Paradigm lost? : lifelong education in New Zealand in the 1970s and 1980s

Abstract

The concept of lifelong learning is very prominent in many New Zealand educational policies and writings at present. Although the concept can be traced back to many early educational writers, it first emerged as a tour de force in this country in the 1970s. This article reviews the development of adult and community education (ACE) in New Zealand from the early 1970s through to the early 1990s in terms of the ideals of lifelong education and the ensuing debates that surrounded it.