CHAPTER 1 - The Idea of Lifelong Learning

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the idea of lifelong learning. The traditional view of education is that it is a process that occurs in childhood and youth, its purpose being a preparation for adult life. With rapid changes that a society undergoes in its circumstances and material conditions, it is likely to have beliefs about certain fundamental attitudes and behavior patterns that it will try to inculcate in each new generation. This process of socialization goes on in the family, and it may be the function of specialized institutions as well, of which schools are the chief. However, in a rapidly changing society it is the social need for the continuance of education that increasingly makes it felt. While it is true that the vocational element in lifelong learning is important, there is a danger of giving it undue emphasis, of mistaking part for the whole.