ABSTRACT
Our analysis revealed that in a significant number of cases, they had come to some kind of understanding about their lives and themselves and we found that this learning had had an impact on the ways in which they led their lives. We became particularly interested in the role of life-stories and lifestorying in such learning processes and in the relationship between the ‘narrative quality’ of such stories and their learning potential. Our findings suggest that the rise of the ‘learning economy’ (Biesta 2006a, 2006b) has not completely displaced learning processes that are significant for people’s agency and in our conclusions we reflect upon the importance of the conditions under which narrative learning might contribute to those dimensions of lifelong learning that have come under pressure as a result of the rise of the learning economy. We also address practical issues concerning whether and how narrative learning might relate to established provision in adult education, and what the implications might be for the training of teachers in this role.
