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Lifelong Learning for Economy or for Society: Policy Issues in Post-Socialist Countries in Europe

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Third International Handbook of Lifelong Learning

Part of the book series: Springer International Handbooks of Education ((SIHE))

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Abstract

This chapter discusses how institutional settings frame the lifelong learning systems in post-socialist countries. We show that most of the post-socialist countries in Europe have emerged from transformation as dependent market economies with a neoliberal setting, different from independent liberal economies, and distinct from coordinated market economies. We demonstrate that inequalities in participation in adult learning and education between 2006 and 2016 appear systematically higher in post-socialist countries, and we suggest this can be explained by the higher level of dispositional barriers experienced in these countries. We argue that the current state of development of lifelong learning policies and practices in post-socialist countries is highly dependent on the peculiarities of the socialist system as well as the process of societal change in the 1990s. Therefore, it is meaningful to differentiate between post-Soviet countries and other post-socialist European countries. During the socialist period, the policies of lifelong learning were oriented in two directions: vocational education and Communist rearing. In most CEE countries there was comprehensive system of advanced training and skills improvement with inclusive “second-chance” policies. The collapse of the socialist regime brought about the disruption of the state monopoly over education, resulting in the rise of private institutions and market elements in adult education, and in the shift toward regarding adult education as a tool designed to serve labor market needs, beyond providing a “second chance.” This changed the role of lifelong learning from the 1990s onward, and in several post-socialist countries, but especially post-Soviet ones, the national policies still lack the holistic understanding of lifelong learning as an institution that would enable meeting social and cultural challenges beyond those related to labor market.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of International Social Studies, Tallinn University, Tallinn, Estonia

    Ellu Saar, Triin Roosalu & Eve-Liis Roosmaa

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  1. Ellu Saar
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  2. Triin Roosalu
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  3. Eve-Liis Roosmaa
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Correspondence to Ellu Saar .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Education, University College London, London, UK

    Karen Evans

  2. Lifelong Learning Institute, Singapore University of Social Sciences, Singapore, Singapore

    Wing On Lee

  3. 3S Research and Consultancy Insitute, Vienna, Austria

    Jörg Markowitsch

  4. Dept of Psychosocial Studies, Birkbeck, University of London, London, UK

    Miriam Zukas

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  1. No affiliation provided

    Jörg Markowitsch

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Saar, E., Roosalu, T., Roosmaa, EL. (2022). Lifelong Learning for Economy or for Society: Policy Issues in Post-Socialist Countries in Europe. In: Evans, K., Lee, W.O., Markowitsch, J., Zukas, M. (eds) Third International Handbook of Lifelong Learning. Springer International Handbooks of Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-67930-9_28-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-67930-9_28-1

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