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This publication is comprised of 43 papers on the topic of promoting lifelong learning. The papers in Part 1, Overcoming False Dichotomies, are "Lifelong Learning in the North, Education for All in the South" (Torres); "Practice of Lifelong Learning in Indigenous Africa" (Omolewa); "Gender and Information Societies" (Youngs); and "Lifelong Learning for a Modern Learning Society" (Somtrakool). Part 2, Scanning Developments in the Regions, consists of these papers: "Challenges of Lifelong Learning in Africa" (Tapsoba); "Promoting Community-Based Learning Centers in Asia-Pacific" (Oyasu); "European Union (EU) Memorandum on Lifelong Learning" (Smith); "Hungarian Response to the EU Memorandum on Lifelong Learning" (Istvan); "Regional Framework for Action for Adult and Youth Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (2001-10)" (Jauregui de Gainza); and "Lifelong Learning" (Essefi). Part 3, Promoting Democratization, contains these papers: "Learning in a Global Society" (Alexander); "Citizenship and Democracy in Socrates' and Grundtvig's Europe" (Ronai); "Education for Non-Discrimination" (Millan); "Lifelong Learning and Work in Developing Countries" (Pieck); "Globalization, Lifelong Learning, and Response of the Universities" (Peng); and "Combining the World of Work with the World of Education" (Romijn). The papers in Part 5, Making Lifelong Learning Work for Women, are "Gender Equality in Basic Education" (Messina); "Women as Lifelong Learners" (Benaicha); and "Lifelong Learning for Elimination of Violence Against Women" (Kuninobu). The papers in Part 6, Learning Across Generations, are "Achieving Youth Empowerment Through Peer Education" (Wissa); and "Role of Intergenerational Programs in Promoting Lifelong Learning for All Ages" (Ohsako). The papers in Part 7, Learning Across Cultures, are "Cultural Contexts of Learning: East Meets West" (Yang); "Building Community Through Study Circles" (Oliver); "Culturally-Based Adult Education" (Smith); and "Perspective of Lifelong Learning in South Asia" (Bordia). In Part 8, Laying Foundations and Sustaining Achievements Through Literacy and Nonformal Education, are "Literacy Linked Women Development Programs" (Usha); "Lifelong Learning Policy and Practices in the Laos People's Democratic Republic" (Mithong Souvanvixay); "Distance Learning and Adult Education" (Wilson, White); "Role of Partnerships in the Promotion of Lifelong Learning" (Lin); and "Toward the Eradication of Illiteracy Among Youth and Adults in China" (Guodong). Part 9, Creating Environments Conducive to Lifelong Learning, has these papers: "Learning Cities/Region in the Framework of Lifelong Learning" (Doukas); "Adult Education and Lifelong Learning in Sweden" (Salin); "Promoting Lifelong Learning in Beijing for a Learning Society" (Shuping); and "Reorienting Teachers as Lifelong Learners" (Tiedao). (YLB)

Until the 1970s, social norms dictated that women provided care for their families and men were employed for pay. The rapid increase in paid work for women has resulted in an untenable model of work and care in which all employees are assumed to be unencumbered with family responsibilities and women who care for their families are dismissed as 'just housewives'. A review of practices in Australia, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands and Sweden (based on interviews with government officials, academics, managers, employees and representatives of unions and employers' associations) suggested new ways for work and care responsibilities to be reorganized. A new "shared work valued care" model might structure behavior by tempering employers' demands and shaping the aspirations of workers. 'Shared work' means sharing good jobs through reduced hours, flexible hours, job sharing and sharing care duties between men and women; 'valued care' encompasses flexible scheduling and making day and elder care a public-private responsibility. Policies that are needed in the United States to facilitate such as change include: (1) hours-of-work legislation; (2) adjustment-of-hours legislation; (3) equal opportunity and non-discrimination; (4) sharing of the cost of care; (5) untying of benefits from individual employers; and (6) updating of income security protections. (Contains 15 endnotes and 8 references.) (CG)

In many countries throughout the world, efforts to articulate the knowledge, skills, and abilities required of workers have translated into the development of organizations with the specific charter to establish industry-based skill standards with attendant new and/or expanded forms of certification of competencies. The new emphasis on skill standards may be traced to many factors, including shifts in production processes and occupations, recognition of the fact that production must accommodate the environment, and the realities of the labor pool. Throughout the world, systems of initial preparation for work are undergoing significant change, and recognition that education and learning must take place in both schools and the workplace is increasing. The system in place to keep workers prepared for work (including lifelong learning, distance education, continuing professional development, and job training) is arguably the weakest link in almost every country's strategy to ensure a skilled work force. Australia's new system of occupational and industrial core and technical standards and eight competency levels provides a framework for accomplishing the following: identifying and developing transferable skills across industries; elaborating career paths within industries; and ensuring correspondence between earning a degree and acquiring the types of competencies required for working at various levels. (MN)

Excerpts from "Rethinking America" compare student outcomes in the United States, Japan, and Germany, especially for the neglected majority. An interview with author Hedrick Smith addresses the paradigm shift in the corporate world and its implications for vocational education. (SK)

This series of articles cites a variety of sources and synthesizes a number of studies on the effects of new technologies on the world of work and on social and economic life in general. These studies are related to several industrial nations and are also concerned with the new information-oriented society. (SSH)

A series of articles looks at computerization and unions in Australia, France, and India; bargaining agreements about technological innovation in India, the United Kingdom, and the United States; and the effects of technology on the labor force in the Federal Republic of Germany, Japan, and the United States. (SK)