Introduction: real world learning - recalibrating the higher education response towards application to lifelong learning and diverse career paths

Morley and Jamil critique the changing higher education landscape where metrics, marketisation and challenging employment prospects for graduates put into question traditional modes of higher education ethos and delivery. Theorists identify alternative approaches where learning is focused on greater authenticity, personalisation and longitudinal development. The chapter introduces the emerging concept of ‘real world learning’, which is under-researched within higher education yet shows early potential to address some of the disjunctions between students’ learning and the world of work. An introduction is made to the chapters within the book that follow, written with the intention to illuminate what is real world learning and how it can be applied to curriculum design and pedagogy.