Continuity and learning
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# 2 Biographical learning

In the following reading, you will explore the concept of biographical learning and how adults can create narratives to gain a deeper understanding of their learning lives.

The Learning Lives project was a large-scale study by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and ran from 2004 until 2008. Its aim was to increase understanding of formal and informal learning. The project involved in-depth interviews with 117 adults aged between 25 and 85 years. The project took a biographical approach by asking adults to narrate their lifetime learning and work experiences.

One of the findings is that constructing ‘life stories’ and ‘life narratives’ enables us to learn from what has happened to us in our personal lives and in our work. The researchers suggest that life narratives and stories have ‘plots’ that the authors (ourselves) use to select, organise and present life events in a particular order, which might be sequential or thematic (TLRP, 2008, p. 3). In short, constructing a plot enables us to make sense of our lives in a coherent way and to identify patterns of learning in our experiences.

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