Is there any place for Adult Education in the era of Lifelong Learning?

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Published: Jan 16, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.12681/haea.43722
Keywords:
Lifelong Learning Adult Education Paradigm Continuum
Thanassis Karalis
University of Patras
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8564-8812
Abstract

Since several years, we are in an era where the lifelong learning approach has colonized almost all areas of education. Indeed, we are moving from a view of education characterized by isolated units of organized learning to a different view of learning and education that is mainly defined in terms of the continuum of both the learning phenomena and the educational institutions. In this paper, we argue that this is a paradigm shift from an old paradigm to acquire a new form and content. and in many cases old elements are replaced
by new elements. After attempting to substantiate the above-mentioned paradigm shift, we would examine these new elements. The methodological approach will be that of diachronic analysis of policy papers and data concerning key issues of adult education and lifelong learning. The following questions will be addressed: What do these transitions mean for societies and the learning citizen? Is education, including Adult Education, still considered an obligation of the state or is the citizen now obliged to attend programs for reskilling and upskilling? To what extent is the citizen held responsible for the possible mismatches between his or her qualifications and the content of labor demand?

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Author Biography
Thanassis Karalis, University of Patras

Professor of Lifelong Learning and Adult Education, Department of Educational Science and Early Childhood Education, University of Patras. Thanassis Karalis was born in Athens, Greece in 1961. He studied Science (B.Sc. in Physics) and Educational Policy, Planning and Management (M.Sc.) at the University of Patras. He completed his doctoral studies (Ph.D.) at the same University and his thesis was in the field of policy evaluation of lifelong learning and adult education institutions. He has worked with many educational organizations as trainer, consultant, coordinator and evaluator of continuing education and training programmes. He has been working with the Hellenic Open University since 1998, initially as a member of the team which developed the educational material for the module “Introduction to Adult Education” and then as a Tutor and National Module Coordinator for the postgraduate module "Planning, Administration and Evaluation of Adult Education Programs". He is a founding member of the Hellenic Adult Education Association. 

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