Extract

These words reaching across the ages point to the necessity of lifelong learning. The opportunity to learn is never over. Gerontological research of the last 60 years supports the capability of most people to continue to grow and develop. Such learning can be to refine competitive skills in the world of work or for one’s personal growth and satisfaction, or some combination of both. Manheimer (2009), in an excellent review of lifelong learning, cites many national initiatives in Japan, France, The United Kingdom and the US, among others, that promote lifelong learning. There are exemplary programmes that show the potential of successful personal development through later life education. Bosworth (2007) emphasizes that more than half of the US’s 120 million workers between the ages of 25 and 64 have no post-secondary school degree or credential of any kind.