While much previous research has concentrated on schools, and has focused on parents rather than learners, this book studies the way that social capital and learning interact among adults. I have used a differentiated and relatively broad definition of social capital, encompassing engagement in voluntary associations, sports and leisure groups, and community bodies, as well as relationships arising from kinship and neighbourhood. This approach suggests that the relationship between people’s networks and the learning they undertake is extremely complex, and is often very much bound up with particular contexts and even with specific life events.

Moreover, social capital and adult learning are sometimes linked in a virtuous cycle, but sometimes they can substitute for one another, and they can also cut across one another. In some circumstances, when it comes to new ideas or skills or information, many people prefer to trust their networks rather than rely on educational institutions. Nevertheless, the findings broadly confirm that at the most general level, and all other things being equal, people who have the most connections are the most positive about learning in adult life, and are more likely to participate in organised learning than people who are more isolated. They also indicate that networks consisting mainly of bonding ties – such as close family and neighbours – release a more limited and less heterodox range of information and knowledge than networks that contain a range of bridging and scaling ties. Finally, all attempts to analyse the interplay of networks and learning need to be set against a wider context, in which all material assets are very unequally distributed.

This chapter considers the extent to which these findings might influence the general ways we look at learning and social capital. Of course, if the nature of network resources is context-dependent, then we need to consider the specific nature of the area under study. The chapter therefore opens with a brief discussion of some of Northern Ireland’s distinctive characteristics, with a view to establishing the limitations that these might impose on the wider relevance of this study. The next sections review the findings from recent research into the relationship between networks and learning.