Problematising adult basic and secondary education in a globalised world. From second chance to school recovery

Abstract

The article problematises the role Adult Basic and Secondary Education (ABSE) plays in response to global challenges, under the influence of global policy. Drawing on a three-year study that assumed a social realism perspective and employed situational analysis, it discusses three dimensions of policy making in adult education: the scales of political mobilisation, the environments for policy-making, and the meanings conveyed. In doing so, it argues that although the perceptions and reception of as well as influence on international policy vary across countries, ABSE has turned today into a school-recovery opportunity for the younger generations who failed in school and people whose educational achievements in a given country are not recognised when migrating to a new one. This calls into question both the way policy in ABSE sees the social problem at stake and how policy solutions in this area of public intervention impinge on broader issues of (in)equality in education.