ABSTRACT
This book draws on the concepts of ideology and discourse to contribute to the debates on gender, masculinities and lifelong learning. Debates in the field of gender and education are highly politicized; they reflect and are informed by differing ideological and theoretical perspectives. Common-sense theories about gender differences in educational participation and attainment abound and can be discerned in everyday discussion about the relationship between men and women, their knowledge and achievements; but arguments based on common sense are imbued with tacit or explicit beliefs about gender. In writing this book, we have debated among ourselves and with the other contributors our views about gender, masculinities and education and the evidence which supports or undermines them.
