Introduction - Background
Since its formation UNESCO has focused on the right to education. It has always believed that education is a fundamental right and that in fact it is the means for upholding and fulfilling all other rights. From its inception, the Organization has recognised that education should be neither the privilege of an elite nor a matter for one age group only. Rather, it should be both universal and lifelong.
Furthermore, UNESCO has emphasised that recognising the right to education means little unless it is accompanied by measures creating the conditions needed to exercise this right. UNESCO’s commitment at the World Education Forum at Dakar in 2000 to reach the six Education for All (EFA) goals by 2015 embodies a strategic approach in creating learning opportunities for all. The Dakar Framework for Action explicitly recognises that education – from the care and education of young children and continuing through lifelong learning – is central to individual empowerment, to eliminating poverty at household and community level, and to broader social and economic development. EFA indeed is an absolute minimum for any country, the foundation for building more inclusive, more just societies.
In the knowledge-based global economy of the 21st Century, future prosperity and security as well as peace, social harmony and nurturing the environment will depend on people’s access and capacity to make choices, to adapt to rapid change and to find sustainable solutions to pressing challenges. Indeed, education and lifelong learning are key. UNESCO’s Medium-Term Strategy for 2008–2013 contends that development and economic prosperity depend on countries’ ability to educate all their citizens. Quality education for all is thus an overarching UNESCO objective. Lifelong learning is the essential organising principle for reaching this goal and for contributing to the advancement of formal, non-formal and informal learning.
In recent years, some UNESCO Member States have made substantial progress towards establishing lifelong learning systems. However, the discourse of lifelong learning is only partially and inconsistently evident in policy and practice. Faced with 21st Century global challenges, it is more imperative still for each and every country to make lifelong learning for all a reality. The need for sustainable socio-economic development in the context of the current global financial crisis and the threat of climate change has created a renewed urgency for quality learning opportunities for all, especially for marginalised groups who have least access.
Lifelong learning covers the full range of provision of learning opportunities, from early childhood through school to further and higher education. However, it extends beyond formal education to non-formal and informal learning for out-of-school youth and adults. The Sixth International Conference on Adult Education (CONFINTEA VI), which was held in Belém do Pará in Brazil in December 2009, reaffirmed the role of lifelong learning in addressing development issues globally. The Belém Framework for Action is critical in guiding UNESCO Member States to harness adult learning and education for a viable future for all.
The mandate of UNESCO’s Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) is to support and link research, policy and practice. It facilitates advocacy, research and capacity-building and fosters partnership. With a wealth of expertise and a huge knowledge base, its extensive networks of policy-makers, researchers and civil society are active in lifelong learning. In the last 10 years, UIL, in collaboration with UNESCO Member States, has organised a series of policy dialogues on lifelong learning, including the International Conference on Lifelong Learning (Beijing, China, 2001), International and Regional Perspectives and Practices in Lifelong Learning (a series of regional conferences in Asia, Europe and Latin America, 2001–2002), and policy dialogues “Lifelong Learning” (Busan, Republic of Korea, 2006) and “Building Effective Partnerships for Lifelong Learning” (Changwon, Republic of Korea, 2007). The World Expo 2010 centred on the theme “Better City, Better Life” and took place from 1 May to 31 October 2010 in Shanghai, China, a city that registered tremendous progress in promoting lifelong learning in recent years. As an important member of the United Nations family, UNESCO was present and active throughout the six-month period of the Expo. In particular, the week of 17–23 May 2010 was UNESCO Week at the United Nations Pavilion. The contribution of UNESCO Education Sector was organised around the theme of learning to live together sustainably in cities. Against this backdrop, the Shanghai International Forum on Lifelong Learning took place from 19 to 21 May during the World Expo.
As continuation of the policy dialogue for lifelong learning and capacity development in UNESCO Member States, the Forum focused on translating the discourse of lifelong learning into practical guidelines to build lifelong learning systems, including:
• reviewing progress and challenges in developing national strategies to promote lifelong learning;
• sharing experience and best practice in establishing lifelong learning systems; and
• developing capacity for policy-making and research in lifelong learning in UNESCO Member States.
To attain these objectives, the Forum was organised into
• plenary sessions on the evolution of and perspectives in lifelong learning; policy frameworks designed to build learning societies; transforming teaching and learning through lifelong learning; and major strategies for promoting lifelong learning;
• thematic debates carried out by parallel groups, each focusing on one of the six sub-themes of the Forum, i.e. the responsibilities and roles of governments, civil society and individual learners in building learning societies; reforming formal education in a lifelong learning system; promoting non-formal and informal learning for youth and adults; building a learning city (community); mechanisms for and innovations in financing lifelong learning; and creating a holistic lifelong learning system by fusing formal, non-formal and informal learning; and
• visits to the UN pavilion and other exhibitions at the World Expo Park, as well as lifelong learning institutions in Shanghai.
The Forum was a unique opportunity for practitioners, policy-makers, advocates and academics alike to share experience and achievements, and to debate the crucial issues facing education today.
2 Evolution of and perspectives on lifelong learning - Adama Ouane
Introduction
At a time when the world’s citizens are increasingly in need of lifelong learning opportunities, it is imperative that we reassert the inalienable right to education. Lifelong learning is the only way to survive and cope with the challenges associated with sustainable development and personal fulfilment. Although more governments have acknowledged the crucial role that lifelong learning plays in building a sustainable and socially cohesive future – and in equipping individuals to learn how to know, to do, to be and to live together – the root causes of marginalisation in education have yet to be addressed in a comprehensive way and for all citizens, particularly those who are economically and socially deprived.
There are still 759 million adults who have had no schooling or other opportunities to become literate. This represents about 16% of the total world population aged 15 and over – of whom nearly two thirds are women. Furthermore, the 2010 EFA Global Monitoring Report underlines the fact that, while the number of children not attending school continues to fall, there are still 72 million children out of school. The most recent school enrolment data suggest that the goal of Universal Primary Education by 2015 will be missed. Moreover, household survey evidence suggests that more children may be out of school than the official data indicate.
All this points to an increasing need for educational change and shows that, in addition to being a right, education is a means to fulfil other rights. It gives learners the tools to push the boundaries of what is known, to invent new realities or to seek new understanding from existing realities. It is a balancing act between freedom and constraint.
As Amartya Sen affirms, the stock of human capital is the sum totals of doings and beings, these abilities determine a person’s ability to be both functionally employed and happy. Since education affects the “capability” of what a person can “be” or “do”, it also deeply affects the amount of positive freedom available to him or her: freedom to shape his/her own life in terms of type of work, profession or entrepreneurship. In addition, as Jacques Delors indicated in the report of the Commission on Education for the Twenty-first Century, that he chaired and entitled Learning: The Treasure Within education is about transmitting and anticipating what humanity has learned about itself. Delors’ famous four pillars of learning, highlighted the fact that education must be a process of learning about preparing for and participating in democratic life.
This paper will trace the evolution of lifelong learning. It is an attempt to expand the concept and mobilise political support for a new course of action embedded in the UNESCO Director General’s call for a “New Humanism”.
Lifelong learning: Still a vision? A brief historical overview
The roots of the lifelong learning concept can be traced back to ancient times. The term itself, however, first gained currency following educational expansion in the wake of World War II. It grew from notions such as “fundamental education”, “continuing education”, “basic education”, “permanent education” and “recurrent education”.
More than three decades ago, the Faure report Learning to Be (1972) advocated lifelong education as the master concept for educational policies in both developed and developing countries. This report was commissioned by UNESCO following demonstrations by students and young people all over the world in 1967 and 1968. It was seen as a turning point and the start of a period of optimism in international education policy, as it recognised that education was no longer the privilege of an elite, or a matter for one age group only. Instead, it concluded that education should be both universal and lifelong. Essentially, this meant moving to a humanistic, rights-based and holistic view of education.
By the mid-1990s, a clear preference emerged for the term “lifelong learning” rather than “lifelong education”. There were differing views on the major distinction between these two concepts, but it was generally felt that “lifelong education” reflected a view of education as a prescriptive and normative process, while “lifelong learning” put the emphasis on learner demand and individual choice. The European Union Year of Learning (1996) consolidated these trends. Some critics, however, have suggested that this change pushes for an individualisation of learning, prompted by economic policies aimed at disengaging governments and shifting costs and responsibility to individual learners.
Furthermore, the Report Learning: The Treasure Within (1996) reiterated the essential role that learning throughout life plays for both society and individuals, equipping them to cope with the evolving requirements of the labour market and the changing timeframes and rhythms of individual existence. Together with the Faure Report, the Delors Report acknowledged lifelong learning as one of the guiding and organising principles of educational action and reform, as well as a notion that fosters meaningful human life by enabling people to anticipate and tackle whatever challenges they may face in the course of their lives. As Colin Power said, however, the Delors Report is not a blueprint for educational reform; it is a framework for reflection and debate about the choices which must be made in formulating policies.
Following the Delors Report, lifelong learning has become a focal point for discussions in the international arena. Initiatives such as the Hamburg Declaration in 1997 (CONFINTEA V), the Dakar Framework for Action in 2000, the United Nations Literacy Decade and the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development have all indicated the importance and relevance of lifelong learning and its humanistic approach in the 21st Century – even though lifelong learning is not clearly addressed within these initiatives. In particular, there is no mention of lifelong learning in the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDG) despite its links to the EFA initiative.
In 2008 and 2009, lifelong learning was an anchor for UNESCO’s four major international conferences – the 48th International Conference on Education (ICE, November 2008), the International Conference on Education for Sustainable Development (March 2009), the International Conference on Higher Education (July 2009) and the Sixth International Conference on Adult Education (CONFINTEA VI, December 2009). All of these events underlined its critical role in addressing global educational issues and challenges. In addition, it will feature prominently in the first major global conference dedicated to Early Childhood Care and Education (WCECCE), which is scheduled for September 2010.
Moreover, during the 35th General Conference of UNESCO in October 2009, many delegations underlined that Education for All should become Education for All at All Levels throughout Life, implying universal lifelong learning. It would seem, therefore, that there has been a move towards the recognition and acceptance of lifelong learning. Our task now is to see that vision become reality.
Lifelong learning as a facilitator
For social inclusion
One of the greatest problems faced by the world today is the growing number of people being excluded from participating in the economy, society and life in general. Unjust and inequitable societies are neither efficient nor secure – they are unacceptable. More far-reaching policy measures and broader socio-economic and cultural investments are urgently called for, and education is one means of addressing such issues. Overcoming injustice should be at the heart of all national and international Education for All agendas.
Essentially, inclusion entails ensuring that every individual receives appropriate, good-quality education within and beyond the school system. It is the full and effective exercise of the right to education, i.e. access to learning opportunities, that discriminates or excludes no individual or group within or outside the school system. It offers learners self-expression and the fulfilment that success and educational achievement bring. It covers issues of gender, ethnicity, class, social conditions, health and human rights. Inclusive education is about learning to live with diversity and learning to learn from difference, not only in a certain period but throughout the entire lifecycle and in a variety of contexts.
Lifelong learning has increasingly been acknowledged as an important element in the response to social exclusion, as it has a range of benefits to offer to both individuals and society.
For sustainable development
Lifelong learning contributes to Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) as it is a continuing process that promotes well-being on all three levels of sustainable development – economic, social and environmental. The values and principles underpinning sustainable development should enable learners to identify problems and reflect on them critically and analytically as a means of addressing local and global challenges and of shaping a sustainable future.
The outcome document of the UNESCO World Conference on Education for Sustainable Development – the Bonn Declaration – called for action to “support the incorporation of sustainable development issues using an integrated and systemic approach in formal education as well as in nonformal and informal education at all levels… also by recognizing the significant contribution of non-formal education and informal learning as well as vocational and work-place learning”. By harnessing education to promote values such as respect, justice and equity, we can build sustainable financial and economic systems that respond to the crisis that our world is currently undergoing.
Lifelong learning as a comprehensive, integrated and holistic system (formal, non-formal and informal)
The need for a new curriculum
Our ability continuously to acquire new competences, knowledge, skills, wisdom and behaviour is probably our most distinctive feature, and plays an important role in our fast-changing world.
The holistic and humanistic nature of lifelong learning allows people to develop competences that enable them to perform confidently and with ease the roles required in different settings, as family members, friends, workers, employees and entrepreneurs, members of society, and as national and – ideally – world citizens. It enables them to take responsibility for themselves and others, to organise their lives not only from the standpoint of economic and material wealth, but also in pursuit of happiness and well-being. In addition, current social and economic realities in both developed and developing countries, including the rise of ICTs, demand new, wider and more complex competences, such as the ability to think critically, be creative, cope with rapid change, nurture the environment, solve problems and act responsibly and ethically. It is only when equipped with these capacities that individuals will be able to grasp and deal with both the enormous potential available, and the rapid transformations which are currently taking place.
As these capacities affect the whole dimension of the individual and the spectrum of society, educational provision enabling their acquisition must be available through all channels: formal, non-formal and informal. Today’s individuals and citizens need access to multiple modes of education, diverse learning situations (home, community, workplace, school, leisure, and so on) and a variety of media (books, computers, games, traditional media, and so on). Formal learning is like riding a bus. The driver decides where the bus is going; the passengers are along for the ride. Meanwhile, non-formal learning is like riding a bike. Here, it is the rider who chooses the destination, the speed and the route.
The crucial question with which we are faced is: given that the capacities that people need to succeed in today’s world cannot be provided by one form of education alone, how can a curriculum respond to demand, anticipate necessary changes and cater for both formal and non-formal learning? What is needed is an approach to education that accepts that learning is a continuum that ranges from formal to non-formal and informal learning and encompasses all people at all stages of life. Lifelong learning must therefore be seen as the overarching guiding and organising principle for educational reform and action for all countries. It is a critical means of addressing global educational issues and challenges. As a result, curricula based on a vision of learning as a lifelong endeavour are holistic, humanistic and inclusive. They provide diversified contents, based on inclusive, emancipatory, humanistic and democratic values. They are all-encompassing and integral to the vision of a knowledge-based society. Lifelong learning curricula cater for the needs and demands of different groups, address the individual’s cognitive, emotional and creative development and cover general, technical and vocational education and training. Culture is the motor and the individual’s well-being is the aim. Such curricula should be supported by the strong pillars of learning: learning to know, learning to do, learning to live together, learning to be and learning to learn. They should be tailored to reflect changing needs and demands, and geared towards a range of target groups.
Furthermore, lifelong learning, education for sustainable development and inclusive education all focus on challenging the very culture and notions of conventional teaching and learning. Hence, there is a need to craft appropriately diverse and flexible forms of provision. New modes of learning are emerging, including community learning, social learning, adult learning, intercultural exchange, active learning, intergenerational learning and self-directed learning. A sector-wide approach enables us to look at learning in new ways and take account of lifelong learning, including informal and non-formal learning, as well as mechanisms for the recognition of prior and experiential learning.
All of this points to a further crucial need: a new and comprehensive training-of-trainers system that caters for the combination of formal, nonformal and informal learning that an all-encompassing vision of lifelong learning entails.
Recognising and validating lifelong learning
If we can be sure of one thing, it is this: without recognition and validation of non-formal and informal modes of learning there will be no lifelong learning.
As lifelong learning values all kinds of learning experiences, learning outcomes should be recognised and validated independently of how, where and by whom they are acquired. Yet, despite the fact that it is undoubtedly a useful and forward-looking concept, current educational policies and practices have so far tended to overlook or avoid it.
An in-built mechanism of recognition, validation and accreditation for all kinds of formal, non-formal and informal education must be part and parcel of lifelong learning. A system of this kind would both eliminate “dead ends” along the road to education, training and learning, and ease the transition between different modes and levels of education and training, by making learning more flexible and facilitating the inclusion of disadvantaged groups. Furthermore, the recognition and validation of non-formal and informal learning could succeed in ensuring that all education policy documents make reference to lifelong learning, thereby laying the foundation for educational provision and participation across the full continuum of learning contexts, building a sector-wide approach to lifelong learning into the system from the top down.
In collaboration with different regions and specialist organisations, the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) and the French National Commission for UNESCO carried out a large international survey covering on country policies, approaches and assessment tools pertaining to the recognition, validation and accreditation of non-formal, informal and experiential learning experiences. UIL expects to publish guidelines for RVA by the end of 2010.
Meanwhile, the OECD has launched the “Recognition of Non-Formal and Informal Learning” (RNFIL) programme, and the European Union has developed a comprehensive recognition and validation system as part of its Lifelong Learning Programme (2007–2013). Although much remains to be done, real and measurable progress is being made towards cementing the crucial link between RVA and lifelong learning.
Translating the vision of lifelong learning into reality: An overview of policies worldwide
As indicated above, lifelong learning is not a new concept. However, it has gained a new and expanded significance in recent years as a means of systematising and organising learning in a more comprehensive and equitable way.
From a historical point of view, the evolution and implementation of lifelong learning can be divided into the following broad categories.
First, there are national approaches to lifelong learning, which comprise:
• countries with a long-established tradition of lifelong learning like Japan, Korea and the Scandinavian countries;
• recent national policy drives in developed countries; and
• recent policies in developing countries.
Second, there is the international approach which can be summarised in terms of:
• the recent role played by international and supranational bodies in the development of lifelong learning, i.e. the pioneering role played by UNESCO, the Council of Europe, OECD, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the ASEM Education and Research Hub for Lifelong Learning.
Countries with established traditions of lifelong learning policies
Japan
Japan has strong laws and policies supporting the promotion of a lifelong learning society and the provision of a wide variety of adult educational activities.
The Japanese lifelong learning system has several notable strengths, such as Kôminkan institutes, whose purpose is to provide the people living in the municipal area with education, learning and cultural opportunities, a wide variety of certification programmes and on-the-job training with local businesses.
In 1990, the Japanese Diet enacted the Law for the Promotion of Lifelong Learning. In 2001, the Lifelong Learning Promotion Bureau was set up by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), aiming to shift the focus of educational policy as a whole to a lifelong learning system. This Bureau coordinates lifelong learning policy and practice at all levels and collaborates with local governments.
In 2006, the term “lifelong learning” was added to Japan’s educational charter, the Fundamental Law of Education. Following this amendment, discussions are now centred on defining the kind of lifelong learning policy that Japan should construct.
Republic of Korea
Korea was officially exposed to “lifelong education” when article 31 of the Constitution was amended in 1980: “The State is responsible for promoting lifelong education”. In 1982, the Social Education Act was adopted as the legal and policy framework for non-formal and adult education.
In May 1995, the presidential commission put forward Proposals of Educational Reform for the Establishment of the New Educational System, which have since been enacted by the national government. The commission’s aim was to develop an infrastructure for an open and lifelong learning society by introducing a credit bank system, which recognises various learning experiences as credits, and awards academic degrees and qualifications accordingly. Its objective is to provide citizens with greater access to different learning systems as well as to recognise different learning activities.
The Lifelong Education Act of 2007 clarified the scope and field of lifelong education at the regional level. At the national level, meanwhile, the centralised National Institute for Lifelong Education was launched under the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology in February 2008. The Act makes it compulsory for local governments to establish their own lifelong education promotion plans, and to form regional committees for the implementation of such plans.
Recent national policies in developed countries
UK
The 1998 Green Paper entitled The Learning Age looked at how learning throughout life can build human capital by encouraging creativity, skill and imagination. It argued that enquiring minds and a love of learning must be fostered in order to guarantee future success.
Other government papers followed: Learning for the 21st Century in 1998; Learning to Succeed in 1999; 21st Century Skills: Realising our Potential in 2003; and Further Education: Raising Skills, Improving Life Chances in 2006. All of these documents have focused on strengthening the UK’s economic position through vocational training, further education and improved employability.
Australia
Lifelong learning as a term started to be used with increasing frequency in Australia from 1995 onwards. Since then, lifelong learning has been placed firmly on the schools agenda through the Adelaide Declaration on the National Goals for Schooling in the Twenty-First Century. This key document was endorsed in 1999 by Education Ministers committed to working together in order to ensure high-quality schooling for all young Australians.
Norway
In pursuing its vision of lifelong learning and seeking to keep pace with rapid social change, Norway has been reforming its education system since the 1990s. As well as a reform of adult and continuing education and training, it implemented its so-called Competence Reform. The general objectives of these reforms are to increase the population’s skill-base, ensure quality and create a better-integrated and more coherent educational system and educational policy.
In addition, the reforms aimed to: encourage people to accept that further learning serves individual development; guarantee a right to primary, lower and upper secondary education; document and recognise non-formal learning by adults; give employees the right to receive learning leave; remove tax disincentives to learning; and restructure public education to meet workplace learning needs. The Competence Reform also commits labour market authorities such as the Aetat to keeping individuals better informed of occupational and learning opportunities.
Estonia
The Law on Education of the Estonian Republic was adopted in 1992, setting forth the general principles of the Estonian system. The subsequent Law on Adult Education (November 1993) laid down the legal conditions for training adults, along with legal guarantees for lifelong learning. In 2004, the Estonian National Plan for Social Inclusion was adopted.
According to Statistics Estonia, the general participation rate in lifelong learning was 6.5% in 2006, which is a long way off the EU’s 2010 goal of 12.5%. In 2006, in an effort to improve participation in lifelong learning, the Government adopted a lifelong learning strategy designed to develop financing schemes, improve access for disabled and ethnic minorities, extend the vocational qualification system and ensure that adult education programmes are in line with EU standards.
Recent national policies in developing countries
China
The Chinese government has issued a series of laws, regulations and policies on lifelong learning in recent years. The 1995 National Education Law stipulated that the State operate a lifelong education system and create conditions enabling its citizens to learn throughout life. Three years later, the Education Invigoration Action Plan for the 21st Century noted that a lifelong learning system would be established throughout the country by 2010.
Other initiatives have been adopted over the years, such as Distance Education 1999, carried out in collaboration with the Central Broadcast and Television University. In 2004, the Ministry of Education published Guidelines for the Further Promotion of Community Education. Wide-ranging activities have been carried out in many provinces to establish learning associations, cities, enterprises, communities and families.
Thailand
Thailand introduced the National Education Act in 1999 to respond to an urgent need to reform the curriculum and improve educational management in the face of its economic, social and educational crisis.
Namibia
Namibia’s foundational document on education, Towards Education for All, includes a commitment to lifelong learning. To date, there have been three national development plans (NDP) presenting the country’s roadmap for social and economical development culminating with the Namibian Vision 2030.
To that end the education and training sector has adopted the Education and Training Sector Improvement Programme (ETSIP), whose key purpose is to substantially enhance the sector’s contribution to the attainment of strategic national development goals and to facilitate the transition to a knowledge-based economy. The ETSIP document stipulates the need for a broad learning programme that supports disadvantaged people in their efforts to break out of the cycle of poverty by improving equity and access to high-quality lifelong learning opportunities.
Latin America and Caribbean
As far as the Latin American and Caribbean countries are concerned, the CONFINTEA VI preparatory conference in Mexico in 2008 showed that the lifelong learning paradigm has yet to permeate educational debate in the region and in some cases is even perceived as an “endogenous implant”. The Regional Synthesis Report for CONFINTEA VI indicated that most national and regional education initiatives and plans refer to lifelong education in relation to the adult population; however, lifelong learning is often cited as a separate line of action or goal rather than as an overarching category.
Despite the general lack of specific legislation on lifelong learning as such, national reports prepared for CONFINTEA VI do indicate that advances have been made in terms of legislation and policy in the majority of the Latin American and Caribbean countries. There is increased recognition of the right to education as well as of linguistic and cultural diversity. Youth and adult education has been included in recent national education reforms and plans, along with specific lines of action and goals.
International approaches
The EU, the OECD, the World Bank, UNESCO and SADC all have different view of what the aims of lifelong learning should be. Whereas the World Bank and the OECD focus primarily on the economic rationale of lifelong learning, UNESCO and SADC have a more visionary and inclusive understanding of the term.
After the 2000 Lisbon Strategy and the Memorandum of Lifelong Learning, the European Union launched a project entitled “Making a European Area of Lifelong Learning a Reality” in 2001 and expanded its definition of the term to include “personal fulfillment, active citizenship, social inclusion and employability and adaptability”. UNESCO, meanwhile, was the first international organisation to develop the concept’s holistic dimension. Lifelong learning is an area that chimes with the organisation’s call for a New Humanism, and has the potential to provide an incisive and long-term response to globalisation and the current economic crisis.
However, all of the organisations mentioned above share the view that learning is meant to be for all, that it should continue throughout life and that there is a need for strong co-operation between the formal, non-formal and informal education sectors. It is clear, therefore, that synergies should be established between these organisations that would allow them to combine their respective strengths and pool their considerable competencies. Together, they have the potential to harness the power of lifelong learning to make a genuine difference worldwide.
What next?
Correcting misunderstandings
There is resistance to lifelong learning, as many view it as “Western” education that is linked purely to the economy, skills and employability. But this is wrong. Lifelong learning is neither a new concept, nor a system for rich and developed countries only. It is not related exclusively to the economy and market demands; it caters also for inclusion, citizenship, leisure and joy. More must be done to foster general acceptance of the holistic and humanistic nature of lifelong learning. Confusions and fears surrounding the term must be pushed away. Yet how do we achieve this?
• First, the concept of lifelong learning should be clarified, underlining the fact that it is not limited to adult learning alone. It concerns children, youth and adults. It covers formal, informal and non-formal learning across the entire education continuum. It should be acknowledged that a “common definition” of the term cannot exist for the simple fact that systems vary not only over time but also between regions, countries and different fields of study.
• Second, it should be emphasised that lifelong learning is key to Education for All. The world has been mobilised to strive for EFA, yet five years before the initiative is scheduled to end, the figures are far from encouraging. It has become clear that EFA has proven limited – and limiting. It is time, therefore, to expand the focus of the EFA initiative to incorporate lifelong learning, and to accept that if we are to guarantee the universal right to education, the initiative needs to address citizens’ learning needs in the broadest sense and not just their most basic needs.
• Third, it is imperative that policy-makers be encouraged to take lifelong learning on board, and that they envision education and learning as a unified system made up of integrated and interlinked components that span an individual’s lifetime.
Towards a new development in lifelong learning: Updating the Delors Report
The Delors Report, Learning: The Treasure Within, recognised that lifelong learning is an essential means of equipping human beings to live meaningful lives and meet whatever challenges they may face along the way. Taking into account the decisive influence of the world markets and the ways in which the world of work had changed, the report reflected a rights-based, humanistic, transformative approach to learning. It underlined the need to foster skills and attitudes that would enable people to overcome their religious and cultural differences and coexist peacefully, while at the same time linking learning to shared human, moral and ethical values.
In our fast-changing world, even a key document with the relevance and prescience of the Report of the Commission on Education for the Twenty-first Century, chaired by Jacques Delors, must be updated to capture recent changes and meet new demands. There have been calls from many scholars and in several meetings, like the Conference on Lifelong Learning and Sustainable Development (Leiden, the Netherlands, April 2008); the First Global Forum on Lifelong Learning (October 2008); and the UNESCO World Conference on Education for Sustainable Development, (March 2009) to revisit the Delors Report in order to respond to new demands for lifelong learning.
In addition to the four pillars of learning laid down by Delors, we should consider adding three new pillars that capture and reflect the constant flux
and forward momentum of the modern world:
• First, “learning to learn”, which is both the foundation of lifelong learning and the means to achieve it. It is a “transferable” skill that supports the remaining pillars and encourages learners to shoulder the responsibility for their further learning. Nurturing it is both an individual and a collective duty.
• Second, “learning to transform”, which enables the learner to cast a critical eye on the status quo, with the aim of changing the current situation to ensure a better life.
• Third, “learning to become”, which encompasses all learning outcomes, thus enabling learners to develop both as individuals and as members of a wider and more inclusive society.
There is one further reason for reviewing the Delors Report: while it centres on why lifelong learning is important, it fails to ask what it is important for. Nor does it examine the universal relevance of lifelong learning to the societies and individual citizens of the world, irrespective of their status and differences. There is a clear need to delve deeper into the truly foundational nature of lifelong learning, in terms of both its outcomes and its potential as a transformative process.
Learning to learn: Unearthing new pillars of learning
One of the four pillars of the Delors Report is “learning to know”, which it defines as a type of learning that “is concerned less with the acquisition of structured knowledge than with the mastery of learning tools. It may be regarded both as a means and as an end of human existence. Looking at it as a means, people have to learn to understand the world around them, at least as much as it necessary for them to lead their lives with some dignity, develop their occupational skills and communicate with other people. Regarded as an end it is underpinned by the pleasure that can be derived from understanding, knowledge and discovery Learning to know implies learning how to learn by developing one’s concentration, memory skills and ability to think.
It is tempting to broaden the pillar “learning to know” by renaming it as “learning to learn”. On closer inspection, however, it becomes clear that we are dealing with two separate, if closely interlinked, pillars. Knowledge today is seen as a product of and a process within the current knowledge economy and underlying learning societies. It is created in various settings and institutions and is simultaneously an integral part of and an outcome of learning. Hence, learning to know must remain a foundational pillar. Meanwhile, the fast-paced nature of the modern world has created an evermore pressing need to adopt and adapt skills that enable both survival and success: hence, in order to learn to know, we must now also learn how to learn.
Learning to learn also completes other pillars, such as learning to live together, learning to be and learning to do. It can thus be viewed both as a transversal pillar and as a stand-alone pillar of the learning edifice. Learning to learn is the ability to pursue and persist in learning, to organise one’s own learning, managing time and information effectively, both individually and in groups. It encompasses all forms of learning – including learning unlearning and re-learning – and aims to shape the future rather than merely adapt to it.
Learning to learn is not only foundational and transversal; it is motivational. To learn, we need to interact with others, and by interacting with others, we are galvanised to pursue further learning. It fosters reflection, autonomy and responsibility, and nurtures individual learning styles while planting the seeds of curiosity and creativity in learners’ minds. As a competence, it is the “master key” that unlocks all other crucial competences.
Learning to learn is included in the European Framework of Key Competences (European Parliament and Council 2006) and was chosen by the Education Council in 2007 as one of the indicators required to measure progress towards achieving the Lisbon objectives in education and training. It is a prerequisite for lifelong learning; thus, it is vital that an accessible, conducive and differentiated (i.e. formal, non-formal or informal) learning environment be provided to citizens – particularly those on the margins (special needs, school drop-outs, adult learners).
In brief, “learning to learn” makes individuals aware of their learning preferences and strengths, and of the ways in which they can motivate and equip themselves to succeed in all walks of life. In view of this, and in addition to the four defined pillars of learning, the meta-pillar “learning to learn” should be viewed a stand-alone pillar.
As outlined above, there is a strong case also for adopting additional pillars that adequately reflect the constant flux and forward momentum of the changing world, namely: “learning to transform” and “learning to become”.
These pillars entail the development of a range of competences:
• the ability to work out how to tackle new tasks;
• the ability to apply competences to new situations;
• the ability to analyse and organise the knowledge acquired;
• the ability to handle, with skill, the relationship between the general and the particular;
• the ability to relate knowledge to action;
• the ability to take risks;
• the ability to direct and re-direct change;
• the ability to adapt rapidly to change; and
• the ability to deal with societal transformations in order to face the challenges ahead.
It is evident that these pillars must be authentic, i.e. they must continue to reflect and support the very foundations of the learning edifice and not be distracted or diluted by elements which, though relevant, are not truly foundational. It is perhaps this concern that led the Delors Commission to exclude the meta-pillar of “learning to learn” from the list of foundational pillars in 1996. Hence, although the rapid change that has characterised our world in the intervening years seem to point clearly to a need for new pillars, we must seek a very broad consensus before adding these to the list; failing to do so might see these pillars swiftly transformed into pillories.
Conclusion
Lifelong learning is the only comprehensive system in existence that has the breadth of vision needed to respond to the needs of all learners, and which addresses all modes and contexts of learning. It is unique in being both people-centred and human rights-based. It focuses on equipping individuals with the competencies they need to face everyday tasks and challenges, and to be not only good and productive workers and employees, but above all critical, creative and responsible citizens – or simply caring and committed individuals who respect their fellow humans and the environment.
The potential of lifelong learning to transform lives is thus immense and far-reaching. It can help alleviate poverty, combat inequality and extremism, foster inclusion and promote world peace. Crucially, in these globalised and often seemingly fragmented times, it encourages people to live together as social beings who understand and respect themselves and others, tolerate diversity and are always open to dialogue and new perspectives.
In view of all this, it is now crucial that lifelong learning be considered the moral duty of every world citizen. It is high time for lifelong learning to be accorded the full recognition that it deserves and made an integral part of all educational policies.
In a world that is becoming increasingly individualist, we must push away our fears and misunderstandings and turn the page to usher in a new era of humanism and lifelong learning. Indeed, as the key to unearthing, strengthening and promoting cross-cultural values and understanding, lifelong learning is the New Humanism.
To invest in education is to invest in humanity, and lifelong learning is the guiding light, the tool box and the life blood of human development and empowerment. So let us work to banish our fears and misconceptions, and move forward together to take action. Download Conceptual Evolution and Policy Developments in Lifelong Learning.