LLinE Lifelong Learning in Europe

Orientation 1/2010

LIFELONG LEARNING AND SOCIAL COHESION

Modern societies are becoming increasingly multicultural, fragmented and individualistic. Some would argue they are also becoming increasingly unequal in material terms. It is clear then that society-wide cohesion cannot emerge from homogeneity as it may have done in the past. What is the role of learning in furthering social cohesion in Europe? How can marginalization be turned into inclusion and integration? How do civil society and participative democracy affect cohesion? These are the main questions explored in this issue of LLinE. Cohesion is a tremendously multifaceted concept and each article approaches it from its own angle.

Markus Palmén and Hannele Martikainen
OUT OF THE WOLF’S BELLY
Inmates of a Finnish female prison prepared a theatre play under the guidance of a professional director. This creative undertaking turned out to be a learning process teaching issues of responsibility, communication and self esteem, thus transforming the daily lives of the inmates.

Roger Oosterlinck
CONNECTING PEOPLE TO COMMUNITY: ADULT EDUCATION IN FLANDERS - A CASE STUDY
This peer-reviewed article presents a case study of Belgian socio-cultural adult education associations. The community-building function of these associations is discovered to be significant: the learning environment also offers a meeting place for people in local communities.

Eric Bloemkolk
COOPERATION FOR COHESION IN UKRAINE -LEARNING FROM THE REFORMS OF A STATE RUN SYSTEM FOR HANDICAPPED CHILDREN
In Ukraine, the Soviet-era internat system for handicapped children is largely still in place. Marginalized and completely institutionalized, disabled children suffer from inhumane conditions in these facilities. This article gives an insider’s look into a civil society initiative aimed at improving this situation and documents the initiative’s first successes with a “best practice” view point.

Ilse Eriksson
FILIAL RESPONSIBILITY - MIDDLE-AGED CHILDREN AND THEIR CARE DISCOURSES
Proper care for the elderly is a question of social cohesion, with reports of isolation and loneliness experienced by senior citizens in Western societies. Ilse Eriksson’s article utilises discourse analysis to expose conflicting feelings of responsibility in the caregiving children: work and private interests collide with sentiments of duty towards the elderly parents.

Carlos Alberto Torres
THE ‘FIRST’ FREIRE: ON EDUCATION FOR DEMOCRACY AND SOCIAL CHANGE
We return to the theme of civil society and democracy with the contribution of renowned Freire scholar Carlos Alberto Torres. He writes about Paulo Freire’s emancipatory early works and explores their intellectual roots. The early Freire writes about the necessity of an education that will foster critical consciousness in the people of his homeland Brazil, leading to empowerment and freedom.

LLINE INTERVIEW
TRANSFORMING LIVES THROUGH LEARNING
Three “adult learners of the year” speak about their paths to adult learning and how they experienced learning later in life.

COMMENTARY
Ana Souza

LITERATURE
Sirkku Määttä
GLIMPSES OF LEARNING SOCIETIES IN THE BALTIC REGION
Research, Planning and Policy: Emerging Trends in Baltic and Nordic Lifelong Learning
Paul Ilsley, Jarmo Karing and Michele Kerulis (Eds.)