ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in subsequent chapters of this section of this book. Participation by young adults in higher education has significantly increased in the last twenty years. On pre-school education, there has been some systematic enquiry and conceptualization in the last decade. However, there has also been lack of research and the absence of 'scientific data' in British educational gerontology. This section on preschool and post-school education emphasizes that learning is not synonymous with children sitting in school classrooms; learning, both formal and non-formal, is part of all stages of life: it is lifelong. It is not clear that British educators have put together a coherent vision of what they can achieve in education beyond school. What people feel towards in the 1990s, is an over-arching concept of lifelong education which transcends divisions of education.
