for playing social roles.

The new task to be solved in the learning discussion seems to be, how to combine two sorts of challenges: 1) A new focus on social learning, not as normative learning, but as contextual competence and 2) a new understanding of the importance of social contexts as arenas of development in modern life.

To illustrate this development focus will be set on Peer Education as a "pedagogic of modernity". It will be shown how different possibilities exist inside a broad concept of Peer education and how it becomes important to understand the "modernity" change from "participation" and democratic influence to "construction" and responsibility.
 

Maria do Carmo Gomes, Ana Micaela Gaspar, Rui Banha, CIES, Lisboa / Steve Miles, University of Plymouth / Axel Pohl, IRIS Tübingen

Lifelong Learning and Cultural Activities for "Disadvantaged" Young People

This paper refers to a research project in three European countries that analyzes secondary learning effects in cultural projects for disadvantaged young people. Basic assumptions of the research are that learning processes in culture and arts strongly differ from those in other more institutionalized learning settings (e.g. schools, vocational training institutions) as far as their goals and potentials for learning processes are concerned: "secondary learning processes", informal learning, side-effects of learning processes are found here, while formalized or programmed forms of teaching and learning take a subordinate role. Especially for "disadvantaged" young people, some particular chances for learning seem to be inherent in these contexts. By starting from individual strengths, the creativity and the social competences particularly of those young people can become apparent in these projects, who, in other contexts, are being perceived as standing no chance. It is the objective of this project to systematically evaluate the experiences made by young people in several European youth projects in order to make these approaches fertile for other institutions of youth policy. The projects are: Acting Up, Liverpool (GB), Chapitô, Lisboa (Portugal) and JUST (Youth in the Community), Mannheim (Germany).

The aim of the project is to gain insight in these learning processes and their conditions under the focus whether they can be seen as providing new ways of coping with the changes in the transition between youth and adulthood (labour market integration, gender relationships and life styles). Research methods are group interviews, expert interviews and biographical interviews as well as document analysis and participatory observation.

The paper will present results from the first year of the project with a main focus on the possibilities and potentials lying in such approaches to prevent effects of early exclusion from lifelong learning. Questions discussed in this paper are
- whether arts and culture projects contribute to processes of self-motivation and "learning to learn" that can be useful for new learning biogaphies,
- what conclusions could be drawn from the projects' and the young peoples' experiences for youth policies that systematically would incorporate strategies of supporting such learning processes.
 

Massimiano Bucchi / Cristina Limoncini, University of Trento / IARD, Milano

Youth and new information technologies: Results from a recent Italian Survey

It is often argued that new communication and information technologies represent an opportunity, particularly with regard to young generations, to extend and further democratize the access to information and learning, thereby reducing the gap between different socioeconomic categories of subjects. The first Italian empirical study on this topic has been recently completed by IARD. The study was carried out in a local context and entailed a sample of 640 students aged 17-20. It aimed at analyzing what type of use they make (if any) of such technologies (e.g. in their studies, leisure time etc.). The diffusion of information/communication technologies not only tends to be concentrated within families of the middle or higher social and cultural levels (and among males rather than females), but their introduction and learning is most often through informal (family and friends) channels. This should alert us about the serious danger that such technologies enhance, rather than diminishing, the 'knowledge gap' existing between subjects in terms of learning and education, thereby increasing the risk of exclusion for certain categories of youngsters. A better integration of these tools within the formal educational framework could also increase their relevance in terms of learning and training, as the dominant use young people make of computer and network facilities is still largely restricted to leisure activities.

The impact of new information and communication technologies on our way of working, learning and even of thinking is often being discussed. In drawing these scenarios for the immediate future, reference is quite often made to new generations as main targets and beneficiaries of new multimedia tools. However, this discussion is rarely coupled with an empirical analysis of how this type of technological innovation is actually perceived and used by young people.

The pilot study conducted between 1996 and 1997 by IARD Institute on the relationship between young adults and new technologies acquires, therefore, special interest. Despite the limitations that inevitably characterise a local study, in fact, the study represents one of the first attempts to see in practice different aspects and potential effects of the so-called "multimedia revolution" among the youth.

The questionnaire administered during the research to a representative sample of 640 students attending the final section of secondary school in Reggio Emilia (a town in Central/Northern Italy) contained questions on the knowledge, availability and use of different tools (e.g. portable phone, fax, computer and related accessories such as modem, CD-ROM, Internet access).

A first result concerns the accentuated stratification of youth with regard to new technologies: almost one subject out of three is completely excluded from such technologies. In general, these subjects are concentrated in the lowest cultural and social levels. The use of computers, instead, is more connotated in terms of gender: almost one third of young males use regularly a computer (32,8%) while this happens only to 17,4% of females. A common stereotype sees the use of tools such as the computer in conflict with other leisure activities and in particular with reading. Some data, however, seem to indicate that the most regular computer users do also more frequently practice other activities. They read for instance more newspapers, magazines and of course more computer magazines. They are quite similar to the other subjects, instead, with regard to TV, comics and youth magazines consumption.

It should not be neglected also that some youngsters do actually own a computer but never use it (6% of the interviewees, corresponding to 12% of computer owners). How are youngsters taught to use a computer? In most of the cases they learn this at school, although informal channels (friends, other members of the family) seem also very important. Very few youngsters learn computer by consulting manuals or specialised press, and even fewer learn by themselves or by attending specific courses.

Another aspect that differentiates young people with regard to new technologies is related to the different uses of computers. The overwhelmingly predominant use of the computer is to play games: more than one subject out of three uses the computer mainly for playing games and only marginally for other purposes such as writing, studying and practicing. Less than a fifth of the students recognise teaching as the main are of application of computer technology.

The web and internet facilities, often presented as the new 'reservoir of knowledge and information' particularly for young generations. More than half of the interviewed sample has never even tried to experiment this possibility; 20% of them make occasionally use of internet facilities while 5% consider himself as a regular user of the web. The learning channels for this instrument seem to follow a slightly different logic than those seen for the computer; media sources seem in fact to prevail (TV, newspapers), followed by friends. Approximately 10% of the youth visiting the Internet have learnt to use it at school, and also the family channel seems in this case not particularly relevant.

Music is the main topic searched on the web by young interviewees, followed by sport, computer stuff, art and literature: topics such as politics are at the bottom of this .

This confirms the predominant use of this tool - even more than the computer - in the context of leisure activities. Nevertheless, the majority of youth agree that computer networks are the technology that is more bound to change our life during the next few years (less relevant is considered the contribution offered by technologies such as interactive TV).

Interviewees substantially agree also on the growing need for youngsters to master these new technologies and on their potential in terms of new work opportunities. They are much more sceptical, instead, with regard to the possibility of achieving a greater democratisation and a more widespread political participation of citizens. It is not possible to undermine the importance of new technologies and the need to study with attention their impact, also from the cognitive point of view and from the point of view of personal identity construction (Turkle, 1997) - a central issue particularly when youth are involved. It is however important, in this light, to take into account the persistent practical and sociocultural bindings that still condition the access to this opportunity and the use of such tools. These bindings may therefore widen, rather than reduce, the gaps already existing among different categories of subjects. In particular, a stronger relationship with school and teaching seems needed as learning paths in this field seem still largely unstructured and occasional.

References
IARD, I giovani reggiani e le nuove tecnologie dell'informazione e della comunicazione. Milano, 1997.
Sherry Turkle, Life on the Screen. Cambridge, MIT Press, 1996.
 

Federica Zanetti, University of Bologna

Young People's Identities in the Context of Ethnic Minorities in Europe

The project ARCOS "Young people's anti-racist coping strategies" is an action-research project that starts from the premise that closed and racist identities and behaviours are not result of fundamental cultural and ethnic differences in society. On the contrary, it assert the capacity of the young people to develop simultaneous multiple identities and that these give important and constructive reference points for pedagogical and political responses to the ongoing social changes that are happening in their environment.

The project represents the cooperation between three university departements at three locations, Bologna/Italy, Cork/Ireland and Mainz/Germany, and involves groups of young people belonging to the Sinti population, to the Irish travelling community and migrant members of Muslim religion.

The youth groups identified as actors of the research represent different dimensions and aspects of cultural diversity in Europe while at the same time relating to a central issue of "the constuction of difference". This can attach itself to various social markers such as culture, religion, life-style or assumed ethnic-genetic differences.

The central objective is therefore to develop concepts and pedagogical instruments which are suited to assist the young people to grow up in a multicultural European society and to develop complex but integrated multiple identities. This objective cannot be achieved by a strategy of assimilation or of the reduction of differences, but instead through the recognition of the ability of the young people to develop and to negotiate social relations social relations which do justice to ethnic diversity. In particular it ask the young people to engage actively and critically in discussion about their daily experiences at school, in the streets? and subsequently in the discourse analysis to validate the significance of particular encounters, "patterns" and individual incidents. They will gradually generalise and formulate sets of strategies which are, in their view, successful ways of asserting group and individual identities at various social levels.

To this end the project ARCOS sets out to examine the coping strategies which the young people apply in multicultural social situations, situations which are often characterised by conflicts. The work will therefore be centred on the meaning which the participating members of the youth groups give to their social context which is stuctured in ethnic or in religous terms and how they manage the conflicts arising this situation.

As a result of the extensive preliminary discussion with the groups at the different locations it seems appropriate to concentrate in particular on experiences which reinforce the self-esteem of the participating youngesters in jointly validating their general and specific competences and to trace their origins in socio-cultural traditions as well as in formative lifeexperiences. This will be achieved by involving the group in the production of oral and written statements and texts at a variety of levels, recreational, intra-group communications and reflection, inter-group contacts, public articulation of needs and interests and of opinions in relation to the world of adults.

This project, connected to the concept of lifelong learning as a way of prevention of social exclusion and social inequality, faces the problem of giving possibilities of access to the knowledge and opportunities for improvement in society to disadvantaged group. The essential aim of ARCOS is to give a contribute to develop educational instruments which could facilitate young people growing up managing their future with self-awareness and personal fulfilment, for a successful integration into labour market and into a "European learning society".
 

Mafalda Margarido Santos, Instituto de Ciencias Sociais, Lisbon

Community education and the development of a European citizenship

This paper will be referring to an international study named "The contribution of Community action programs in the fields of education, training and youth to the development of citizenship with a European dimension" ⁽¹⁾. This investigation was carried out by an international team of investigators from Italy, Greece, Portugal and Spain. In each country a few community action programs were selected and analysed in their social, economical, political and cultural aspects, according to a pre-established analytical model that comprised the following dimensions: information, skills, identity and inclusion. Here, only the Portuguese projects will be mentioned.

Education is a privileged way to foster a new sense of citizenship in a united Europe and to promote a sense of belonging to a "greater we". Within this frame it is important to understand which mechanisms are being developed and used to promote social inclusion and to fight social exclusion.

The majority of the projects analysed tried, by different means, to achieve "changes in terms of contents, processes and teaching methods" ⁽²⁾, in order to break down the ethnocentric perspective, that is still very present in the educational curricula, and that way, contribute to a new citizenship. Accordingly, to encourage the respect for the different instead of promoting the homogeneity of cultures was considered an important issue. These projects tried to provide the participants (teachers, minority groups, disadvantaged young people, young people at risk) with skills and means to face the challenges of a boarder society and to help them gain access to education and learning opportunities.

1. Kazepov, Y., Deliyanni, K., Machado Pais, J., Garcia, M.S. et al (1997). The contribution of Community action programms in the fields of education, training and youth to the development of citizenship, Milano: IARD - Istituto di Ricerca.
2. Op.cit. page 3
 

Gabriele Lenzi, University of Bologna

Lifelong learning against AIDS: The Importance of Being Networked

The aim of my contribution is to investigate the relevance of some methodological aspects on education and training courses for non-profit organizations. The context for discussion will be offered by an Italian (transnational) lifelong learning project: I.C. Employment HORIZON - Progetto Euro- T.R.A.M.P (Training Research Aids Multimedia Project). The project, which is supported by the EU, has brought together representatives and operators from different areas: Catholic groups, Lesbian, Gay and Transsexual Associations, National Health Services, Trade Unions, Third Sector Organizations, Confessional and Non-confessional Education and Training.

The common endeavor within this project has been the struggle against HIV/AIDS and the social exclusion and discrimination it implies. In our opinion, the project not only affects health concerns, but also acquires the value of a pattern which can be transferred to the whole sector of lifelong learning. The fact that self-organized solidarity and self-help networks are increasingly acquiring importance in our complex late modern society is emphasized.

The project has been organized into two sections:
- training for the trainers of the organizations concerned and
- training for people with HIV, who will carry on the services of information and counseling on AIDS within the organizations themselves.

My analysis will chiefly focus on the most innovative aspects of the project, trying to evaluate:
- the methodological approach followed
- the learners' involvement as subjective actors of lifelong learning with respect to the planning and shaping of the learning process
- the concern for the social, relational and existential skills of the operators
- the multimedia products for continuing education and training which were created also by sharing the learners' formal and informal knowledge
- the employment opportunities for people with HIV which were created through supported training.
 

Mark Cieslik, University of Teesside

Community activism in areas of multiple disadvantage: creating social capital and promoting lifelong learning

This paper reports on a small qualitative study undertaken between 1993-1997 which examined the educational and work experiences of a group of young people and their families in a low-income area of South Wales, Great Britain. The paper shows how parents were involved in community activism (setting up of a youth club and drop-in centre) in an attempt to challenge the social exclusion they experienced. Questions are raised about how residents can create a range of resources and opportunities which are relevant for the promotion of lifelong learning.
 
 

Posters
 

Donatienne Desmette (with Christine Jaminon), University of Leuven / CERISIS

The Process of Integration: The role of self-efficacy within training schemes

At the moment, vocational training represents an important step toward insertion in working world for unemployed people. However, factors which influence the trajectory of this persons during and after the training are not yet well identified. Our research has been developped in this perspective, in regard of the following questions:
1. What are the training schemes and what are their effects on the social and occupational integration ?
2. What are the effects of contextual and subjective variables on the integrative process ?

I. Scientific framework
The basic assumption of our research is that training strategies and individual trajectories are interactive, by means of objectives and subjectives variables. The first ones refer to sociological theory according to social and cultural resources of a person determine his position in the society. Regarding the subjectives variables, they refer to personal and social constructs of the unemployed people, as to their actions.

This communication presents the relations between a subjective variable - the Self-Efficacy construct - and some training schemes.

•  Self-Efficacy is mainly used in the field of social psychology. This concept refers to the perception a person has of his own physical, emotional and psychological capabilities to reach specific goals (Bandura, 1977, 1982). Several researches have underlined the importance of the Self-Efficacy concept in training achievement as well as in post-training effects (cfr. Desmette et Herman, 1998).
•  Training schemes could be defined as some types of social organization whose aims are to integrate people (this way can be either social or vocational integration aim). We analyse those schemes by the confrontation of purposes of the organizers in one hand and pratices realised on the other hand using the concept of logic. The aim of this concept is to study the way the organization functions and the results they really have (not only what they intend to make). This concept of logic has been constructing by different dimensions : description , purposes of the scheme, training's educational methods : selection, curriculum, pedagogy and evaluation, public's characteristics (cfr. Jaminon et Herman, 1998).

II. Method
Our initial sample (pre-training step) is made up of 132 unemployed; their higher diploma is equivalent to Baccalaureat. They are in a training program in order to gain a social and/or an occupational integration. All the trainings last for 6 months at the maximum.
We collected the data by the means of self-evaluative questionnaires, in the training place or at home. The research is at present compound of two steps. The first one concerns the entry in the training program, the second step concerns the end of the training.

About Self-Efficacy, participants have to assess their perceived capacity in the fields of :
- training (2 items),
- work (8 items),
- private and social context (8 items)

They answer on Likert scales (10 degrees) as in the following example :
In what extend are you able to get a work ? (dans quelle mesure ?tes-vous capable de trouver du travail ?)

III. Results
Our analysis underlines (a) the negative effects of long-term unemployment on perceived Self-Efficacy, (b) the intra- and inter-individual differences in Self-Efficacy at the begining of the training and ( c) the specific effects of training schemes on post-training Self-Efficacy. We discuss the practical implications of these results.

Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy theory: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological Review, 84, 191-215.
Bandura, A. (1982). Self-efficacy mechanismes in human agency. American Psychologist, 37(2), 122-147.
Desmette, D., et Herman, G. (1998). Conditions et effets du développement du Sentiment d'Efficacit? Personnelle au cours d'une formation qualifiante. Les Cahiers du Cerisis, 98/7, sous presse.
Jaminon, C., et Herman, G. (1998). Parcours d'insertion et dispositifs: Analyse des pratiques d'insertion socio-professionnelle ^ La Louvière. Les Cahiers du Cerisis, 98/5, pp.52
 

Virginie Carlier, University of Strasbourg / BETA CEREQ

Lifelong Learning in Europe: a French case study, the "Individual Training Leave" (Congé Individuel de Formation).

Vocational Education and Training (VET) and Continuing Vocational Training (CVT) have been significantly developed in France for thirty years. The 1970 Agreement between employers and trade unions and the Professional training act of July 26^th,1971 marked the beginning of this development. The targets of the induced adult education policy were to allow "each man and each woman to face up to more or less foreseeable changes which occur in professional life? and to fight against the inequalities in labour market access"⁽³⁾. Therefore, the right to "individual training leave" (Congé Individuel de Formation, CIF) for which a provision already existed in the 1971 act, and which was explicitly organised by the leave provision of 1984, seems to be a good case study. This measure allows workers to follow training courses free of charge and to get their salaries ; it acknowledges the capacity of learners to be actors of their own educational and professional biographies.

With the economic crisis and the increased unemployment however, the utilitarian conception and the market logic tend to dominate. Actually, on the one hand the workers rather use the CIF to increase their direct professional competences and so to maintain their employability. On the other hand, the present CIF difficulties, namely the cutting down of training funds - since the Five-year act about Labour, Employment and vocational Training of December 20^th, 1993 - show that the development of the individual's education is not a priority nowadays and that the adaptation to labour market demands is promoted. Finally, such attitudes lead to a reduced choice : to learn or to be left out.

This evolution of the French individual training leave reflects the transformation of the CVT practices in our country, and beyond in Europe, toward a utilitarian way of looking at lifelong learning problematique.

3.  "Genèse d'une loi et stratégie du changement" (Genesis of a bill and change strategy), Jacques DELORS, Formation Emploi n°34, CEREQ, La Documentation française, April-June 1991, p.31.
 

Andy Bennett, University of Glasgow

The Frankfurt 'Rockmobil': Music training and young people

The cultural relationship between popular music and youth has been a subject of academic interest for many years. Interestingly, however, the issue of 'music-making' among young people has only recently been acknowledged by academic writers and researchers. Moreover, even as work into this area continues, there is a sense in which many of the richer benefits of music-making activities for young people are being ignored, writers and researchers tending to restrict themselves to issues of composition and performance and the relationship of such 'local' instances of music-making' to the global music industry. In this paper, it is will be my intention to do two things. In the first instance, I wish to provide the reader with some background information regarding the Frankfurt Rockmobil, a highly innovative music-making project which caters primarily for young people living in areas targeted by the local authority as 'high risk' due to social problems such as drug abuse, juvenile crime and racial exclusion. Secondly, I want to discuss some of the new insights which the work of the Rockmobil project provides into the value of music-making activities for young people. This will be done in two stages. Initially, I will consider the role of the Rockmobil as a resource for the personal and social development of those young people who make use of the project's facilities. Subsequently, with reference to practical examples, I will examine the Rockmobil's highly effective work with ethnic minority groups and female users (Mädchen and Frauenarbeit) and the success of the project in helping to promote non-racist and non-sexist attitudes among young people. The paper is based in part upon my own experience of working with the Frankfurt Rockmobil project over a two and a half year period between 1990 and 1993.