Abstract
The introduction presents the purpose and the scope of the book as well as an outline of its structure.
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Notes
- 1.
The Memorandum opens by stating the case for implementing lifelong learning and notes that promoting active citizenship and promoting employability are equally important and interrelated aims for lifelong learning. It also argues that the scale of current economic and social change in Europe demands a fundamentally new approach to education and training with lifelong learning as the common umbrella under which all kinds of teaching and learning should be united. In response, it highlights six key messages which offer a structured framework for an open debate on putting lifelong learning into practice (European Commission 2000: 4). These messages are based on experience gathered at European level through Community programmes and the European Year of Lifelong Learning (1996) and are the following: new basic skills for all, more investment in human resources, innovation in teaching and learning, valuing learning, rethinking guidance and counselling and bringing learning closer to home.
- 2.
As it is so convincingly debated by Aspin and Chapman (2000: 2), lifelong learning’s meaning – although it is used in a wide variety of contexts and has a wide currency – is still unclear. It is perhaps for that reason that its operationalisation and implementation have not been widely practised or achieved, and such application as it has had has been achieved primarily on a piecemeal basis.
- 3.
As it is stated in the relevant text (European Commission 2001: 2), the Communication contributes to the establishment of a European area of lifelong learning, the aims of which are both to empower citizens to move freely between learning settings, jobs, regions and countries, making the most of their knowledge and competences, and to meet the goals and ambitions of the European Union and the candidate countries to be more prosperous, inclusive, tolerant and democratic. This development will be facilitated by bringing together within a lifelong learning framework education and training and important elements of existing European level processes, strategies and plans concerned with youth, employment, social inclusion and research policy. This does not imply a new process, nor can it involve the harmonisation of laws and regulations. Rather, it calls for more coherent and economical use of existing instruments and resources, including through the use of the open method of coordination. In order to achieve the Lisbon aim of a knowledge-based society, close links will be established between the European area of lifelong learning and the European research area, particularly with a view to raising the interest of young people in science and technology careers.
- 4.
As Borg and Mayo (2005: 218) figuratively note as far as the concept of lifelong learning is concerned, it is like old wine that has been placed in new bottles but has been adulterated in the process. They further argue that the neo-liberal set of guidelines, contained in the Memorandum, serves to heighten competitiveness in a scenario characterised by the intensification of globalisation.
- 5.
Janus (Iānus) was the Roman god of beginnings and transitions.
- 6.
That is (…) not limited to a purely economic outlook or just to learning for adults. In addition to the emphasis it places on learning from pre-school to postretirement, lifelong learning should encompass the whole spectrum of formal, non-formal and informal learning. The objectives of learning include active citizenship, personal fulfilment and social inclusion, as well as employment-related aspects. The principles which underpin lifelong learning and guide its effective implementation emphasise the centrality of the learner, the importance of equal opportunities and the quality and relevance of learning opportunities (European Commission 2001: 3–4).
- 7.
By monosemantic, we mean the ‘single-mindedness’ or ‘unambiguous’ meaning of particular traits that are attributed to learning as a lifelong process in European policy documents.
References
Aspin, D. N., & Chapman, D. C. (2000). Lifelong learning: Concepts and conceptions. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 19(1), 2–19.
Borg, C., & Mayo, P. (2005). The EU Memorandum on lifelong learning. Old wine in new bottles? Globalisation, Societies and Education, 3(2), 203–225.
English, L. M., & Mayo, P. (2012). Learning with adults – A critical pedagogical introduction. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.
European Commission. (2000). A memorandum on lifelong learning (Commission Staff Working Paper, 30.10.2000, SEC(2000) 1832). Brussels: European Commission.
European Commission. (2001). Making a European area of lifelong learning a reality (Communication from the Commission, 21.11.01 COM(2001) 678 final). Brussels: European Commission.
Preston, R. (1999). Critical approaches to lifelong education. International Review of Education, 45(5/6), 561–574.
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© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
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Gravani, M.N., Zarifis, G.K. (2014). Introduction. In: Zarifis, G., Gravani, M. (eds) Challenging the 'European Area of Lifelong Learning'. Lifelong Learning Book Series, vol 19. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7299-1_1
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