John Preston and Leon Feinstein, Centre for Research on the
Wider Benefits of Learning
Department for Education and Skills, 2004
This report is part of the Centre for Research on the Wider
Benefits of Learning's research on social cohesion. It uses
data on 8,000 individuals from the National Child Development
Study, assessing seven types of attitude (racism, political
cynicism, environmentalism, willingness to work, collectivism/markets,
authoritarianism and traditional family values) using commonly-used
attitude scales. Changes in attitudes between the ages of
33 and 42 of adults who participated in adult learning are
compared with changes in attitudes of those who did not.
However, the method is not experimental and does not rule
out selection bias entirely.
Analysis of the data suggests that adult learning does have
beneficial effects on attitude change. It has most influence
on attitudes where a more 'open minded' perspective may
be taken, for instance racism, and has less on more general
points of ideology, such as traditional family values. In
particular, academic courses seem to have positive effects
on both men and women in reducing racism and cynicism. Vocational
adult education also reduces racism in men, while work and
leisure-related education has this effect in women. Work-related
adult education appears to increase willingness to work
in both sexes. In addition academic education seems to have
effects in reducing authoritarianism in both men and women.
Analysis has shown that there is a clearly defined group
of individuals with 'extremist' racist-authoritarian attitudes,
and that adult education may prevent individuals, and thus
communities, from moving towards this position. From a society
point of view, a reduction in racism and political cynicism
can increase community cohesion, meaning that adult learning
has collective societal benefits, as well as individual
ones.
Preston, J. and Feinstein, L. (2004). Adult
education and attitude change. London: Department
for Education and Skills/Centre for Research on the Wider
Benefits of Learning.
Download the full report from: www.learningbenefits.net
(scroll down to report 11).
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