Editorial (extract)
Guest editors: Bruce Wilson, Mike Osborne & Robbie Guevara
Lifelong learning, specifically adult learning, varies enormously across the world, even within OECD countries, let alone the developing world. Formal provision counts for only part of the story, and indeed, in many national settings irrespective of wealth and circumstance, informal, self-directed learning counts most in terms of people’s experience of lifelong learning.
How might policy to promote lifelong learning develop? Are there particular outcomes which should be anticipated from a year focussed on lifelong learning? How can we mobilise the various stakeholders for formal, non-formal (planned learning without accreditation) and informal learning (as occurs in all kinds of settings whether explicitly or implicitly) across various age levels to work together to promote a more coherent and engaged framework for all people to see themselves on a lifelong learning journey? It is a journey not only for individual benefit, but one that is necessary for a sustainable future for our planet.
How do we make sense of it?
These questions set the scene for this special iss
ue of the Australian Journal of Adult Learning.