ABSTRACT
In recent years the name of Ettore Gelpi has been added to those of Ivan Illich and Paulo Freire as among the most important contributors to educational debate especially as it has influenced discussion of adult and lifelong education. This chapter reviews Gelpi's concept of lifelong education and evaluates it in the light of the criteria being developed for a theoretical elucidation of curriculum analysis. The policy of lifelong education, says Gelpi, is therefore quite distinct from the idea of deschooling and quite distinguishable from legislation for educational innovation. Gelpi's view of what constitutes educational planning is therefore very far from the view of lifelong education as a concept for integration or evaluation of the school curriculum. The continuing division of labour which reflects unbalanced development may, however, be reproduced in various ways, among which Gelpi is inclined to include adult education.
