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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Lifelong Learning: international injunctions and university practices

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JEAN-PIERRE JALLADE & JOSE´-GINE´S MORAIntroductionThe aim of this article is to elucidate whether the international discourse onlifelong learning (LLL) had any influence on what universities are doing in thisfield. International trends will be examined on the basis of OECD, UNESCO,EU and Council of Europe policy documents. University practice will be based onan enquiry carried out in 28 universities in seven European countries in 1999–2000 in the framework of the project Lifelong Learning and the University,sponsored by the EU/DG 12.Between the international policy discourse and university practice stands thenational layer of policy-making, giving rise to two interesting issues: first, donational LLL policies respond to national traditions, needs and constraints, or tothe consensus that emerged from international policy documents? And, second, towhat extent do autonomous universities respond to national policies, given theiradministrative staffing and financial constraints and the attitudes of the academicstaff?Congruence and reciprocal influences between these three layers —European, national and institutional — are often taken for granted bypolicy-makers who tend to adopt a top-down approach whereby the ‘international’discourse shapes national policies that would, in turn, be implemented byuniversities.But the surveys of national policies and ‘good practice’ at the institutional levelcarried out in the framework of this project have shown that in some countriesboth national governments and universities have been involved in lifelonglearning for many years, albeit under a different name. They can, therefore, claimanteriority. The history and present practice (and limitations) of universities alsoplay a role in shaping national stances, which, in turn, influence the internationaldiscourse.This article attempts to disentangle the array of reciprocal influences betweenthese three layers of policy-making and to elucidate whether the internationaldiscourse has given rise to a new impetus in the field of LLL and/or contributedto change in existing practice.In the second section, international trends will be examined on the basis of themajor policy documents of international organisations. In the third, they will becross-examined with university policies and practice. Conclusions will be found inthe fourth section.European Journal of Education, Vol. 36, No. 3, 2001