“A superb new understanding of the dynamic economy as a learning society, one that goes well beyond the usual treatment of education, training, and R&D.”—Robert Kuttner, author of The Stakes: 2020 and the Survival of American Democracy Since its publication Creating a Learning Society has served as an effective tool for those who advocate government policies to advance science and technology. It shows persuasively how enormous increases in our standard of living have been the result of learning how to learn, and it explains how advanced and developing countries alike can model a new learning economy on this example. Creating a Learning Society: Reader’s Edition uses accessible language to focus on the work’s central message and policy prescriptions. As the book makes clear, creating a learning society requires good governmental policy in trade, industry, intellectual property, and other important areas. The text’s central thesis—that every policy affects learning—is critical for governments unaware of the innovative ways they can propel their economies forward. “Profound and dazzling. In their new book, Joseph E. Stiglitz and Bruce C. Greenwald study the human wish to learn and our ability to learn and so uncover the processes that relate the institutions we devise and the accompanying processes that drive the production, dissemination, and use of knowledge . . . This is social science at its best.”—Partha Dasgupta, University of Cambridge “An impressive tour de force, from the theory of the firm all the way to long-term development, guided by the focus on knowledge and learning . . . This is an ambitious book with far-reaching policy implications.”—Giovanni Dosi, director, Institute of Economics, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna “[A] sweeping work of macroeconomic theory.”—Harvard Business Review

This open access book presents contemporary perspectives on the role of a learning society from the lens of leading practitioners, experts from universities, governments, and industry leaders. The think pieces argue for a learning society as a major driver of change with far-reaching influence on learning to serve the needs of economies and societies. The book is a testimonial to the importance of ‘learning communities.’ It highlights the pivotal role that can be played by non-traditional actors such as city and urban planners, citizens, transport professionals, and technology companies. This collection seeks to contribute to the discourse on strengthening the fabric of a learning society crucial for future economic and social development, particularly in the aftermath of the coronavirus disease.

This is a book with a difference: it produces a completely new perspective on lifelong learning and the learning society and locates them within humanity itself. Five themes run through this book: Humankind has always been aware of the imperfections of human society: as a consequence, it has looked back to a mythological past and forward to a utopian future that might be religious, political, economic or even educational to find something better. Lifelong learning as we currently see it is like two sides of the same coin: we learn in order to be workers who produce, and learn we have a need to consume. We then devour the commodities we have produced, whilst others take the profits! One of the greatest paradoxes of the human condition has been the place of the individual in the group/community, or conversely how the groups allow the individual to exist rather than stifle individuality Modernity is flawed and the type of society that we currently have, which we in the West call a learning society, is in need of an ethical overhaul in this late modern age. There is a need to bring a different perspective – both political and ethical – on lifelong learning and the learning society in order to try to understand what the good society and the good life might become. In Democracy, Lifelong Learning and the Learning Society, the third volume of his trilogy on lifelong learning, Professor Jarvis expertly addresses the issues that arise from the vision of the learning society. The book concludes that since human beings continue to learn, so the learning society must be a process within the incomplete project of humanity. All three books in the trilogy will be essential reading for students in education, HRD and teaching and learning generally, in addition to academics and informed practitioners. The Lifelong Learning and the Learning Society Trilogy Volume 1: Towards a Comprehensive Theory of Human Learning Volume 2: Globalisation, Lifelong Learning and the Learning Society Volume 3: Democracy, Lifelong Learning and the Learning Society Peter Jarvis is an internationally renowned expert in the field of adult learning and continuing education. He is Professor of Continuing Education at the University of Surrey, UK, and honorary Adjunct Professor in Adult Education at the University of Georgia, USA.

As an approach to the diverse and shifting learning needs of today, the learning society labours under a definitional generosity which has led to three different models evolving with competing claims. This book traces the history of the concept and lucidly lays out these three interpretive models: learning for work, learning for citizenship and learning for democracy. The book's close scrutiny concludes with an analysis that synthesizes and sharpens our understanding of the learning society. With due consideration given to the emerging critique and with chapters from public bodies engaged in implementing learning society principles, Inside the Learning Society offers a comprehensive appraisal of ideas and practices. This is a book of great significance for anyone concerned about or involved in the future of education.

This text provides perspectives in British and international interpretations of a learning society and what the roles of core skills are. The book covers what should be happening in theory and what is happening in practice and develops a critical awareness of the issues.

The 'learning society' is not a new idea, although its popularity has grown in recent years with the suggestion that lifelong learning is a condition for economic competitiveness in a global economy, replacing the earlier conception of it as a condition for democratic citizenship. This reader, designed to accompany Module E827 of the MA in Education, critically examines the demographic, technological, economic and cultural challenges which have led to interest in the idea of a learning society, and explores their policy and practical implications for lifelong learning. It also explores and evaluates trends in education and training which support the development of a learning society. Overall, the book provides readers with a range of opinions on the learning society within which broad context they can place their own practice.

First published in 1999, this volume recognises that lifelong and continuing education is one of the main issues on the educational stage. In the United Kingdom it is a key feature of the government’s educational initiative as reflected in the Green Paper, ‘The Learning Age: a Renaissance for a New Britain’ [DfEE, 1988]. This book provides a range of contributions to the current debate from academic practitioners. It includes both theoretical discussions and empirically-based studies. Lifelong learning continues to raise important educational questions which are relevant in many countries. These include issues concerning how to enable individuals to reach their potential for self-fulfilment; how to ensure that educational opportunities are interesting and available to all; and how to ensure that a nation’s workforce is adaptable and well-educated. Each chapter explores a dimension of such fundamental questions.