Lifelonglearning

Lifelonglearning,alsoknownasLLL,isthe"lifelong,lifewide,voluntary,andself-motivated"pursuitofknowledgeforeitherpersonalorprofessionalreasons.Assuch,itnotonlyenhancessocialinclusion,activecitizenshipandpersonaldevelopment,butalsocompetitivenessandemployability.

Thetermrecognisesthatlearningisnotconfinedtochildhoodortheclassroom,buttakesplacethroughoutlifeandinarangeofsituations.Duringthelastfiftyyears,constantscientificandtechnologicalinnovationandchangehashadaprofoundeffectonlearningneedsandstyles.Learningcannolongerbedividedintoaplaceandtimetoacquireknowledge(school)andaplaceandtimetoapplytheknowledgeacquired(theworkplace).

Learningeconomy

Lifelonglearningmaybemostusefullythoughtofasapolicyresponsebylargelywesterngovernmentstoachangingworld.Theseunderlyingchangesareamoveawayfrommanufacturingtoaserviceseconomy,theemergenceoftheknowledgeeconomyandthedeclineofmanytraditionalinstitutionswhichhasbeenrequiringindividualstobecomemoreactiveinmanagingtheirlives.

Thishasledtotherealizationthatformallearning,typicallyconcentratedintheearlierstagesoflife,cannolongersustainanindividualthroughouttheirlife.

InabookbyChristopherDay,publishedin1998,DevelopingTeachers:TheChallengeofLifelongLearning,therewasrecognitiontowardstheroleofteachersininculcatinglifelonglearningintheformalteachingsofhis/herstudentswhileatthesametimerealisingtheneedforteacherstopracticelifelonglearning,inordertodevelopthemselvesaswell.Throughthisrealisation,thatthroughoutateachers/educatorsprofessionalbeing,lifelonglearningisamust.

InOctober2022thepublishedaCommunicationentitled"Adultlearning:Itisnevertoolatetolearn."Thisdocumentsuggestslifelonglearningtobethecoreoftheambitious,inwhichthewholeoftheEuropeanUnionshouldbecomealearningarea.InDecember2022,theEuropeanParliament'sCommitteonCultureandEducationpublisheda"ReportonAdultlearning:Itisnevertoolatetolearn",whichrecognizedtheCommissionCommunicationandanumberofrelatedrecommendationsandresolutions,andwhichurgedmemberstatestoestablishalifelonglearningculture.

In2022,theOECDpublishedanarticleentitled"Recognitionofnon-formalandinformallearninginOECDcountries:Averygoodideainjeopardy?"whichadvocatesapragmaticapproachtoformalrecognitionofinformalandnon-formallearning.Theauthorbasesthedistinctionsbetween'formal','informal'and'non-formal'learningonthreecriteria.Thearticlepointsoutthat'qualification'and'certification'are"notveryuseful"inmakingthedistinctionbetweenformalandinformalandnon-formallearning,andshouldbedropped.Acommonunderstandingofthemeaningoftheterms,oratleastaframeworkfordefinitionhasimportantimplicationsforworkersinagloballabourmarketandparticipantsinformalandinformal/non-formallearningenvironments.

Now,thesedaysthebuzzwordisonmetacognition-thinkingaboutthinking,ahigherorderofthinking,thatstudentsandlearnerstrytoachievetobebetterpeople.Inthisdayandage,theabilitytothinkwhatbeyondwhatothersdo,thinkingoutsidethestorageroomwheretheboxisplacedisamusthavequalitywherewiththeabilitytoaccesstheinternetfortheplethoraofinformationthatisnotonlywritten,complementsthelearningexperienceandenablesanyoneandeveryonetopracticelifelonglearning-formallyandinformally.

Lifelonglearningcontexts

Althoughthetermiswidelyusedinavarietyofcontextsitsmeaningisoftenunclear.

Thereareseveralestablishedcontextsforlifelonglearningbeyondtraditional"brickandmortar"schooling:

wherethisinvolveslearningtolearnorthedevelopmentofinformallearningpatterns.

ortheacquisitionofformalqualificationsorworkandleisureskillslaterinlife.

whichoftendescribesextensionornot-for-creditcoursesofferedbyhighereducationinstitutions.

whichincludesprofessionaldevelopmentandon-the-jobtraining.

orself-directedlearningusingarangeofsourcesandtoolsincludingonlineapplications.

Metacognition

Literally‘thinkingabouttheprocessofknowing,’metacognitionrefersto“higherorderthinkingwhichinvolvesactivecontroloverthecognitiveprocessesengagedinlearning.”

involves:

Knowledge:awarenessofyourownthoughtprocessesandlearningstyles,andknowledgeofthestrategiesthatmightbeusedfordifferentlearningtasks.

Controlorself-regulation:keepingtrackofyourthinkingprocesses,regulatingandevaluatingthem.

Whilethestudyofmetacognitionoriginallygaveinsightsintowhatdifferentiatedsuccessfulstudentsfromtheirlesssuccessfulpeers,itisincreasinglybeingusedtoinformteachingthataimstomakestudentsmoreawareoftheirlearningprocesses,andshowthemhowtoregulatethoseprocessesformoreeffectivelearningthroughouttheirlives.

Aslifelonglearningis"lifelong,lifewide,voluntary,andself-motivated"learningtolearn,thatis,learninghowtorecognizelearningstrategies,andmonitorandevaluatelearning,isapre-conditionforlifelonglearning.Metacognitionisanessentialfirststepindevelopinglifelonglearning.

Inpractice

InIndiaandelsewhere,the""(U3A)providesanexampleofthealmostspontaneousemergenceofautonomouslearninggroupsaccessingtheexpertiseoftheirownmembersinthepursuitofknowledgeandsharedexperience.Nopriorqualificationsandnosubsequentcertificatesfeatureinthisapproachtolearningforitsownsakeand,asparticipantstestify,engagementinthistypeoflearninginlaterlifecanindeed'prolongactivelife'.

InSwedenthesuccessfulconceptof,anidealaunchedalmostacenturyago,stillrepresentsalargeportionoftheadulteducationprovision.Theconcepthassincespread,andforinstance,isacommonpracticeinFinlandaswell.Astudycircleisoneofthemostdemocraticformsofalearningenvironmentthathasbeencreated.Therearenoteachersandthegroupdecidesonwhatcontentwillbecovered,scopewillbeused,aswellasadeliverymethod.

Sometimeslifelonglearningaimstoprovideeducationalopportunitiesoutsidestandardeducationalsystems—whichcanbecost-prohibitive,ifitisavailableatall.Ontheotherhand,formaladministrativeunitsdevotedtothisdisciplineexistinanumberof.Forexample,the'AcademyofLifelongLearning'isanadministrativeunitwithintheUniversity-wide'ProfessionalandContinuingStudies'unitatthe.AnotherexampleistheJagiellonianUniversityExtension(WszechnicaUniwersytetuJagiellonskiego),whichisoneofthemostcomprehensivePolishcentersforlifelonglearning(openlearning,organizationallearning,communitylearning).

Inrecentyears'LifelongLearning'hasbeenadoptedintheUKasanumbrellatermforpost-compulsoryeducationthatfallsoutsideoftheUKHigherEducationsystem-FurtherEducation,CommunityEducation,Work-basedLearningandsimilarvoluntary,publicsectorandcommercialsettings.

Lifelonglearningprofessionals

AstheJagiellonianUniversityExtensiondefinesit,therearesevenmainprofessionalprofilesinthe