Practice in the social space of Neighbourhood Houses - Community, relationships and adult learning

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Marglet

Neighbourhood Houses function as empowering, supportive community-based spaces for adult learning, enabling formal, informal and incidental learning through social inclusion. This qualitative case study interprets relational practices using Bourdieu’s Theory of Practice, showing how dispositions, practices and habitus within the Houses nurture learner relationships and learning. Based on in-depth interviews with 87 adult lifelong learners across Victoria, the study highlights how participants re-engage with learning after negative education experiences, isolation and loneliness, transforming lives, families and local communities.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages25

Reading Time1 h 3 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction and background to the research

Popular education tradition and critical pedagogy

Literature review

Australian Journal of Adult Learning Volume 60, Number 3, November 2020 Practice in the social space of Neighbourhood Houses: Community, relationships and adult learning Ursula Harrison Tracey Ollis Cheryl Ryan Deakin University Neighbourhood Houses are significant sites of community-based adult learning spaces that are empowering, supportive and caring. They embody inclusive community development processes and adult learning practices that facilitate formal, informal, and incidental learning. Practices in these sites of social inclusion support relationships and shared learning. This paper uncovers the relational practices in Neighbourhood Houses as people develop knowledge, skills and new ways of knowing through their participation. Many participants in this research lacked confidence as learners and were reengaging with learning following former negative and/or incomplete education experiences. They came to learn new skills following personal interests, to re-engage with learning for employment, seeking involvement in the community and reconnecting with others following periods of isolation and loneliness. Drawing on Bourdieu’s Theory of Practice we interpret the dispositions, practices and habitus in the Houses that support learner 468 Ursula Harrison, Tracey Ollis and Cheryl Ryan relationships and learning. We argue it is the Houses’ intimate and nurturing relational practices that transform learners' lives, families and their local communities. This qualitative case study research involved adult and life-long learners in Neighbourhood Houses across Victoria. In-depth interviews were conducted with 87 diverse participants and from a mixture of rural, regional and urban Neighbourhood House locations. Keywords: Neighbourhood Houses, adult learning, Bourdieu, relationships and learning, adult community education Introduction and background to the research The early aims and practices of Neighbourhood Houses focused on empowering local communities, especially women, and on providing accessible learning opportunities for adults. Focussed in particular, on those who for various reasons, had not been able to complete secondary schooling or continue to post-secondary education (Harrison, 2018) . These practices were underpinned by the philosophies and activism of two social movements – the women’s liberation movement and the popular education movement. Popular education is a tradition in the field of adult education that broadly encompasses community development activity, activism and social change. Learning and education in this sense is a necessary part of the effort to achieve significant social change in some way (Walter, 2012). According to Crowther, Martin and Galloway (2005), popular education is a process of acting towards a social order that is more just and egalitarian. Popular education movements were founded on the critical pedagogy tradition of adult learning influenced by Freire (Freire, 1970/2000) and Illich (Illich, 1971), educators who spoke about the capacity to raise consciousness and transform people’s lives. Education in this sense rejects rationalism and the banking system of education and eschews non-democratic forms of teaching and learning. With a focus on empowerment, education, social inclusion, and nonhierarchal forms of organisation and participation these two movements complement one another. The women’s movement and second wave Practice in the social space of Neighbourhood Houses: Community, relationships and adult learning 469 feminists adopted the slogan ‘the personal is political’focusing attention on the subordination of women in the private spheres and aspects of women’s lives that were constructed on the notion of women’s inferiority to men (Cahill, 2007). Both movements deeply respected lived experiences as sites of knowledge. Encouraging learners’ input and sharing stories of their lives enabled individuals to collectively become aware of the social and politi

FAQs

What is the focus of the study on Neighbourhood Houses?

The study uncovers relational practices in Neighbourhood Houses and explains how participants develop knowledge, skills and new ways of knowing through participation.

How was the research conducted?

A qualitative case study involved adult lifelong learners across Victoria, using in-depth interviews with 87 diverse participants.

Why do participants return to learning in Neighbourhood Houses?

Participants often lacked confidence as learners, re-engaged with learning after former negative or incomplete education, pursued personal interests, and sought employment or community reconnection following isolation and loneliness.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Marglet