Based on a Globally Structured Agenda for Education, this article presents the construction of the New Opportunities Initiative in Portugal. Thus, it analyses the relationship between the European Union and the Portuguese State with regard to the construction of this programme, identifying for this purpose the effects of governance processes.…

This paper explores the essential understanding and underlying perspectives of career implicit in EU career guidance policy in the twenty-first century, as well as the possible implications of these for the future mission of guidance. Career theories, models and concepts that serve career guidance are shaped on the twentieth-century industrial…

In this era of globalisation, the present perception of lifelong learning (LLL) in the Indian policy domain has been going through major changes in an attempt to make it nationally realistic yet globally viable. In this process, all facets of the concept of LLL are constantly metamorphosing, and this in many ways outperforms the older perception…

This article addresses the question: how can lifelong education contribute to subjective well-being by engaging learners and fostering active citizenship? The question arises due to the fact that governments in the western world have identified well-being as an important policy driver. Well-being research suggests that subjective well-being,…

Within the last decade, adult education has faced significant challenges in terms of its relevance to socio-economic development as it sought to define itself through many international conferences. In spite of these re-conceptualisations, adult education continues to be relegated to the periphery, and therefore lacks the needed funding to play a…

Southern African Development Community (SADC) nations in principle endorse lifelong learning (LLL) as a useful framework for sustainable development. However, in spite of the rhetoric, only a few member states such as South Africa, Botswana and Namibia have officially endorsed LLL in their educational policies. The sub-region is plagued by social…

This article considers how a group of migrant women in the town of Shepparton, Australia, understand their futures in the spaces created by globalising forces. Shepparton is a "case study" of globalisation, at the centre of the movement of peoples, skills and capital globally. The issues it faces are compounded by profound climate change. The…

This study examined the relationship between the 1997 UPE policy and regional educational and poverty inequality and its impact on lifelong learning through a one-year field based critical ethnography in Uganda, between June 2007 and May 2008. It drew on the Government's assumption that through UPE the twin goals of the universalisation of primary…

The concept of "flexibility" lies at the heart of contemporary post-compulsory education. Educational institutions are now expected to take a flexible approach to their provision of courses, as well as staffing, curriculum and assessment arrangements. Similarly, individual learners are expected to take an increasingly pragmatic, adaptable and…

The (un)reality of open/porous borders is starkly represented/manifested in the experiences of immigrant women in lifelong learning contexts. While globalization effectively destroys some borders, it simultaneously creates new ones. State institutions respond to global reconfigurations of borders at local levels by establishing policies that…

As a result of globalization and transnational migration, many countries are becoming increasingly ethno-culturally diverse. Unfortunately, lifelong learning has failed to integrate cultural difference and diversity into educational environments. Rather than facilitating immigrants' adaptation, lifelong learning has become a vehicle for…

The concept of "lifelong learning" or "shogai gakushu" has rapidly become one of the topmost priorities in Japan's education policy agenda. This was considerably evident in December 2006 when the term 'lifelong learning' was added to Japan's educational charter, the Fundamental Law of Education. This paper explores, as a means to develop Japan's…

Research has extensively documented the employment barriers facing immigrants in Canada. Less attention is paid to the employment strategies that immigrants deploy in the host labour market. To address this gap in the literature, two projects are conducted to examine how immigrant women learn to optimize their labour market outcomes. Both projects…

What kind of workplace has the so-called "new economy" created? What problems are Canadian workers experiencing? How effective are Canada's lifelong learning policies that focus on high skills development for global competitiveness? These questions were explored as part of a three year research program. During the 2003-2004 academic year, using a…

This article explores issues of literacy and identity of skilled migrants in an educational context in Australia as a learning society. First, it concentrates on forms of knowledge imposed on the learner and looks at how new discourses shape the self. Next, it tests the validity of the four pillars of education in the life of the learner. The…