Aprendizagem ao longo da vida: entre a novidade e a reprodução de velhas desigualdades

Abstract

Lifelong Learning has been a central issue, namely within political discourses from the European Commission, and it conveys the idea that this is a new strategy within Education that will allow us to overcome many old problems that have been facing the development of the educational and training systems. In this article we intend to discuss to what extent is lifelong learning a novelty within the educational field. To meet that purpose we consider three inter-related dimensions in our analysis: (1) the meanings and understandings of the idea of lifelong learning, the educational changes occurring within the paradigm of lifelong learning in what concerns (2) educational policy and (3) educational and training processes. We also address the debate on the dynamics of lifelong learning and the ways it contributes to the persistence (or diminishing) of inequalities that have been underlying the development of educational systems.