Different models of lifelong learning: From the perspective of international comparison

This paper compared five different international models welfare state, social partnership, network, market, and developmental state in relation to lifelong learning. For comparison, two principal dimensions - mode of regulation and purpose - were considered. According to mode of regulation, a continuum between the state, social partnership, network, and market models was proposed. According to purpose, a distinction between society, economics, and nation-building was made. In particular, in the developmental state, nation-building was regarded as pivotal in terms of the legitimacy of a state. In this classification, the network model was proposed in order to stress the transition of the work organization from a Fordist toward a post-Fordist model based on information technologies. The developmental state model was mainly utilized to explain the characteristics of East Asian skills formation compared with the welfare state model on the basis of the relationship between the state and the civil society.