On lifelong learning in Oxford

I hope that it will be of interest to Russian colleagues to read about the kind of education which we call 'lifelong learning' and 'adult part-time study'.

For my readers I am sure it is axiomatic that continuing to learn is a good thing, and that working with mature students is rewarding for tutors. I have certainly found that the varied experience brought to discussion by a group of older students produces a wide range of insightful readings and that mature students are highly motivated and committed to study. I feel that my education becomes lifelong from the things I learn from them as much as from the courses I teach.

Continuing education may be a stepping-stone back to full-time education, particularly through courses in study skills; or it may be a means to gain a qualification; or simply and all-importantly, a chance to learn for learning's sake. Oxford's Department for Continuing Education (OUDCE) <> offers different kinds of study, both award-bearing (may lead to a qualification) and non-awardbearing (does not lead to a qualification), and at undergraduate and graduate level. We organise day schools and weekend schools at which anyone can listen to world-class lecturers. We have weekly classes taught in the day or evening which last for ten or twenty weeks; many adult students continue with such classes from year to year. Not all of these courses are taught in Oxford; we take them out to other regional centres. Karen Hewitt, whom you will know from the seminars she organises, and from this periodical, is indefatigable in that enterprise. In recent years, when other universities were closing their continuing education departments, OUDCE expanded to maintain the provision. As I write, weekly classes are being offered in 430 subjects, from 'Ancient Greek' to 'Modern Irish

Fiction', and from 'The Philosophy of Art' to 'Europe Divided: 1961-1989'.

Characteristically, continuing education departments offer open-access courses which enable those without formal qualifications to work towards such qualifications. This helps people who initially chose the wrong subjects at A-level; or whose performance at school did not match their ability; or who were not able to stay on at school; or who were badly taught, or deterred by teachers from continuing to university. In the past, many people with specific learning difficulties that we now recognise, such as the wide spectrum of dyslexia, were treated as 'slow', 'stupid', or not capable of higher study. Continuing education, especially with the support now available from disabilities services, can help to redress that disadvantage. For example, OUDCE runs summer schools where students who wish to do so can accumulate points which contribute to the attainment of a Certificate in Higher Education.

We also have a Foundation Certificate, a two-year, part-time course which is the equivalent of the first year of a BA course. This is not necessarily a 'second education'. Many students who enrolled on the Foundation Certificate in History or the Foundation Certificate in English with hardly any qualifications have gone on to study for a degree at Oxford, Cambridge, London, and other universities. The Undergraduate Diploma courses are also both popular and successful, and provide one of the very few opportunities in Oxford to study for a qualification in Creative Writing. Students have to pay for these courses, but they are much cheaper than full-time courses and can be combined (with much effort and organisation) with full-time jobs.

Funding graduate study in Britain is difficult; there are many students and fewer bursaries and scholarships, so the provision of part-time graduate study is important. OUDCE runs a range of courses for professional development, with a particular strength in health-care studies. Our MSt (Master of Studies) and doctoral programmes enable students to attend either weekly seminars or week-long residences supplemented by online work and virtual meetings by chat-room, Skype, or other modes of communication. Online study is also a whole pathway in itself. Our portfolio of short, open-access online courses takes our teaching to people who cannot come to us. In addition to international students, it has brought together fulltime carers for elderly relatives and people for whom, for a number of reasons, travel might be difficult or too expensive. Who takes our courses? Oxford's part-time students are of all ages, from late teens to nineties, and come from all over the world. On      search for students and 'student spotlights' if you would like to discover more about the OUDCE students: the policewoman who became an historian, the octogenarian who wanted a fresh challenge, the stonemason who went into archaeology, the architect who wanted to bring sustainable development to his South African practice.

Juggling the demands of work or family or other commitments and study is challenging. Why do people take it on? Here are the remarks of one student randomly chosen from the website:

Having left school at sixteen, I never imagined I would go to university. However, I was encouraged to enrol on the Certificate of Higher Education and studied languages for six rigorous but rewarding years, receiving my Certificate at the Awards Ceremony in 2004. Key to my success was the support of tutors and the use of your excellent Library. Four years later I graduated from the University of Exeter with a First Class Honours degree in Italian. Since then my language skills have enabled me to lead tour groups to Italy, and I am still studying - this year I learned Spanish and I've now moved on to Arabic. You should know that your system that encourages people of all ages into higher education works! Thank you all for starting me off on a life-changing course.

'Life-changing' is a term often used by students who take courses, and so is 'addictive'! It seems that once you start with us, learning really is life-long.