CONTINUOUS LIFELONG LEARNING AS A PRACTICE OF «SELF-CARE»

Background. The relevance of the presented topic should be associated with the existential situation characterized by the active development of the information society and its transition to a knowledge society, in which the values ​​associated with self-education and self-development of the individual prevail. Therefore, the strategy of continuous learning «throughout life» is in demand, allowing to satisfy the needs of the individual for self-development and self-improvement. The subject of this study is the concept of continuous lifelong learning, which acts as a practice of «self-care». Purpose. The main goal of the article is to explicate the axiological potential of continuous lifelong learning and to show that such learning acts primarily as «self-care», allowing the individual to develop and improve. Materials and methods. For the logic of development and solution of research problems, such methods as conceptual modeling, interpretation, and the method of contextual analysis were of great importance. The main provisions of the article contribute to the formation of a general conceptual idea of ​​the potential of continuous lifelong learning both for self-development and improvement of the individual, and for understanding the existence of the individual in the knowledge society. Results. The article raises the question: how or with the help of what can the strategy of continuous lifelong learning be implemented? It is stated that the demand for continuous lifelong learning of a large number of people can be satisfied only with the help of e-learning and distance learning technologies. And online courses, in particular massive open online courses (MOOCs), are the most popular and promising. It is argued that thanks to online courses, each person is potentially capable of creating a space for (self) education, and in a situation of personal readiness for continuous learning, MOOCs as a special case of online courses appear to be a phenomenon that contributes to the implementation of the practice of «self-care».