I am an emeritus professor of education at the University of Wolverhampton. The purpose of my Fellowship in 1981 was to look at adult literacy provision in Kenya, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. I'd helped start the national adult literacy campaign in Britain in the 1970s, which drew on experiences in the global south. I worked in adult education in Brighton in the 1970s, then as principal of an inner London education authority adult education institute in the 1980s focusing on education for social justice. I led the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) (1988-2011), was elected President of the International Council for Adult Education (2011-2015), and joined the University of Wolverhampton half-time (2015-2020).

I am an adviser to the UNESCO Institute of Lifelong Learning, Distinguished Professor at the Indian Institute of Adult and Lifelong Education New Delhi, and since my Fellowship I have consistently worked with international colleagues seeking access to adult learning as a human right. At NIACE I started Adult Learners' Week in 1992 to celebrate existing learners and reach new ones, which was adopted by UNESCO and spread to 55 countries. I was knighted in 2018.