Europe is undergoing rapid and profound social and political change, and time-honoured methods and practices are being challenged as a result. Nowhere is this challenge more pressing and relevant than in education, which is charged with the task of preparing future generations for the "New Europe." Everyone accepts that education should be for all, that it needs to be extended, and that "education for life" is a phrase with real significance, but how is education best provided? In February 1990 the Academia Europaea council decided to sponsor a study group on education in modern European society funded by the Swedish Riksbankens Jubileumsfond. The report, in the form of this book, deals with many problem areas in European education; for example school quality, examinations, the teaching of foreign languages, and science education. It also analyses the role of the school as an institution in an increasingly complex technological and meritocratic society, and spells out the role of basic education in forming a European identity and consciousness.

Hardbound. Monitoring the standards of school achievement is a topic which has been subject to increasing attention of late. This book aims to add clarity and fuel to this ongoing debate by answering such questions as: Why should standards of education be monitored? Which are the major steps to be undertaken in setting and monitoring cognitive and affective achievement standards? Which indicators can be used and, how should they be measured?

In post-industrial societies some workers will have stable, good jobs in knowledge and learning-intensive workplaces, while many others will be underemployed or locked into a series of precarious, low-skill jobs in the periphery of the economy. In such a society, inclusions and exclusions in economics and social life are bound to correspond closely to inclusions and exclusions in adult education and training.

With the transition toward the post-industrial society increasingly complete, the challenge to reduce the exclusive tendencies in adult education and training, and to make learning a common, continuous and even universal experience is becoming more urgent than ever. The design of successful intervention strategies will depend crucially on the knowlege base of adult education, especially improved insights into the factors that are associated with participation and non-participation. By improving that knowledge base that this volume, which reports on a six-country comparative investigation of the patterns of adult education participation, seeks to make a contribution to policy and research.

There is a widespread consensus that adult education and continuing vocational training are central elements in a strategy aimed at achieving economic growth. However, the stakes are not only economic. Adult education has also become a structural determinant of employment opportunities, earnings and quality of life. Adults who lack the motivation, opportunity or information needed to participate in a lifelong learning society will become increasingly disadvantaged. Educational systems must prepare people for a life of active learning.

This volume argues that the principles of lifelong learning must be at the heart of a new approach to skills development. Lifelong learning is advocated not as a theoretical and utopian idea, but as the inevitable reality in affluent, technologically advanced, politically and culturally pluralistic societies.

Each chapter addresses one of several questions important for the future of lifelong education. In particular they concern theory and research on the five themes: lifespan development and education; intelligence; transfer and capacity to learn; informal learning in the work place; learning to learn; and the implications for policy.