Karen Evans
KAREN EVANS is Emeritus Professor of Education at UCL (University of London). She is an adult educator, academic, researcher and author. Formerly Head of the School of Lifelong Education and International Development in UCL Institute of Education, her main field of research interest is the changing relationship between education and working life. She is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS) and Professorial Fellow in UCL's Centre for Learning and Life Chances.
Subjects: Education
Biography
I joined the UCL Institute of Education in 2001, moving from a professorship in the University of Surrey to the Institute of Education Chair in Education and Lifelong Learning. I am committed to advancing the understanding of education as a process in which educated attributes, including the ability to read the world and reflect critically upon it, are fostered throughout the life course. The quality of learning matters in life and work transitions (including those of retirement as well as youth) and in the environments of workplaces and communities as well as educational institutions. My international and comparative research is enriched by collaboration with colleagues worldwide, in the interdisciplinary fields of youth studies, lifelong education, vocational and professional development. These research interests are reflected in books and journal articles published over three decades.Education
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Doctor of Philosophy, University of Surrey, 1982.
Books
Articles
Putting skills to work: it's not the what, or even the why, but how ...
Published: Jan 04, 2020 by Journal of Education and Work
Authors: Trisha Fettes; Karen Evans; Elnaz Kashefpakdel
Subjects:
Education, Economics, Finance, Business & Industry
Putting skills to work is not simply a matter of ‘skills transfer’, but a continuous, contextually-embedded and transformative process during which individuals, supported by partners, learn how to recontextualise skills to suit different activities and environments. It may be tempting to distil employability into list of ‘soft skills’, but context matters. Workplace support is needed to help recruits bring together knowledge, skills and personal attributes in productive application.
Can lifelong learning reshape life chances?
Published: Jan 01, 2013 by British Journal of Educational Studies
Authors: Karen Evans; Ingrid Schoon; Martin Weale
Subjects:
Education, Economics, Finance, Business & Industry, Sociology & Social Policy, Social Psychology
Decisions in adult life are consequential upon previous decisions and involve the exercise of contextualised preferences as well as the calculations of ‘rational choice’. The paper considers how changing life situations are negotiated and offers new perspectives on the benefits of adult learning.