Lifelong Learning in the Knowledge Economy

Abstract

The tension between economic and democratic imperatives is not only felt in schools, colleges and universities but is also increasingly having an impact on lifelong learning. In this chapter I review these developments and identify shifts and transformations in policy and practice. I show how the very definition of what lifelong learning is and what it is for has dramatically changed over the past decades, moving from a broad and encompassing conception of lifelong learning for economic, personal and political benefit towards a much more narrow view which emphasises first and foremost the economic rationale. This has gone hand in hand with an increased individualisation of lifelong learning – making lifelong learning the responsibility of individuals – and a shift from lifelong learning as a right individuals can claim towards lifelong learning as a duty that is put upon individuals in the name of such abstract ideals as ‘the global economy’ or ‘global competitiveness.’ I not only show how these shifts impact at the level of individuals but also make a case for the need to reconnect the idea of lifelong learning with the democratic imperative – an idea to which I refer as the ‘learning democracy.’