The aspect of ‘accessibility’ in the light of European lifelong learning strategies: Adult education centres—a case study

Lifelong learning in public libraries in 12 European Union countries: issues in monitoring and evaluation

“…Even if all countries agree in principle with the aims of the policy, what learners will receive as the lifelong learning offer is likely to be different from one country to the other. This is reinforced by a now standard learning practice that encourages learners to be actively involved in certain levels of policy implementation by discovering, developing and helping deliver their own learning plans (Papastamatis andPanitsidou 2009, Kirby et al 2010).…”

“…These countries are characterised by wider public acceptance of lifelong learning as a tool to promote active citizenship and social inclusion. On the other hand, it includes countries such as Greece and Portugal where lifelong learning has been primarily focused on modernisation of economic models and to increase economic productivity (Papastamatis and Panitsidou 2009). Table 1 shows the rate of participation in lifelong learning activities by adults in these 12 countries in 2002 and 2008.…”

“…Responding to the perceived challenges of globalisation, long-term unemployment, an aging population and rapid improvements in information technology (IT), the strategy aimed at providing a clear EU economic and social vision to drive change and cooperation. The narrative of this vision was originally set within the specific boundaries of economic reform, innovation and building a knowledge economy (Pépin 2007, Ogawa 2009, Papastamatis and Panitsidou 2009). Lifelong learning was present in that original vision and was viewed as a 634 JAVIER STANZIOLA tool to support the economic growth objectives of the EU.…”

Comparative and Global Policy Studies on Adult Education

“…Several studies also take a point of departure in a political notion introduced and/or sustained by the OECD or the EU, among others, and investigate how it is concretized within specific national contexts, often by juxtaposing two or more national systems (see, for instance, Plant & Turner, 2005;Pohl & Walther, 2007;Cavaco, Lafont, & Pariat, 2014;Papastamatis & Panitsidou, 2009). For example, Pohl and Walther (2007) examined policy developments within the European Union to explore the notion of 'activation of disadvantaged groups'.…”

Research Patterns in Comparative and Global Policy Studies on Adult Education

“…Additional political notions that have captured the researchers' attention include, yet are not limited to, the validation of non-formal and informal learning (Cavaco et al 2014), the accessibility to learning opportunities (Papastamatis and Panitsidou 2009) and so on.…”