Lifelong learning (LLL) is an international reference framework that has been supported by UNESCO for about fifty years. LLL is among the goals of the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development:

“Goal 4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.” (UN, n.d.).

This concept is closely associated with that of the “right to education,” enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted at the end of World War II. For UNESCO, lifelong learning is the realization of the right to education for all.

In the province of Québec, this LLL framework of reference was also adopted by the Conseil supérieur de l’éducation (CSE, 2016a) and the Institut de coopération pour l’éducation et la formation des adultes (ICÉA) (Dignard & al., 2021), and several higher education institutions claim such right as well.

Learning in all its Forms

Lifelong learning “implies that an individual’s life course can no longer be divided into a period of preparation followed by a period of action, rather that learning extends across the whole lifespan in different life phases.”

(UIL, 2022, p. 17)

This perspective calls into question the dichotomy between, on the one hand, initial education intended for young people, and, on the other hand, continuing education intended to fill the educational gaps for adults. By putting emphasis on learning pathways, it calls on the entire education system as an “organizing principle of a policy aimed at supporting the educational success of all” (CSE, 2016b, p. 49).

However, lifelong learning is not just about educational institutions. Adults, as well as children and young people, of course, learn as part of the formal framework of school institutions, but also in a variety of environments and locations, and through various more or less informal means. Consequently, the Conseil supérieur de l’éducation puts forward the idea that education extends not only “throughout” but also “across” life (CSE, 2016a, p. 13):

  • Throughout: at different stages of life.
  • Across: in the various spheres of life. 

Therefore, continuing education in colleges and universities is a component of this larger concept related to adult education in the context of lifelong learning.

Values Conveyed by the LLL Perspective

The perspective of LLL is centred on the needs and aspirations of the learner, but its impact concerns the future of society in all its dimensions (social, economic, cultural). This expression has been invested with several meanings by international institutions over the last 60 years (Kinnari and Silvennoinen, 2023; Ruşitoru, 2017). From a schematic point of view, two visions stand out in the ideological universe of LLL:

Humanist vision: It has been supported by UNESCO since the Fauré report (1963), referred to as “Learning to be,” and gives LLL a democratic and emancipatory aim. In the province of Québec, the Jean Commission (1984) closely linked adult education with the participation of individuals in democratic life (Dahl, 2021).

In this vision, accessibility and inclusion are of paramount importance and part of a social justice objective. For the ICÉA, “equal access to all places of learning, for all adults and at all ages of life must be recognized as founding principles of the right to lifelong learning” (Dignard, 2021)

Economic vision: It is supported namely by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the European Commission. Based on the theory of human capital, it gives LLL an individual aim of employability and qualification in response to the demands of the labour market (Carpenter, 2021; de Viron & al., 2023; 2023; Normand, 2023).

In this vision, the focus is on the role of LLL policies in supporting economic growth, and a key value is that of helping individuals adapt to the new realities of the world of work (OECD, 2019).

Québec Policy for Adult Education

The State obviously plays a key role in making the right to lifelong learning effective. In 2002, the Government of Québec adopted the Policy on Adult Education and Continuing Education and Training:

The objectives of learning as a process that goes on throughout life are to develop the autonomy and the sense of responsibility of individuals and communities, to enable them to deal with changes in the economy, in culture and in society as a whole, and to promote coexistence, tolerance and the informed and creative participation of citizens in society, in short to enable individuals and communities to take control of their destiny and that of society in order to face the challenges ahead.  

(ministère de l’Éducation, 2002, p. 2)

The publication of this Policy and its first action plan (2002-2007) were followed by scattered initiatives in the field of adult education (CDÉACF, s.d.-a). Moreover, the role of college and university institutions in adult education and training in the province of Québec is not explicitly included in the 2002 policy, which has not been conducive to the coherence of continuing education practices in colleges and universities, nor to the strengthening of relationships with other stakeholders in the ecosystem. Several voices from the field of education in the province of Québec are calling for the creation of a new “clear and structuring” Québec policy on lifelong learning (Collective, 2023).

Consult the next key concept

References

Carpenter, S. (2021). Adult Education and Neoliberalism: Unpacking the Agency of the Future. Dans S. Brigham, R. McGray et K. Jubas (dir.), Adult Education and Lifelong Learning in Canada: Advancing a Critical Legacy (p. 335‑344). Thompson Educational Publishing.

CDÉACF. (s. d.). Dossier spécial : Politique d’éducation des adultes. Centre de documentation sur l’éducation des adultes et la condition féminine. Récupéré le 22 septembre 2023 de https://cdeacf.ca/dossier/pea

Collectif. (2023). Lettre ouverte : Il est temps d’agir en éducation des adultes ! https://icea.qc.ca/fr/actualites/lettre-ouverte-il-est-temps-d%E2%80%99agir-en-%C3%A9ducation-des-adultes%C2%A0

CSE. (2016a). L’éducation populaire : mise en lumière d’une approche éducative incontournable tout au long et au large de la vie. Conseil supérieur de l’éducation. https://www.cse.gouv.qc.ca/publications/leducation-populaire-50-0492/

CSE. (2016b). Mémoire du Conseil supérieur de l’éducation dans le cadre des consultations publiques pour une politique de la réussite éducative : cinq idées-forces pour soutenir l’élaboration d’une politique de la réussite éducative des jeunes et des adultes. Conseil supérieur de l’éducation. https://www.cse.gouv.qc.ca/publications/politique-reussite-educative-50-0498/

Dahl, A. (2021). Adult Education in Québec : Participation in Light of the Jean Report. Dans S. Brigham, R. McGray et K. Jubas (dir.), Adult Education and Lifelong Learning in Canada: Advancing a Critical Legacy (p. 82‑92). Thompson Educational Publishing.

de Viron, F., Jézégou, A. et Bussi, M. (2023). L’adulte d’aujourd’hui : sommé d’apprendre? Sociétés en changement, (16). https://cdn.uclouvain.be/groups/cms-editors-iacchos/societes-en-changement-note-thematique/IACCHOS-socie%CC%81te%CC%81s%20en%20changement-formationadulte-WEB_0.pdf

Dignard, H. (2021). Lutter contre les inégalités en éducation des adultes. Institut de coopération pour l’éducation des adultes (ICÉA). https://icea.qc.ca/fr/actualites/lutter-contre-les-in%C3%A9galit%C3%A9s-en-%C3%A9ducation-des-adultes-0

Dignard, H., Pelletier, S. et Baril, D. (2021). Orientations stratégiques en éducation des adultes : Apprendre à tout âge dans une société du savoir. [Document de réflexion publié en soutien à la démarche d’élaboration de planification stratégique 2021-2026 de l’ICÉA]. Institut de coopération pour l’éducation des adultes (ICÉA). https://icea.qc.ca/sites/icea.qc.ca/files/ICA-DO~1.PDF

Kinnari, H. et Silvennoinen, H. (2023). Subjectivities of the lifelong learner in ‘humanistic generation’ – Critical policy analysis of lifelong learning policies among discourses of UNESCO, the Council of Europe and the OECD. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 42(4), 1‑17. https://doi.org/10.1080/02601370.2023.2234089

Ministère de l’Éducation. (2002). Politique gouvernementale d’éducation des adultes et de formation continue. Gouvernement du Québec. https://www.mtess.gouv.qc.ca/publications/pdf/sr_politique_gouv_education_adultes.pdf

Normand, R. (2023). Postface. La certification comme nouvelle épreuve de l’« individu apprenant » dans la gouvernementalité européenne de la Formation tout au long de la vie. Formation emploi, 163(3), 139‑155. https://doi.org/10.4000/formationemploi.11983

OCDE. (2019). Getting Skills Right: Future-Ready Adult Learning Systems. Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques. https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264311756-en

ONU. (s. d.). Objectifs de développement durable. Organisation des Nations unies. Récupéré le 29 novembre 2023 de https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/fr/education/

Ruşitoru, M.-V. (2017). Les fondements politiques, économiques, sociaux, personnels et pédagogiques de la notion d’éducation tout au long de la vie. Revista de Pedagogie – Journal of Pedagogy, 65(1), 7‑22. https://revped.ise.ro/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/2017.-1.-7-22-Rusitoru-M..pdf

UIL. (2022). Faire de l’apprentissage tout au long de la vie une réalité : un manuel pratique. Institut de l’UNESCO pour l’apprentissage tout au long de la vie. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000384238