Moving on? Speed, flow and the liquefaction of lifelong learning

Lifelong learning is moving on from the recession, and this paper draws on the ideas of speed-theorist Paul Virilio to consider the implications of recent developments as the area recovers from the global downturn. With a focus on change agents I examine new discourses and new expectations in the United Kingdom: no longer concerned with “learning to be” or even “learning to do”, post-austerity, globalized lifelong learning now consists of “learning to move”. To embed this ontology of speed, the language of industrial processes, flow and liquid management presents acceleration in learning as a teleological phenomenon. Recent developments in the UK show how this new order’s search to be unavoidable and unassailable risks limiting lifelong learning to a closed circuit of habitual repetition. With little time left for the creative potential of lifelong learners themselves, should lifelong learning be moving on?
Key words: Lifelong learning – Virilio – speed - mobility