Chapter 2
Debating Conceptual, Theoretical and Empirical Approaches
In: Learner-Centred Education for Adult Migrants in EuropeSearch for other papers by Maria N. Gravani in
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Abstract
The chapter attempts, first, to make sense of the conceptual confusions around the notion of LCE and its multiple implementations around the world and to suggest a possible way forward towards a cohesive understanding of LCE and its possible applications in the framework of the research study. Second, it documents the urgent need for substantial research in Adult Education investigating in what ways LCE is being enacted and implemented as a tool for social change across different contexts. Finally, it summarises some of the key challenges in thinking about LCE and adult education in the context of migration and migrant subjectivities. It is divided in eight short sections: the first presents an overview of the main theoretical debates around LCE and its associated concepts to better clarify the theoretical approach that is utilised by the research study; the second, briefly discusses the arguments supporting the promotion of LCE as a tool for social change; in the third, fourth, and fifth section, the text reviews some of the key academic studies and analyses on the implementation of LCE programmes and methods in the areas of child education, higher and adult education, respectively. The sixth and seventh sections highlight the existing limitations of the discourse on adult education and migration from both an academic and a policy perspective. Finally, the literature review concludes with a brief discussion of the approach endorsed by the research reported along the lines of a comparative study of LCE in the design and implementation of adult education programmes for migrants.