Abstract
In some ways, Lifelong Learning (LLL) has become a highly pliable term in educational discourse that seems to run the risk of meaning both everything and nothing. Thus, it is necessary to look at how the notion of LLL has been taken up in different contexts, especially within the context of policy development. Because of the inconsistent ways LLL has historically been peppered throughout national legislation in North America, the aim of this chapter is to characterize LLL policy development in Canada and the USA using broad brush strokes to provide an overview of the evolution of the concept and its contemporary applications at the national level. We first introduce the LLL concept and how it has been taken up in both the USA and Canada. Then, the chapter offers an overview of LLL policy development, first in Canada followed by the USA. As we show, while there have been promising policy developments in recent years in both places, LLL has been narrowly conceived and only tenuously supported – focused almost exclusively on skills and workforce development. We close the chapter by offering an alternative framework for framing LLL policy development, namely a human capabilities approach. Through a human capabilities lens, learning opportunities and educational policies would be viewed and assessed by the extent to which they advance abilities, support functionings and freedoms, provide instrumental skills and tools, develop individual efficacy, and engender social respect and dignity, as well as support individual and community freedom.
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Roumell, E.A., Walker, J., Salajan, F.D. (2022). Lifelong Learning and Education Policy in North America. 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_31-1
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