Learning communities for framing lifelong learning futures: pressures and possibilities

Abstract

[Overview]: Learning communities are increasingly posited as vehicles for reflecting on and harnessing successes in lifelong learning and for framing equitable, productive and transformative futures that will generate substantial and sustainable outcomes for all their members. In view of these claims, it is timely to hold learning communities up to scrutiny in relation to lifelong learning – what are they, what are they for, do they work and how do we know? The goal of this symposium is to map both the pressures on, and the possibilities of, learning communities in framing futures for lifelong learning in a number of different contexts and sites. The intention is to interrogate possible links between learning communities and lifelong learning, and to discern possible future trends that might help to maximise the potential and claimed benefits of learning communities. Possible organising questions for contributors to the symposium to consider include the following: • What are the key characteristics of the site under study and on what basis might it be considered a learning community? • What are the pressures on learning communities and where do they come from? • What are the possibilities for learning communities in framing productive and transformative lifelong learning futures? • How useful and sustainable is the concept of learning communities?