Norman Longworth (born 1936) is a British educational theorist who was a professor of lifelong learning at several universities. He is probably best known for the creation of the 'learning Ladder' a diagram describing the stages in human learning, and for his international reputation in the field of Lifelong Learning and, in particular, the development of Learning cities. In his writings 'Cities, Towns and Regions are where the development of human and social potential takes first priority' (Peter Finnegan, Foreword to Learning Cities, Learning Regions, Learning Communities – Lifelong Learning and Local Government Taylor and Francis, 2006). In the same book Longworth says ' A learning City, Town or Region goes beyond its statutory duty to provide education and training for those who require it, and instead creates a vibrant, participative, culturally aware and economically buoyant human environment through the provision, justification and active promotion of learning opportunities to enhance the potential of all its citizens (ibid Chapter 2 Page 23) Norman Longworth was born in a working class district of Bolton, Lancashire in March 1936. He was educated at the Bolton School but did not immediately go to university, largely because of family poverty. After a period of national service teaching statistics in the Royal Air Force he trained as a school teacher specialising in Geography and French, and became Head of Geography in two secondary schools in the North of England. A change of career took him into the field of Private business, working for a multi-national company in the UK France and Belgium. Here he developed the UK's first schools-industry 'twinning' programme, in which companies and schools cooperated in the development of human and monetary resources for education. ('The Woodberry Down School/IBM Twinning project, in Longworth, Lifelong Learning in Action - Transforming Education in the 21st Century, PP47–48, Taylor and Francis 2003). He also chaired the UK Industrial Society's schools industry panel and sat on the Secretary of State's committee for microelectronics education development. A period in University researching for an M Phil degree in the 1970s saw him create a pioneering nine module course on information processing for children which was taught in schools in the UK, Australia and elsewhere. At the end of his industry career he was the manager of external education programmes for Europe, Middle East and Africa creating many links between education and industry at all levels and in particular helping to