终身教育思想是20世纪六十年代兴起的一股教育思潮。终身教育思想倡导人一生的每个阶段都要受到教育,并且学校、家庭、社区、工作机构等社会各个部门都应参与到人一生的教育当中。本文通过对有关终身教育思想最重要的三部作品的简述,阐述了终身教育从形成到完善的过程,说明了终身教育对于21世纪人类社会的重要意义。 Lifelong education is an educational trend that emerged in the 1960s. Lifelong education advocates that every stage of life should be educated, and schools, families, communities, work agencies and other social sectors should participate in the education of others throughout their lives. This article elaborates the process of lifelong education from formation to perfection through the brief introduction of the three most important works concerning lifelong education and illustrates the importance of lifelong education to human society in the 21st century.