ABSTRACT
At a meeting held in Brussels in November 1996, the International Academy of Education appointed a Task Force to identify gaps in the knowledge base on lifelong learning. This was because Academy members were concerned about the apparently growing gap between important policy statements about the implementation of lifelong learning on the one hand and the knowledge base required for evaluating educational developments on the other. In examining the issues, the Task Force was to take a broad view of what constitutes lifelong learning in a modern society, ranging from learning in early childhood through to learning in retirement, and occurring in many different environments. The aims and objectives to be accomplished were as follows:
• to analyse the shifting meanings of concepts, such as lifelong education and lifelong learning;
• to identify and map the central problems besetting the implementation of lifelong-learning policies and practices, especially in advanced countries;
• to propose questions and priorities for educational research relevant to lifelong-learning objectives, particularly adult education and informal learning in the workplace.
