I want more: Learning at L.A.S.T.

Abstract

Lothian Apprenticeship Scheme Trust (L.A.S.T.) was established nearly thirty years ago at the Moray House Institute of Education (now part of the University of Edinburgh), with the first participants beginning their degrees in 1995. An innovative project for its time, it aimed to enable community activists lacking formal educational qualifications, and from predominantly working-class, disabled and minority ethnic communities, to gain a professional qualification in Community Education.  Because all participants were simultaneously working, and in order to reinforce the link with employment, they were referred to as apprentices, studying part-time on a 40-week-a-year basis rather than the usual 30.  In effect, they were undertaking an accelerated degree whilst at the same time working in their own communities.  Nearly three decades later, we set out to explore the long-term impact of this unique programme on a small group of former apprentices.