The name is absent

class or gender lines), or to what could be quite profound feelings of distorted
identity.

6. Whether or not it is included in guidance, explicitly underlining the possibility
of returning to education would clearly be a positive measure, for all categories.
Even if people leave school at the earliest opportunity, with no qualifications,
they should know that it is possible to return. Messages of this kind would, on
our evidence, be likely to lie dormant but not be lost.

7. Intergenerational equity emerges as a strong policy issue from consideration of
initial education. Accounts from older people of being unable to take up a
grammar school or even university place because of the costs involved at that
historical point were quite common. The equity case is complemented by other
effects which show how positive learning can be for older people and their
families and communities (see Sections 6 and 8).

8. Progressing from school to college represents an important opportunity to
achieve autonomy. Where it works, students feel that they are gaining adult
status, and can explore their individuality. This is well understood in the
institutions and should be given due recognition, especially in relation to
students with special learning needs.

5. Learning contexts and learning experiences

Learning context and learning experience have distinct but interactive effects upon the
wider benefits that learning brings to individuals and their communities. They are
presented separately for conceptual simplicity, but we do not mean to imply that they
operate in isolation.

5.1 Learning context

Learning takes place in a variety of places, including colleges, community centres,
schools, homes and hotels. Where learning takes place is closely linked to whom one
learns alongside. What we mean here by learning context, then, is both the physical
location of learning and the social context in which it takes place.

We refer to learning contexts as ‘familiar’ where they are attuned with the rest of the
learner’s life, and resonate more or less directly with life experiences, motivations and
interests. Examples include learning at home, family learning that takes place in
schools where learners’ children are pupils, and community centres. In these contexts,
learners share common characteristics - for example, they are all parents, single
parents, women, people originating from a particular region or country, people who
have experienced mental health difficulties, of the same age group, who have worked

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