Transforming a Learning Society

The Editor: Ari Antikainen is Professor of Sociology of Education at the University of Joensuu, Finland. He is the author and editor of numerous books including Living in a Learning Society: Life Histories, Identities and Education (1996; with J. Houtsonen, H. Huotelin and J. Kauppila), In from the Margins: adult education, work and civil society (2006; with P. Harinen and C.A. Torres) and The International Handbook on the Sociology of Education (2003; with C. A. Torres).

• Contents: Ari Antikainen: Introduction: The Construction of a Learning Society – Ari Antikainen: The Rise and Change of Comprehensive Planning in 1960-1990 – Leena Koski: From God to Friendship: The Changing Moral Orders of Educational Stories in ABC Books – Hannu Räty/Leila Snellman: Social Representations of Educability – Ari Antikainen: Is Lifelong Learning Becoming a Reality? The Case of Finland from a Comparative Perspective – Erja Moore: The Changing Patterns of University Studies; Towards Lifelong Learning in Universities – Erkki Sutinen/Marja Virmajoki-Tyrväinen/Marjo Virnes: Physical Learning Objects Can Improve Social Skills in Special Education – Perttu Vartiainen/Arto Viiri: Universities and Their Local Partners. The Case of the University of Joensuu, Finland – Jukka Oksa: How to be Rural in the Information Age: The Case of a Rural Community Network in a Finnish Periphery – Ari Antikainen: Between Empowerment and Control. The Finnish Adult Education and Training Initiative – Pirkko Pitkänen/Kaija Matinheikki-Kokko: Multicultural Education as an Educational Response to the Increase in Immigration in Finland – Ari Antikainen/Katja Komonen: Biography, Life Course and the Sociology of Education – Ari Antikainen/Juha Kauppila: Educational Generations and the Futures of Adult Education: A Nordic Experience – Juha Kauppila/Anne Ahvenharju (with Erja Moore and Ari Antikainen): Teacher Generations in Finland. A Biographical Study of the Key Experiences and Life Course Trajectories of Teachers – Päivi Kauppila/Mari Käyhkö: Life History Approach to Social Reproduction: Educational Choices among Young Working-Class Students – Ari Antikainen: In Search of the Meaning of Education and Learning in Life-Histories – Erja Moore/Tiina Tikka/Ari Antikainen: The Importance of Work and Education in an Information Society – Ari Antikainen/Päivi Harinen: Living and Learning in a Changing European Periphery – Ari Antikainen: The Nordic Model in Education.

«Debates about the idea of a learning society have been dominated by rhetoric with little supporting evidence and few attempts to clarify what the concept might mean and how changes in the education system and in the demands for learning might be related to wider changes in society, nationally and globally. Furthermore there has been little attempt to consider how different types of learning society might be emerging that reflect different national histories and cultures. In each of these respects this book breaks new ground.» (Michael F. D. Young, University of London, Institute of Education)