This book offers critical insights of the interplay between class, gender, education and violence and the contradiction, complexities and ambivalences that adult learners experience in their daily lives. It develops concepts sensitive to exploring the above, whilst examining how learners try to make sense of and deal with the challenges which they face from their structural positioning as basic skills learners.

Vicky Duckworth is Senior Lecturer and MA co-ordinator in Post Compulsory Education and Training (PCET) and Schools' University Lead at Edge Hill University, UK.

1: Overview of the Book 2: Social Class, Gender and Basic Skills Revisited 3: Theoretical Framework 4: Method: Research Design Methodologies 5: School as a Site for Violence and Trauma 6: Home Life, Identity and Learning in Childhood 7: The Public Field of Work 8: Violence in the Private Domain 9: Literacy and Transformation 10: Conclusion