Education policy for lifelong learning. Europeanisation and (re)production of social inequalities

The aim of this study is to investigate the influences of the European education policy in lifelong learning (LLL) policies in Greece and to evaluate the effectiveness of the educational and social policies of Continuing Vocational Training (CVT) in Greece, with reference to the achievement of the aims of employability and social cohesion, the emphasis being on the unemployed. The first part of the study attempts to review the theoretical approaches to the concepts of employability and social cohesion, which form two complementary objectives of the European Union (EU) LLL policies. The second part of the study critically analyses the EU educational and social policies for LLL and their impact on the policies for LLL in Greece, using the concept of europeanisation as interpretative tool. The third part of the study examines the degree to which the aims of employability and social cohesion are achieved through the participation of the unemployed in CVT in Greece, through the data of 2007, 2012 and 2016 Adult Education Survey. The analysis and interpretation of the reforms in LLL and of the Greek governments’ policy discourse on their LLL policies, and the statistical processing of the Adult Education Survey data on the participation of the unemployed in CVT in Greece, show the strong influences of the European education policy in LLL policies in Greece and the failure of CVT policies to develop the employability of the unemployed and to ensure social cohesion. The data that emerge from the research, combined with the current trends in LLL policy in the EU and Greece, make the prospects for the future bleak, highlighting the need for a different mix of educational and social policies for the consolidation of social justice and social change.