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This paper argues that lifelong learning can be a torch for education that is relevant, appropriate and appreciated by many Africans if conceptualized within the African Indigenous Learning (AIL) framework. Such learning is entrenched deep in the practices, cultures and ways of knowing of many Africans. The fundamentals or the ideals of lifelong learning in AIL can be presented in three dimensions of time, space, and I/We. Woven together, these concepts present a context in which lifelong learning is defined by aspects such as learning-in-action (immediacy of application); interactive methods; and a time that is only valued in respect of events that constitute it. Generally, an understanding of lifelong learning from the western perspective hinges on the linearity, economics and individualism of learning and these concepts may not be well promoted within the framework of AIL. It is not difficult to imagine the impact of borrowed concepts of learning on Africans if applied uncritically. Africans cannot afford to be oblivious of the differences in contexts between them and the western world. Context, therefore, is central to the application of lifelong learning. The authors of this paper have a full understanding that people in different parts of Africa may view lifelong learning in different ways. Thus, the term 'African' is used to underscore the importance of context. The authors also note that the advantages of lifelong learning to Africa are obvious vis-a-vis learning as a human right and a social justice. While these ideals are helpful, Africans cannot be subservient to how lifelong learning comes packaged from the western perspectives. To illustrate some differences, some ideals of lifelong learning in the AIL are introduced through the case of an adult education compensatory programme, and a three dimensional model is proposed for applying these ideals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A national white paper was published in 1998 with 14 action plans to be the blueprints for developing lifelong learning. These were based on continuously strong recommendations of academics and lobbying groups in Taiwan. Many national policies were formulated and implemented based on the white paper and its action plans, and this has paved a way towards establishing a learning society. The Lifelong Learning Law took effect on 26 June 2004 and has laid a foundation for improving lifelong learning. However, mainly because of the frequent transfers of national governments, national lifelong learning policy-making is becoming unstable. It is essential for academics and practitioners in Taiwan to search for more critical and influential arguments to pursue policy-makers to develop lifelong learning. Enhancing the interactive relationship between lifelong learning and social changes would be the key to achieve that. The author analyses significant and concrete phenomena of Taiwan's social changes such as shift of population structure first and then explores how lifelong learning policy-making can reflect the changes and lead the changes to achieve the vision of education for all. In Taiwan, the crucial challenges of lifelong learning would be how to make sustainable policies to respond to more multicultural groups of the social population. Since the ingredients of population are changing in the context of sociocultures, enhancing the interactive relationship between lifelong learning and social changes is getting critical. These Taiwan's current issues could be found the similarities in other counterparts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focus on how the Swedish population is shaped into desirable citizens as resources for the nation's prosperity. The aim is to analyse how health operates as a governing technique in discourses of lifelong learning. Within such current discourses the population is today described as generally well-educated and healthy, but not educated or healthy enough. When constructed as being in need of enhancement, measures of learning are suggested for regulating certain groups of the population into becoming what is regarded as desirable. Making use of Foucault's notions of governmentality and genealogy, white and green papers from the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs from 1930s and today (2017) are analysed. The analysis shows that although the population is described as having different problems originating from ignorance, the solutions that are suggested in the different time periods are basically the same. The relation between learning and health is described in different ways in the 1930s and the present. In the 1930s learning is explained merely as a means to achieve a healthy population while in the present health is described both as a prerequisite and as an effect of learning. Further, there is also a difference in how the governing is conducted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Korean lifelong learning in practice is gradually adapted by neo-liberals and the discourses of the economic market. Considering that the public foundation of Korean education is fragile to cope with the market challenge, the whole picture of Korean learning ecology is rapidly distorted towards the establishment of the learning market and the challenge it presents to public education. This paper attempts to grasp the evolution of the lifelong learning ecosystem in Korea and to explain the meaning of the learning market in this context. I am going to argue that (1) the emergence of the learning market changed the traditional learning ecosystem significantly; (2) the discourse of lifelong learning in this context also rapidly deconstructs the code of 'education' and replaces the learning system to fit to learning capitalism as a part of the knowledge economy; and (3) the Korean case clearly reveals the changes in the complex ecosystem of lifelong learning in this way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper a critical feminist theoretical framework is used to explore the challenges of creating democratic learning spaces that will foster active and inclusive citizenship for women. Three democratic considerations are addressed to assess how adult educators can create more inclusive opportunities for lifelong education for women. The first consideration is the need for a careful examination of structural inequalities that create disadvantages for women in pursuing lifelong education. The second consideration is the need to create a broader and more gender inclusive understanding of the scope of lifelong learning possibilities, so that women's learning experiences are not devalued. The third consideration explores how to take up gender as a complex variable within the broader discourse of inclusion. This paper is informed by preliminary results from a current SSHRC (Social Science and Humanities Research Council) study on lifelong learning trajectories for women in Canada and a CCL (Canadian Council on Learning) study on active citizenship for women in Nova Scotia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is concerned with the politics of lifelong learning policy in post-1997 Hong Kong (HK). The paper is in four parts. Continuing Education, recast as 'lifelong learning', is to be the cornerstone of the post-Handover education reform agenda. The lineaments of a familiar discourse are evident in the Education Commission policy documents. However, to view recent HK education policy just in terms of an apparent convergence with global trends would be to neglect the ways in which the discourse of lifelong learning has been tactically deployed to serve local political agendas. In the second part of this paper, I outline what Scott has called HK's 'disarticulated' political system following its retrocession to China and attempts by an executive-led administration to demonstrate 'performance legitimacy'--through major policy reforms--in the absence of (democratic) political legitimacy. Beijing's designation of HK as a (depoliticized) 'economic' city within greater China must also be taken into account. It is against this political background that the strategic deployment of a 'lifelong learning' discourse needs to be seen. In the third section of this paper, I examine three recent policy episodes to illustrate how lifelong learning discourse has been adopted and has evolved to meet changing circumstances in HK. Finally, I look at the issue of public consultation. The politics of education policy in HK may be seen to mirror at a micro-level, the current macro-level contested interpretations of HK's future polity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the evolution of lifelong learning and the development of continuing education among higher education institutions in Macau. Future directions for development are also identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The philosophy and practice of lifelong learning has a long history in China, being traceable to Confucius's idea (circa 500 BC) of 'education for all'. However, very little research has been done on the development of the Confucian idea of lifelong learning in ancient China, or on its influence on current practices of lifelong learning within the wave of educational globalisation. This paper contains three parts that explore these topics. The first describes how Chinese people perceive and practise lifelong learning in the Confucian tradition. Apart from an updated review of Confucian ideas and practices, the development of Confucian tradition in selected dynasties is also examined. The second analyses characteristics of Confucian heritage learning cultures and their strong impact on present-day Chinese learners, including: pursuit of lifelong learning, teacher authority, collaborative learning, and the function of effort in successful study. The final part discusses negotiation and integration of Chinese and Western learning cultures in a globalising world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the development of policies and practices related to lifelong learning in the last 10 years in China. It gives a brief introduction of the vital societal changes and offers a review on outstanding achievements in school education, which can be regarded as the context and infrastructure of lifelong learning enterprise. It analyses in depth the relevant national strategies adopted by the central government, which have been the fundamental guidelines for the practice of lifelong learning. After exploring the flourishing lifelong learning activities promoted by the government, industry and other nongovernmental agencies, it finally discusses the state-led promoting model of lifelong learning in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the role and position of continuing education in the lifelong learning society of Hong Kong. The first section describes the basic components of Hong Kong's lifelong learning system, which is composed of two interconnected sub-systems—namely, conventional education and continuing education—integrated under a common qualifications framework. The second section illustrates the contribution of the Federation for Continuing Education in Tertiary Institutions, an organisational alliance formed among key continuing education providers to assure quality in the sector; enhance communication among government, industries and the professional bodies; map strategies for developing human capital; and widen access to higher education by providing high-quality continuing education programs. In the final section, the HKU SPACE case study highlights 'sharing of quality education resources with overseas collaborators', 'achieving self-financing status through economies of scale', and the 'provision of flexible, multiple-level, well articulated and quality education services' as key features of the Hong Kong model of continuing education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In response to growing population movements the UK Government has introduced a number of measures designed to facilitate the social inclusion and integration of refugees into UK society. This paper explores some of the lifelong learning issues for refugees and argues that the current discourse of social inclusion and exclusion gives rise to narrow and prescriptive learning opportunities which fail to address the barriers facing refugees in the UK. Using the concept of social capital as an explanatory framework, I will argue that for refugees to become integrated and useful members of society requires a shift away from the present focus on formal, individualised education provision to a greater recognition of informal and social learning opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops work carried out under the aegis of a European Commission-funded university continuing education (UCE) network. It compares the ways in which UCE has developed in three countries within Northern Europe. The authors firstly review the developments of university education in general in Finland, the UK and Sweden, paying particular attention to the factors that historically have influenced UCE. They then focus on developments and policy imperatives of the last decade. A number of convergences and divergences in policy and practice in the three countries are pointed to. In both Finland and the UK, UCE is well defined by state or quasi-state agencies and is an activity that has been located within well-defined structural units in most institutions. Universities in these two countries have a diverse mission based on a national lifelong learning agenda. By contrast, in Sweden, whilst there is a longstanding international tradition of adult education rooted within democratic movements and a recognition of the importance of equality of access, the provision is to a large extent embedded in universities and not manifest as UCE. What provision that does exist as UCE is patchily distributed across the university sector and nonuniform in character. UCE provision within Finland and UK to varying degrees in becoming more diverse in its make-up. The presence of new providers in a 'CE market', an emphasis on UCE as an economic instrument, moves towards the accreditation of provision and the loss of a particular identity for UCE are amongst factors creating increasing heterogeneity of provision in these countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This report describes the current state of affairs and reform in Japan in 2007 of the theory, policy, and practice of lifelong education. As in most countries, Japan has been talking of decentralisation in government, of giving more local autonomy to communities and of promoting individuality in education. In line with these aims, the government has said it promotes lifelong learning for the economic security, wellbeing, and the quality of life of the people in the new millennium. The fall in birth rate and rise in the proportion of old-aged pensioners have supported the general reform towards lifelong learning. However, recently it seems that the government has switched to focus on more tightly controlling school education which had been liberalised during the past 10 years—leading some to feel that the government was using recent adolescent crime and delinquency as a guise to recover centralised influence in schools. Some observers have interpreted this re-focus on school education reform as abandoning the drive towards individual autonomy and lifelong learning. The new revisions to education laws and the prevailing socioeconomics surrounding education are summarised. Based on a full literature survey, theory and analysis on how to initiate the social intrinsic motivation to lifelong learning, this study shows that the government is likely on the right track by pushing through the reform laws to set minimum standards in education—as the only foundation upon which lifelong learning can flourish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies have demonstrated that there is a positive relationship between learning activities and health in general and that learning has a positive impact on the psychological, mental and social aspects of health. Despite this, there are still unanswered questions about the relationship between and the concepts of health and learning. The aim of this review has been to map and synthesise research on the relationship between learning and health for older adults in organised or institutionalised education using a conceptual analysis model. The results demonstrate that intrinsic values like learning for its own sake and the joy of learning are emphasised. Moreover, individual factors of health are emphasised and several different concepts are used to explain health. In the final synthesis, four logics are identified concerning the relationship between learning and health: Learning as Quality of Life, Learning as Social Networks, Learning as a Means for Coping and Learning as a Means for Reducing Risk. In conclusion, there is a need for a more in-depth understanding of the ontological and epistemological grounds for learning and health in the field in order to strengthen the cumulative knowledge production about the relationship between older adults learning and health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Canada, as in many countries, public continuing education of the non-vocational general interest type for people in post-work languishes on the margins of political discourse. This case study of one such traditional program for seniors run by a school board in Ontario explores the experiences of older adults and the meanings they attach to their learning. The goal is to better understand the roles and effects later life learning has in promoting health and well-being at both the individual and community levels. This study analyzes qualitative data collected through interviews, classroom observations and documents, referring to the micro, meso and macro levels of theory in adult education, psychology, health and social gerontology. The three main learning outcomes identified include: 1) the effects of enduring interest, 2) classrooms as social support networks, and 3) the awareness of the right to learn. The article examines how these outcomes function as health promoting mechanisms for individuals and communities. The results indicate the vital role played by affordable and accessible public continuing education program for retirees, especially seniors at risk. They also suggest the need for further quantitative research to measure the impact of learning on health and the quality of later life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adults' motivation to participate in continued education is of immediate interest, as lifelong learning is now considered as the solution to the pressing problems of increased levels of unemployment, not least among unskilled workers. Many theories concerning motivation and adult education maintain that individuals are innately motivated to learn, and conclude that motivation problems result from various dispositional, situational and structural impediments. If such barriers are removed, adults will be naturally motivated to educate themselves. This article argues against these theories and maintains that motivation should not be regarded as something residing within the individual. It is rather a construct of those who see it lacking in others. A critical reading of the literature shows how motivation theory stigmatizes people held ‘unmotivated’ in that the theories ascribe motivation problems to the individual, while assuming the basis upon which the problem is formulated for granted, and making those who formulate the problem invisible. Instead of a problem solver, motivation becomes a euphemism for direction and control. This article suggests that motivation should be seen as a relational concept, rather than as residing within the individual. Adults' motivation, or lack of this, is best understood in relation to those who formulate the problem. Instead of asking what motivates adults to study, research should focus on who states that this is a problem, and why, and the reasons for this conclusion . This approach makes the operations of power visible, and demonstrates how the discourse of lifelong learning, as a necessary political response to economic and technological determinism, constructs adults as inadequate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The anniversary of the International Journal of Lifelong Education can participate in a conceptual landslide from lifelong education to lifelong learning. Contemporary discourses of lifelong learning etc. are abstractions behind which new functions and agendas for adult education are set. The ideological discourse of recent policies seems to neglect the fact that history and resources for lifelong learning are different across Europe, and also neglects the multiplicity of adult learners. Instead of refusing the new agendas, however, adult education research should try to dissolve the abstractions by broadening its scope of interest, by focussing on differences of learners, by age, gender, ethnicity, social experience, and differences in context, by socioeconomic environment, culture etc. Practically, it is argued, this means embracing the new focus on informal learning and work related learning. Adult education research must fulfil its potential conversion from normative philosophy to critical and empirical social science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]