Conceptualising Lifelong Learning in Contemporary Times

Abstract

Learning across adult life and particularly for and through working life has become a key area of concern for most countries with advanced industrial economies. Therefore, given its significance in the contemporary educational discourse and to educational provisions, it is important to have a precise conception of what actually constitutes lifelong learning. In particular, it is necessary to have a clear and unequivocal distinction between what constitutes lifelong learning and what comprises lifelong education, as they are frequently and erroneously presented as being synonymous. The former is a personal fact (i.e. change within an individual - learning), whereas the latter is an institutional or social fact (i.e. the provision of educational experiences). Yet, often the two are presented as being synonymous thereby leading to confusion about their conceptions, purposes, expectations and the achievement of important goals for both lifelong learning and lifelong education. Consequently, this chapter commences by discussing the distinctions between these two concepts and how they have come to be used in ways that are confusing, contradictory and unhelpful. Then, an account of what constitutes lifelong learning and how this differentiates from lifelong education is progressed through this chapter leading to a set of propositions about how lifelong education might be considered and promoted across working lives.