The ultimate goal of "student-centered" education is to empower students to learn beyond educational programs. This means nurturing students' autonomy and fostering the development of their own motivation and mechanisms to become self-directed learners. This idea has been embodied in the "lifelong learning" mantra that pervades contemporary views…

Although the loss of certainty in the age of postmodernism is questioning knowledge production in general, the emerging discourse of lifelong learning demands a different theory of adult learning in particular. This article aims to offer a conceptual tool for describing learning in adulthood in terms of postmodern and lifelong learning conditions.…

Describes three spiritual practices: study of sacred texts, prayer and contemplation, and community life. Shows how each practice has a counterpart in secular education. Provides a critique of modern objective knowing and the validity of types of knowledge. (SK)

Compares analogies and dialectics, discussing limitations of the Hegelian/Marxian dialectical form in adult education. Proposes the more holistic approach of Vico, a double dialectic that connects social and individual relationships, knowledge, and experience. Demonstrates a dialectical learning exchange that uses an analogy trigger. (SK)

This paper considers the bottom-up vision of the learning society. Unlike the top-down approach, the bottom-up approach does not start by specifying the purposes of learning which should direct the development of the learning society, but from observing interactions among learning individuals as agents. While in the relevant literature and…

Defining lifelong learning as conscious learning taking place throughout life, Buddhist meditation, contemplation, and mindfulnes are practices suitable to developing awareness of life experience. This broadens the concept of lifelong learning beyond the narrow vocationalism and economic determinism of much current discourse. (Contains 36…

There are some who believe that getting rid of the testing required by No Child Left Behind (NCLB) will solve current educational problems. In this article, the authors argue that, with or without NCLB, both students and teachers need spaces of liberty for meaningful learning. Teachers need spaces in which they can negotiate the curriculum in…

The author attempts to apply B. F. Skinner's principles of scientific practice to self-directed lifelong learning by way of a personal case history and self-report. (CT)

Adult learning is a potentially productive way of identifying the motives and behaviors of effective management. Learning is a distinguishing characteristic of the most effective managers and steps can be taken to enhance managers' abilities in learning how to learn. (JOW)

Proposes a second, noncommodified sector in which citizens receive wages for socially essential activities. Suggests that those completing two years in the second sector would acquire vouchers for vocational training and further education. (SK)

An implicit or explicit curriculum exists wherever teaching and learning occur, in any teaching relationship. A model of educational processes that includes the image of an educated person, model of the learner, and conceptions of context and discipline provides a mechanism that clarifies the concept of lifelong learning. (SK)

The praxis model for adult education places lifelong learning and the adult learner in a societal context and recognizes that learners and knowledge are embedded in context. Praxis places attention on three essential tasks of the learner: consciousness, practice, and reflection on practice. (JOW)

Reflective practice through continuous learning in the workplace involves viewing experiences as potential learning and reexamining assumptions, values, methods, policies, and practices. Steps in continuous work/learning are as follows: clarify thinking, be open to questions, notice context, test hunches, investigate, name and rename the problem,…

Adult learning potential refers to our total learning capacities. It includes cognitive and affective learning as well as intuitive and reflective learning. It does not refer just to formal education (which accounts for only a small portion of our learning), but rather all learning for living, especially learning how we manage our lives. Adult…

The author discusses research in human learning and describes the learning process as a process of experiencing the unfamiliar. She then explores how the universal aspects of learning relate to each other and what is meant by teaching. She concludes with a discussion of the relationship between learning and teaching. (CH)