Managing change and transition: A psychosocial perspective on lifelong learning

The ‘psychosocial’ dimension of lifelong learning is concerned with people’s inner subjective world of thought and feeling combined with sensitivity to their outer world of social relationships set in a context of wider structural inequalities. The focus of interest in this chapter is on understanding how people can creatively and constructively engage with constantly changing and disruptive circumstances which undermine established identities. The ‘defended self ’ essentially inhibits positive engagement with change. The argument is made that lifelong learning in communities is potentially a transitional space for overcoming anxieties and ambivalent feelings in order to negotiate new identities.