Towards a philosophy of lifelong learning

In the thinking and activities of those working in educating institutions these days, there is always so much to do connected with the realities of the financing, staffing, delivering and evaluating educational programmes that there seems little time to concentrate on anything else. It is not surprising therefore to find that questions of a more profound kind are generally put to one side, either to await those rare opportunities when there will be an opportunity for more serious reflection or to consign such matters to the advice of ‘experts’ or ‘theorists’ whose time can be given over to such matters, separate and aside from the ‘real’ problems. This is particularly so with philosophical questions. In this chapter, we hope to show that attention to the philosophical questions that are part and parcel of thinking about lifelong learning is not only a crucial and indispensable element of the framework within which lifelong learning programmes and activities are conceived and articulated, but also that the conclusions that are reached as a result of philosophical enquiries have practical implications for developing programmes, curricula and activities of a lifelong learning character.