Lifelong learning is the "ongoing, voluntary, and self-motivated" pursuit of knowledge for either personal or professional reasons. Therefore, it not only enhances social inclusion, active citizenship and personal development, but also competitiveness and employability.
The term recognizes that learning is not confined to childhood or the classroom but takes place throughout life and in a range of situations. During the last fifty years, constant scientific and technological innovation and change has had a profound effect on learning needs and styles. Learning can no longer be divided into a place and time to acquire knowledge (school) and a place and time to apply the knowledge acquired (the workplace). Instead, learning can be seen as something that takes place on an on-going basis from our daily interactions with others and with the world around us.
Read more about Lifelong Learning: Learning Economy, Lifelong Learning Contexts, Metacognition, In Practice
Famous quotes containing the words lifelong and/or learning:
“The author of these words,
Whose lifelong unconcern
Has been with flocks and herds
For what they didn’t earn.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“If you think of learning as a path, you can picture yourself walking beside her rather than either pushing or dragging or carrying her along.”
—Polly Berrien Berends (20th century)