The origin and the development of the care of lifelong learning

the article is dedicated to the formation and development of pedagogical concepts of education throughout the life which substantially affects one's self-understanding. A historical role of education is to create the willingness and the need for taking care of oneself, and the author examines the origins of this idea. Furthermore, the author identifies a deep continuity between antique philosophical and pedagogical ideas and modern concepts of self-regulation, self-upbringing and self-education. The study is based on the theoretical, historical and pedagogical analysis and interpretation of authentic and contemporary texts dedicated to the ancient phenomenon of «the care of the self» as a special anthropological and pedagogical project of personal culture, which also involved philosophical, cultural, historical, educational, and linguistic knowledge. Such an education was a privilege belonging to a person who knew how to «care of oneself». Ancient Greek and Roman thinkers believed that lifelong learning was impossible without «the care of the self». However, this kind of person is key to modern and postmodern pedagogy as well. At the beginning of the XXIst century, we may interpret «the care of the self» as a basic element of the Greco-Roman pedagogy which significantly influenced the emergence of lifelong education concept. The author presents the origin and development of it on the basis of ancient and modern strategies for continuious educational routes chosen by people of different ages. The paper demonstrates that the heuristic potential of the discussed concept is not exhausted today. The conclusions may be used to ensure the continuity between cultural/historical and historical/pedagogical concepts of lifelong education on an interdisciplinary basis.