engleski

Landscapes of Lifelong Learning Policies across Europe: Comparative Case Studies

Through research on Lifelong Learning policies, this edited volume analyses, compares and critically reflects upon varying patterns of interaction between young adults’ expectations and experiences and the opportunity structures available to them. The term pattern is understood as discernible forms or sequences through which young adults relate to and interact with the LLL policies implemented in different landscapes, which in turn represent varying structures of opportunity for participation in education and the labour market. These interactions are explored by considering their theoretical, political and practical features over time and across different European countries and regions. In terms of theoretical contribution, the concept of opportunity structure is elaborated and applied to the analysis of the complex interrelationships captured by the focus on unique landscapes of LLL policy-making. The latter is conceptualized with attention to the individual/subjective, institutional and structural dimensions. Drawing from Dale and Parreira do Amaral’s (2015) distinction between discursive and institutional structures of opportunity, the research presented here adds a social-relational perspective by emphasizing the interaction of the various levels, actors and contexts in specific landscapes. In terms of methodological contribution, the chapters in the volume present original empirical applications of Comparative Case Studies design. Departing from the assumption that case studies are not naturally existing phenomena to be discovered, but are rather constructed by a multi- method, multi-level approach aimed at showing the dynamic interrelations of LLL policies and their contexts, this book offers new knowledge on the intricacies of capturing horizontal, vertical and transversal dimensions of the research object. Structured along three Parts, the book addresses the research question of how LLL policies shape or reshape (e.g., support, facilitate, constrain) young adults’ life courses by influencing their opportunity structures. Addressing this question entails looking into different facets of LLL across Europe ; the chapters focus, in particular, on: a) Youths’ aspirations towards the future: agency, strategies, life choices in different contexts ; b) Meanings of the involvement in LLL policies from the young adults’ perspective (for instance, through an active use of LLL policies according to future planning or through a passive adaptation to circumstances) ; c) Discursive construction of LLL as a ‘life opportunity’ or ‘last chance’, flanked by underlying linear and non-linear representations of the life course ; d) Different kinds of subjectivities that impact the aims of LLL policies (from the target groups being defined based on personal deficits to the intended changes/effects at the individual level) ; e) The solutions and strategies deployed by policy experts (from policy managers to street level professionals) to contextualise international/national policies in the local contexts (also considering potential informal compensations applied in order to overcome formal rigidity), and f) The impact of governance patterns on opportunity structures (following a continuum of prevention, intervention, compensation and empowerment as purposes of LLL policies).

Lifelong Learning policies ; young adults ; European countries ; Comparative Case Studies design ; opportunity structures

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