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This book aims to provide an accessible, practical and scholarly source of information about the international concern for the philosophy, theory, categories, and concepts of lifelong learning. The book begins with a foreword by D. P. Gilroy and an introductory chapter by the editor. Section one, 'Conceptual frameworks', contains the following chapters: Lifelong learning: concepts and conceptions / David N. Aspin and Judith D. Chapman; Lifelong learning and the politics of the learning society / Kenneth Wain; Lifelong learning and vocational education and training: values, social capital, and caring in work-based learning provision / Terry Hyland; From adult education to lifelong learning and back again / Richard G. Edwards; 'Framing' lifelong learning in the twenty-first century: towards a way of thinking / Kevin J. Flint and David Needham. Section two, 'Values dimension', contains: Lifelong learning: conceptual and ethical issues / Kenneth Lawson; Lifelong learning: beyond neo-liberal imaginary / Fazal Rizvi; Widening participation in higher education: lifelong learning as capability / Melanie Walker; Lifelong learning: exploring learning, equity and redress, and access: an African discourse on lifelong learning: a South African case study / Philip Higgs and Berte van Wyk; Lifelong learning and democratic citizenship education in South Africa / Yusef Waghid. Section three, 'Epistemological questions', contains: Lifelong learning and knowledge: towards a general theory of professional inquiry / Colin W. Evers; The nature of knowledge and lifelong learning / Jean Barr and Morwenna Griffiths; Reading lifelong learning through a postmodern lens / Robin Usher. Section four, 'Lifelong learning in practice', contains: Good practice in lifelong learning / Richard G. Bagnall; Philosophical perspectives on lifelong learning: insights from education, engineering, and economics / Mal Leicester, Roger Twelvetrees, and Peter Bowbrick; Building a learning region: whose framework of lifelong learning matters? / Shirley Walters; Changing ideas and beliefs in lifelong learning? / Jane Thompson.

This chapter is part of a book that aims to provide an accessible, practical and scholarly source of information about the international concern for the philosophy, theory, categories, and concepts of lifelong learning. The chapter comprises two sections. In the first, the authors briefly describe the traditional tools of philosophy (conceptual analysis, ethical reflection, and epistemological critique) and apply them to lifelong learning. In the second section, the authors develop a notion of practical philosophy, drawing on Wittgenstein's call to 'look and see'. This practical philosophy is illustrated by reference to the use of narrative in educational research and the practices of pragmatic disciplines such as engineering. How the empirical world can be looked at from a philosophical perspective is indicated.

This chapter is part of a book that aims to provide an accessible, practical and scholarly source of information about the international concern for the philosophy, theory, categories, and concepts of lifelong learning. In this chapter, the author draws on aspects of poststructuralism and actor network theory to examine how adult education is reordered, both delivered and regulated, through the discourses of lifelong learning. Through this examination, the author explores how these discourses of learning ambiguously both reinforce the power of educational institutions as the authorisers of worthwhile learning through assessment, and challenge that authority by positioning learning as part of all social practices. The need to reinvigorate an educational discourse around curriculum and pedagogy in response to current emphases on learning is advocated.

This chapter is part of a book that aims to provide an accessible, practical and scholarly source of information about the international concern for the philosophy, theory, categories, and concepts of lifelong learning. In this chapter, the author highlights the two main objectives of contemporary lifelong learning policy, theory and practice in Britain. These are the development of vocational skills to enhance economic productivity, and the fostering of social inclusion and civic cohesion. The UK government's white paper (indexed at TD/IRD 88.20) advocates educational policy based on a 'vision of a society where high skills, high rewards and access to education and training are open to everyone'. The continued promotion of economic capital poses a threat to the social capital objectives of contemporary vocational education and training (VET). Work-based learning (WBL) is a central element in most current VET policy initiatives in Britain, and the author suggests that systematic management and support of learning on WBL programs, allowing space for the important social values dimension of vocationalism, can help to achieve the social objectives of lifelong learning.