Publisher's Synopsis
Emanating from a two-year action research project aimed at devising higher education courses for excluded social groups, this book examines ways in which UK higher education can be accessed and valued by adults who have previously been excluded. The authors adopt an innovative and clearly conceptualized approach to a key issue for a developing and diversifying higher education system, namely how that system engages with difference and exclusion. In addition they explore the topical argument that education contributes to building social as well as human capital û a necessary feature of citizenship and sustainable communities. - - The first part of the book addresses some key themes for a kind of higher education û core skills and credit, curriculum relevance, guidance, learner support and technology. The second part explores the learner contexts and personal histories to demonstrate how a ôôôôkind of higher educationö can respond to local circumstances and therefore contribute to building sustainable communities. In conclusion the authors examine the wider policy implications of the research findings. -
