Higher Education and the Lifecourse

How can the concept of lifelong learning be refreshed and expanded to provide an effective focus for higher education development at the start of the twenty-first century?*What kinds of changes in the composition, experience and motivation of the student population require what kinds of response from institutions and others in support of future learning requirements?*Which "lifewide" connections between higher education and other areas of social and economic life most affect the...
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How can the concept of lifelong learning be refreshed and expanded to provide an effective focus for higher education development at the start of the twenty-first century?*What kinds of changes in the composition, experience and motivation of the student population require what kinds of response from institutions and others in support of future learning requirements?*Which "lifewide" connections between higher education and other areas of social and economic life most affect the purposes and performance of global higher education?As we enter the twenty-first century it is increasingly clear to professionals at all levels of formal and informal education that we need to refresh the concept of lifelong learning. Most importantly, the concept needs to be expanded so that it is both lifelong and lifewide, concerned not just with serial requirements of those already engaged, but also with the creation of opportunities for those who have not found the existing structures and processes accessible or useful. This volume is structured around resulting arguments about policy and practice in three parts. The first focuses on the lifelong dimension, addressing in particular the changing nature of the student population. The second investigates the lifewide connections between higher education and other areas of social and economic life. The final section draws together a structural analysis, as well as research on changing needs of learners, to set out some key implications for higher education.