Learning Democratically: Using Study Circles

by Sturla Bjerkaker, Judith Summers

Study circles are groups which manage their own learning, embody democratic practice, and employ procedures that develop participants' capacity to become confident as both learners and citizens, better able to act and take charge of their own destinies. This book shows how study circles offer an alternative to a narrow skills-based approach to learning and argues that their potential should be recognised by both practitioners and policy-makers. It contains a wide-ranging set of case studies of how study circles are already developing in adult education, voluntary organisations, self-help groups, faith communities and community development, with examples for comparison from Norway and Slovenia. This practical guide to creating and managing study circles, exploring their contemporary resonance and drawing on both Nordic and English experience, will appeal to those involved in adult learning as advisers, organisers, tutors, study circle leaders and voluntary activists, and also to learners themselves.

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006