I can get off this bus and do something important for myself. The city as a space for adult learning in the perspective of local urban elites

• Published in: International journal of educational research Vol. 127; p. 102436
• Main Authors: Osowska, Małgorzata Maria, Jędrzejczak, Helena Anna
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 2024
• Subjects: Adult learning; Cities; Habitus; Lifelong learning; Public spaces; Social capital; Walking interviews; Adult learning; Walking interviews; Lifelong learning; Public spaces; Cities; Social capital; Habitus
• ISSN: 0883-0355
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijer.2024.102436

•The stories about spatial learning were related to local government representatives, meetings of groups interested in spatial narratives about the history and specificity of the city, projects in the city space and urban institutions.•The results of the study tend to support the thesis that social capital supports learning experiences in a small city.•There are several levels of advantage that elites have in shaping lifelong learning offers. They create the narrative of their city by deciding which symbols, people, spaces, practices, are significant and which are not.•The results shed more light on the issue of public places as spaces for informal learning, providing guidance for urban planners and city manages.•The survey confirm a great need to extend the work and identify the learning narratives of other groups in the cityscape, as well as the similarities and differences existing between them and what they stem from.
In this article explores small cities as the a potential for adult learning. By referencing social capital theory, habitus and cultural capital, we open a discussion on the role of physical, social and symbolic space. The results are based on the technique of walking interviews with small city residents of cities in Poland. The study shows that the basis of learning mechanisms included visiting local authorities, meetings of hobbyists, local urban projects, urban institutions and storytelling city spaces that induced storytelling of the city. The results inform us about the advantages that of elites have in shaping lifelong learning offers. They create their city's narrative of their city by deciding which symbols, people, spaces and institutions are significant. We conclude that the reception of educational content is influenced by the use patterns of use of public spaces. These are culturally and economically determined and can reinforce inequalities in access to learning. However, they still hold there is still great potential for learning in them.