Lifelong education in the 21st century: new research perspectives

The article is devoted to the non-classical methodology of the lifelong education investigation. The conclusions presented in the paper are based on the analysis of scientific reviews, international organizations reference materials, and leading journals papers dealing with the issues of lifelong education since the year of 2000. Some new areas and directions of educational research are identified; new sources of interdisciplinary interpretation of this problem, based on modern philosophy, psychology, cultural studies, economics, and information theory are presented. The research methods, adequate to unstable modern educational environment are proposed. Considering new methodological approaches to the phenomenon of lifelong education the author emphasizes its existential fundamentals which make it possible to implement the education continuity concept in everyday life. The author draws the reader's attention to the inner mechanisms of the learning process accomplishment as the integral part of a modern person's lifestyle. In particular, the paper presents some facts of anthropological characteristics transformations which modify person's cognitive abilities; reveals psycho-physiological specificity of a digital age child; discusses some problems of motivating people of different ages to continue their learning. Changes in spatiotemporal features of the educational process occurring in the open information-oriented society are linked with new understanding of continuity, succession, and complementarity of education. Dealing with the technological support of lifelong education the author defines a fundamental philosophic -pedagogical problem of humanity preservation which arises together with the development of educational systems based on a person and mechanism integration as well as on natural and artificial intelligence merging.