Two members of the Research Circle – John Holford and Jol Miskin – have recently had letters published within the Guardian. These letters respond to an editorial concerned with the need to broaden adult education for all ages, as well as the need to address complicated administrative and funding arrangements. The editorial considers Alan Milburn’s
In this blog repost from Red Pepper, Nick Mahony and Frances Northrop examine efforts to empower communities via the Pride in Place initiative. They argue that this will test commitments to devolving power and empowering communities, as difficulties are emerging around financial control and autonomy for local communities. Pride in Place is a flagship government regeneration programme pledging
As part of ongoing research into the lost spaces of adult education within the UK, Sharon had the honour of interviewing Derek Tatton in 2021. The video of this interview is available online and the following blog post provides Sharon’s initial thinking and reflections. As a former adult educator and teacher, Derek first encountered the
With the ongoing COVID-19 enquiry publishing new findings via several units of societal enquiry, it helps to emphasise the importance of taking time to think about past pandemic experiences for the future. Consequently, the following blog repost from Alex Dunedin @ Ragged University provides a reflective retrospective on necessary adaptations to practice during lockdown. The
This is a write up of Sharon and Iain’s provocation that was delivered at Fircroft’s Summer Symposium on the 3rd of July 2026. This provocation allowed for discussion on the decline of adult education and the importance of creating dialogic learning spaces. Sharon and Iain’s work within the Research Circle over the past 5-6 years
Melanie Lenehan who has been involved with the Research Circle has provided details of an event which may be of interest. Re-imagining a sustainable future for adult education: Learning to create a better world Within the multiple global crises that we see and hear about daily, adult education in England is also in crisis. We
The Raymond Williams Foundation and Red Pepper have now entered into a partnership to share articles and content relating to adult education. This partnership has been announced in the latest Red Pepper magazine (#248) (spring 2026), and Sharon along with Nick Mahony have provided an article to mark this new relationship. The article considers the vital role that adult education can play in pushing back against the far right and building community-based democracies…
RWF has entered into a partnership with Red Pepper magazine. In the new partnership the Red Pepper website will host a ‘Raymond Williams’ section that brings together the Keywords series and other articles, links to the RWF’s website, and updates with details of the RWF grant cycle. In the next print edition of RP coming out shortly (Spring 2026) there will be an announcement of the partnership, background on RP’s links with Raymond Williams, and some context/introduction to RWF’s work and this will be supported by an initial scene-setting article on the current state of adult learning,
