Professor John Field

Emeritus Professor

Education University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA

Professor John Field

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About me

About me

I have a long-standing background of interest and involvement in lifelong learning. Recent publications include edited collections on Mental Capital and Wellbeing and Researching Transitions in Lifelong Learning. I have just completed a new book on British work camp systems before 1939, which is being published in 2013 by Manchester University Press, and am editor of the new Sage Handbook on Aging, Work & Society (also due in 2013). Externally, I serve as a Visiting Professor of Birkbeck College, University of London. I currently chair the Advisory Board for the ESRC Research Centre on Learning and Life Chances in Knowledge Economies and Societies (LLAKES), University of London. I served as a commissioner of theNational Commission of Inquiry on the Future of Lifelong Learning. A summary of the commission's findings can be read here. Co-Director of the Centre for Research in Lifelong Learning.Media Coverage Work camps that tackled Depression How 1930s work camps operatedDoctoral Supervisory Interests Lifelong learning policies Participation in adult learning History of education and training Comparative study of adult learning

Event / Presentation

Exporting "people of British stock": training and emigration policy in inter-war Britain. 40th Annual SCUTREA Conference

Researching Retention and Non-Traditional Learners: evidence on pre-entry preparation. Hitting the ground running: reflections on pre-entry student support and new students’ academic preparedness for higher education
Glasgow Caledonian University

http://www.gcu.ac.uk/newsroom/events/article.php?id=7884
The School of Health at Glasgow Caledonian University will hold a one-day national symposium on the themes of pre-entry support and academic preparedness for higher education. The event will provide colleagues in all disciplines the opportunity to discuss and share practice in this important and expanding area of student support. The twin effects of UK demographic change and the move towards widening participation have made it necessary for HEIs to adjust to an increasingly diverse student intake. Students now enter higher education from a wide variety of backgrounds with differing expectations of university life and varying levels of preparedness for the academic challenges awaiting them. This event aims to discuss what institutions and staff can do to help prepare students to meet these challenges, both before and immediately after entry.

Studenthood and identification: higher education as a liminal transitional space. 40th Annual SCUTREA Conference

Reflecting From the Front Line: Research on Lifelong Learning and Policies for Well-Being. 39th Annual SCUTREA conference


Professional membership

National Institute of Adult Continuing Education


Research (5)

My research interests encompass the social and economic contexts of adult learning, policy in lifelong learning, and the history of adult education and training. Together with Professor Gert Biesta, I co-directed the Learning Lives project (www.learninglives.org), which led to a co-authored book and many articles. The project examined the meaning and significance of formal and informal learning in the lives of adults, and was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council as part of its Teaching and Learning Research Programme. Theoretically, it was concerned with the interplay of learning with structure, agency, identity and change over the life course. I am also involved in a transnational study of Access and Retention: Experiences of non-traditional learners in higher education (http://www.ranlhe.dsw.edu.pl/). Our research looked at how non-traditional students in higher education experience the processes of learning, how they perceive themselves as learners and how their identity as learners develops. It involved case studies in seven European countries, and is funded by the European Commission. It is now being written up for publication.

Projects

Labour colonies and work camps in Britain, 1880-1939
PI: Professor John Field
Funded by: The Carnegie Trust

RANLHE
PI: Professor John Field
Funded by: European Commission (Horizon 2020)

The Learning Life -short Film
PI: Professor John Field
Funded by: Economic and Social Research Council

Learning, Identity & Agency in the Life-course
PI: Professor John Field
Funded by: Economic and Social Research Council

Identity, agency, adult learning and experiences of work
PI: Professor John Field
Funded by: The Carnegie Trust

Outputs (46)

Outputs

Book Chapter

Field J, Kunzel K & Schemmann M (2019) Revisiting the Debate on International Comparative Adult Education Research: Theoretical and Methodological Reflections. In: Fejes A & Nylander E (eds.) Mapping out the Research Field of Adult Education and Learning. Lifelong Learning Book Series, 24. Cham, Switzerland: Springer, pp. 181-202. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-10946-2_10


Book Chapter

Field J & Canning R (2014) Lifelong learning and employers: reskilling older workers. In: Harper S, Hamblin K, Hoffman J, Howse K & Leeson G (eds.) International Handbook on Ageing and Public Policy. Handbooks of Research on Public Policy series. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, pp. 463-473. http://www.e-elgar.com/Bookentry_Main.lasso?currency=US&id=14437


Book Chapter

Field J (2013) Investing in labour force and skills development. In: Saridakis G & Cooper C (eds.) How can HR drive growth?. New Horizons in Management. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, pp. 100-117. http://www.e-elgar.co.uk/bookentry_main.lasso?id=14790


Book Chapter

Field J (2013) The importance of learning. In: Sherwood C & Faulkner J (eds.) Reflections on ageing: The role of relationships in later life. Doncaster: Relate, pp. 39-43. http://www.relate.org.uk/userfiles/documents/Publication-ageing-essays-2013.pdf


Edited Book

Field J, Burke R & Cooper CL (eds.) (2013) The SAGE Handbook of Aging, Work and Society. London: Sage. http://www.uk.sagepub.com/booksProdDesc.nav?prodId=Book237162&utm_source=Book&utm_medium=email&utm_content=237162&utm_campaign=PERSONL&priorityCode=PERSONL


Book Chapter

Field J (2013) Migration and workforce aging. In: Field J, Burke R & Cooper C (eds.) The SAGE Handbook of Aging, Work and Society. London: Sage, pp. 75-93. http://www.uk.sagepub.com/books/Book237162?subject=F00&sortBy=defaultPubDate%20desc&fs=1


Book Chapter

Field J & Morgan-Klein N (2012) The Importance of Social Support Structures for Retention and Success. In: Hinton-Smith & T (eds.) Widening Participation in Higher Education: Casting the net wide?. Issues in Higher Education. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 178-192. http://www.palgrave.com/products/title.aspx?pid=508578


Edited Book

Derrick J, Howard U, Field J, Lavender P, Meyer S, Nuissl von Rein E & Schuller T (eds.) (2011) Remaking Adult Learning: Essays in honour of Alan Tuckett. London: Institute of Education Press. http://www.ioe.ac.uk/about/48777.html


Book Chapter

Field J (2011) Biography and generation. In: Herzberg H & Kammler E (eds.) Biographie und Gesellschaft. Überlegungen zu einer Theorie des modernen Selbst. Frankfurt: Campus Verlag, pp. 379-396. http://www.campus.de/wissenschaft/kulturwissenschaften/Kultursoziologie%2F+Cultural+Studies.40450.html/Biographie+und+Gesellschaft.98144.html


Book Chapter

Field J (2011) Soziale Netzwerke und Übergänge im Lernen. In: Vater S, Kellner W & Jütte W (eds.) Erwachsenenbildung und Sozialkapital. Studies in Lifelong Learning, 4. Vienna: Lit Verlag, pp. 33-49. http://www.litwebshop.de/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=7114


Book Chapter

Field J (2011) Learning in Working Life: Identity and Workplace Learning. In: Catts R, Falk I & Wallace R (eds.) Vocational learning: innovative theory and practice. Technical and Vocational Education and Training: Issues, Concerns and Prospects, 13. Dordrecht: Springer, pp. 229-242. http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-94-007-1539-4_15


Book Chapter

Field J & Malcolm I (2010) Learning in emotional labour and emotion work. In: Cooper L & Walters S (eds.) Learning/Work: Turning work and learning inside out. Cape Town: Human Sciences Research Council Press, pp. 169-181. https://www.hsrcpress.ac.za/books/learning-work


Book Chapter

Field J (2010) Seriously useless learning? Potential and limits of recent research on the benefits of learning. In: Derrick J J, Howard U, Field J, Lavender P, Meyer S, Nuissl vRE & Schuller T (eds.) Remaking adult learning: Essays on Adult Education in Honour of Alan Tuckett. London: Institute of Education Press and NIACE, pp. 220-229. http://www.ioe.ac.uk/about/48777.html


Book Chapter

Field J (2010) Models of provision of lifelong learning: how is it done around the world?. In: Cooper C, Field J, Goswami U, Jenkins R & Sahakhian B (eds.) Mental capital and wellbeing. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 383-388. http://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-144430772X.html


Book Chapter

Field J (2010) Lifelong learning. In: Peterson P, Baker E & McGaw B (eds.) International Encyclopedia of Education. 3rd ed. Amsterdam: Elsevier, pp. 89-95. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780080448947000166


Conference Proceeding

Field J & Morgan-Klein N (2010) Studenthood and identification: higher education as a liminal transitional space. In: Merrill B & Armstrong P (eds.) SCUTREA: Proceedings of the 40th Annual Conference. 40th Annual SCUTREA Conference, University of Warwick, UK, 06.07.2010-08.07.2010. Warick, UK: University of Warwick. http://www.scutrea.ac.uk/index.html


Edited Book

Field J, Gallacher J & Ingram R (eds.) (2009) Researching Transitions in Lifelong Learning. London: Routledge. http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415495998/


Research Report

Field J (2009) Well-being and happiness. National Institute for Adult Continuing Education (England and Wales) Inquiry into the Future for Lifelong Learning Thematic Papers, 4. National Institute of Adult Continuing Education. http://www.niace.org.uk/lifelonglearninginquiry/docs/IFLL-wellbeing.pdf


Book Chapter

Field J (2009) Lifelong Learning and community. In: Jarvis P (ed.) The Routledge International Handbook of Lifelong Learning. Routledge International Handbooks of Education. London: Routledge, pp. 153-162. http://www.routledge.com/books/The-Routledge-International-Handbook-of-Lifelong-Learning-isbn9780415419048


Book Chapter

Field J, Ingram R & Gallacher J (2009) Conclusion - researching transitions: trends and future prospects. In: Field J, Ingram R & Gallacher J (eds.) Researching Transitions in Lifelong Learning. London: Routledge, pp. 225-227. http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415495998/


Book Chapter

Ingram R, Field J & Gallacher J (2009) Learning Transitions: Research, policy, practice. In: Ingram R, Field J & Gallacher J (eds.) Researching Transitions in Lifelong Learning. Abingdon, UK: Routledge (of Taylor and Francis), pp. 1-6. http://www.routledge.com/books/Researching-Transitions-in-Lifelong-Learning-isbn9780415495998


Authored Book

Field J (2008) Social Capital. 2nd ed. Key Ideas. London and New York: Routledge. http://www.routledge.com/shopping_cart/products/product_detail.asp?sku=&isbn=9780415433037


Article

Beddington J, Cooper CL, Field J, Goswami U, Huppert FA, Jenkins R, Jones HS, Kirkwood TBL, Sahakian BJ & Thomas SM (2008) The mental wealth of nations. Nature, 455 (7216), pp. 1057-1060. https://doi.org/10.1038/4551057a


Article

Field J (2008) Sozialkapital und Erwachsenenbildung. Die Osterreichische Volkshochschule, 229, pp. 2-5. http://www.adulteducation.at/en/literatur/zeitschriftenartikel/103237/