In the context of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) notions of lifelong learning in education become of paramount interest to governments charged with enacting the Goals and the accompanying goals and targets of the Education 2030 Framework for Action.

In Aotearoa New Zealand^[1], with a change of right-wing Government in November 2017 to the left-wing Labour Party led by a young, female Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, there is growing recognition that lifelong education must form part of national and international education agendas.

Simultaneously, there are advocates for our vision of lifelong learning to be extended, broadened and deepened (Bélanger, 2016). Serious reflection of life-long learning needs to consider this phenomenon in relation to and in the context of co-existing phenomena such as life-wide learning, life-strong learning and life-deep learning. Although life-deep learning is not a new term, it appears to contain multiple meanings. Present conversations are concentrating on extending these concepts and creating more awareness and accord about what life-deep learning entails.

Our need to better understand life-deep learning reflects our shared aim of working together to create theories out of words and meanings to explain and describe a phenomenon.  It also reflects our need for self-construction and social transformation across the learning continuum of work, community, family, education and society. Understanding more about life-deep learning may support more robust practice and policy-making to address two major issues in Aotearoa New Zealand: a) autonomy for individuals in the face of our current risk society, and; b) transformation of social conditions desperately requiring revolution.