ABSTRACT
This chapter presents three case studies (Delia, Phyllis and Hester) in which family and learning both interact. It demonstrates the myriad ways in which a family learns, in which a family affects one’s learning, and in which learning affects one’s family. It includes instances of informal and formal learning synthesised in a family setting, and the ways in which intergenerational learning can occur. It also looks at the effects of learning throughout the life course, and the part played by the family at each stage. As with the other themes of health and social capital, after each case study a diagram depicts graphically the main effects of each individual’s learning, utilising the triangular conceptualisation of the effects of learning (see Figure 2.1). The chapter ends with a presentation of the mechanisms by which some of these effects are possibly elicited.
