To browse Academia. Lifelong learning was ignored initially and then given lip-service by federal governments in the Australian context.
Seriously inadequate studies for lifelong learning policy formation and development have been undertaken. Because all efforts by the Australian federal government have lacked conviction, no serious policies beyond the level of rhetoric have been established. This paper reviews recent literature on the effectiveness of lifelong learning policy in Australia and assesses the likelihood of serious policies being developed and implemented by the Australian federal government to promote effective lifelong learning in Australia.
This chapter critically reflects on research on lifelong learning in the twenty-first century in three sections. The first section provides a brief overview of the history of lifelong learning, from its emergence in the s to the present day, which we have categorized into three generations.
The second section reviews previous research on lifelong learning, focusing on research for lifelong learning policy and research of lifelong learning policy.
The third section discusses contemporary trends in research on lifelong learning and uses the UN Sustainability agenda to outline a research program that will consider long-standing social and economic challenges, made even more acute in the Covid world. Against the background of the insights gathered from 70 years of research on lifelong learning and the dramatic inequalities that challenge the future of our societies, there is a need to go beyond the current focus on measurable outcomes and the utilitarian skills agenda in favor of greater attention to the democratic, nonformal, and pedagogical dimensions of lifelong learning.
