Biographies, class and learning: the experiences of adult learners

Adult education in the United Kingdom is historically associated with working-class movements in the nineteenth century. In recent years, however, with the popularity of postmodernism, social class has become a neglected concept among sociologists and adult educators. Wider participation strategies have increased the number of adult students returning to education, many from the working class. This article focuses on the biographies of working-class learners to illustrate the continued centrality of class and class inequalities in the lives of adult learners. Biographies reveal how class inequalities constrain learning in many ways, making it a risk; however, through the use of agency education can also be transformative. Adult educators need to listen to the voices of working-class adult learners and challenge the structures, policy and practices in their institutions in order to improve the learning experiences as well as to reassert class in academic debates.