Abstract
Singapore’s economic foci on productivity and innovation suggest that policy supporting lifelong learning has a principally economic intent. However, there are a number of initiatives that demonstrate Singapore is broadening its approach towards lifelong learning policy that supports greater inclusiveness and addresses social issues. But when examined, the policy and practice of learning programmes, their delivery and the enacted curriculum, considerable tensions between the rhetoric and the desired intent can be identified. This chapter begins by describing the Singaporean Continuing Education and Training landscape and the relevant economic and social policy, including recent policy changes. We then draw on data from two research projects conducted by the Research Centre for Work and Learning at the Institute for Adult Learning, Singapore, to illustrate current practices. The aim of this chapter is to provide an illustration of how practices, cultural ways of being and the framing of systems for developing a workforce to meet the challenges of globalisation mediate the formulation and implementation of lifelong learning.
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Bound, H., Lin, M., Rushbrook, P. (2014). Lifelong Learning Policies and Practices in Singapore: Tensions and Challenges. In: Halttunen, T., Koivisto, M., Billett, S. (eds) Promoting, Assessing, Recognizing and Certifying Lifelong Learning. Lifelong Learning Book Series, vol 20. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8694-2_10
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8694-2_10
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