ABSTRACT
T h e ' learnin g society ' call s fo r a reflectio n abou t educationa l policie s a s a
who le . T h e ' l ife-cours e perspective ' (Saracen o 1986 : 20 ) open s u p n e w
opportunities fo r l i felon g learning but i t stresses at the sam e t ime the nee d fo r
deep changes in the theor y an d practic e o f l i fe long learning . We are n o longe r
dealing w i t h intervenin g i n educatio n fo r adult s facin g ne w need s - i n th e
sense o f a ' learnin g society ' demandin g educatio n an d vocationa l t ra inin g -
but, fa r more , w i th devising strategies to tackl e crise s an d t o hel p peopl e p ro -
ject themselve s toward s th e future .
