Professor Karen Evans

October 2014

Institute of Education,

University of London

Lifelong learning; concepts, models

and agendas

Lifelong learning - not a 21st

century idea

VADE MECUM

I am growing old but still learning many

things

(Solon c630–c555 BCE)

Lifelong learning: bringing education

into ‘real life’…

'The real priority must be to re-establish the relationship between education and real life, throughout the whole of life. To raise the school leaving age to 75 is the only sensible objective of education policy '

Tony Benn, UK Minister for Trade and Industry, 1967

Lifelong learning as international

social movement..

To all those of every age, every

country, and every creed

committed to making lifelong

learning a reality for all, in

the confidence that ‘this world

one day will be the type of

world we all deserve’

Nelson Mandela

Triadic conception – Aspin et al 2012

5

A triadic conception of lifelong learning:

1) education for a more highly skilled and knowledgeable

workforce.

2) personal development for a more rewarding life;

appreciation of what life has to offer.

3)creation of a stronger and more inclusive society.

The ‘triad’ implies interdependency

Aspin, Chapman, Evans and Bagnall (2012) Second

International Handbook of Lifelong Learning.

GRALE Report –Global Report on Adult

learning and Education

‘Repositioning adult education within

lifelong learning requires a shared

philosophy of the purposes and

benefits of adult learning. Such a

philosophy is expounded in Amartya

Sen’s capability approach, which

considers the expansion of human

capabilities, rather than merely

economic development, as the

overarching objective of

development policy.’

6

Lifelong engagement with the ideas and

practices of democracy, public good

Flowering of human potential

Economic productivity – ‘the more we

learn the more we earn’ – and vice

versa.

7

Dominant discourses of LLL

change over time….

Lifelong Learning- global political

consensus

UNESCO Fauré1972 (humanistic roots in ‘Learning to

Be’, marginal until)

Delors 1996

OECD 1996

G8 1999; EC 2001 memorandum

political discourses centred on:

‘work changing; knowledge-based economy;

dysfunctionality of systems; countering exclusion’

2011 EU ‘new skills for new jobs’

Discourses on lifelong learning in the

‘learning society’

Husen (1970s)

untapped potential the norm, not the exception

utopian version - developed by Delors – ‘fostering a

deeper and more harmonious form of human

development’.

dystopian version - coercive state of permanent

instruction and control.

aim: to foster cultures/structures which support utopian

features; resist or reform dystopian features

Indicators of learning society in 2014?

Adults take place in organised learning activities

throughout their lifespan

post school systems are populated by adults as

well as young people

non formal learning permeates daily life and is

valued

other indicators?? (See NIACE Monitoring Reports

on Participation 1997-2013; Eurostat )

Learning society a present reality..

In the sense that

‘a learning society is not necessarily either a pleasant, an

efficient nor an egalitarian place; on the contrary, it may

well generate even more deeply rooted inequalities…, it

may place its citizens under renewed stress and pressure

and it may involve the creation of forms of instruction

that have little or no impact upon human productivity

and creativity.’

(Field 2002, p 38)

Will it Never End? ‘the effects of globalisation are

so radical that those who resist a life of continuing learning risk finding themselves socially marginalised, if not excluded…... Organisations which employ reluctant learners and fail to get them into further learning will share their fate.’

Consultants’ report to the Talent Foundation

‘winners and losers’ For those who have successful experience of education, and who

see themselves as capable learners, continuing learning is an

enriching experience, which increases their sense of control over their

own lives and their society.

For those who are excluded from this process, however, or choose

not to participate, the generalisation of lifelong learning may only

have the effect of increasing their isolation from the world of the

‘knowledge -rich’. The consequences are economic, in under-used

economic capacity and increased welfare expenditure, and social in

terms of alienation and decaying social infrastructure.

OECD 1997

Influences of international organisations – promotion, analytical work, monitoring policies and development

EU: initiates, organises and coordinates analytic work and has

the budget to finance large EC programmes that promote

Community policy by putting it into action.

OECD: monitors in relation to strategic goals and policy

features with ‘operational significance’: 1) learner-centred

provision; 2) self-directed learning; 3) recognition that

learning takes place in many settings;4) whole life course

taken into account

UNESCO: Builds on Delors’ updating of Fauré; 4 pillars of

lifelong learning; GRALE monitoring exercise to re-gain

values-based leadership position.

European Commission

Memorandum of Lifelong Learning

Initial (2000) definition : ‘all purposeful learning activity

undertaken on an ongoing basis with the aim of

improving knowledge, skills and competence’

Reformulated in 2001 to :

‘ all learning activity undertaken throughout life, with the

aim of improving knowledge skills and competences

within a personal, civic, social and/or employment-

related perspective.’ (EC 2001)

European Commission

Memorandum of Lifelong Learning

Established directions for first decade of 21st Century.

Key messages:

New basic skills for all – primary skills for labour market

Increased investment in human resources

Innovation, including shift towards user-oriented

learning system

Valuing learning, particularly recognising informal and

non-formal learning

Guidance and information

Three model structures (analytically –

defined) in which LLL policies are enacted

strong non-formal sector model

market driven model

dual (enterprise-voc school) model

strong school-based with welfare model

Strong non-formal sector

Early school leaving

generates inequalities in

adult life

Lower aggregate skills levels

and productivity

tradition of

- informal learning

- self-employment

- family support

but

-relatively little formal VET

-lack of formal supporting

structures for adult learning

Strong non-formal sector Market driven

Early school leaving

generates inequalities in

adult life

Lower aggregate skills levels

and productivity

tradition of

- informal learning

- self-employment

- family support

but

-relatively little formal VET

-lack of formal supporting

structures for adult learning

Diversity in schooling –generates inequalities

Moderate aggregate skills levels and productivity, reflecting polarising tendencies

Relative high adult learning participation rates

Adult learning close to market needs

- flexible

- learning situated in “real world” of work but

- insecure pathways

- little social support

- lack of citizenship education

Dual (enterprise-schooling)

model

Strong school-based plus

welfare model

Secure structured pathways

High aggregate skill and

productivity

but

Inflexible pathways

Access thresholds

Lower levels of participation

in LLL

LLL often equates to ‘going

back to square one’

Egalitarian schooling;

Strong labour protection and

regulation policies.

redistributive effects from welfare

systems

high income equality

high skills and productivity

active labour market policies

high levels of participation in adult

education, incl. general edn. but

drop out and barriers in school to

work transition

National agendas Reflect and influence agendas set by

international organisations

In practice, governments pick and choose

what to focus on and more importantly how

to interpret the concepts – eg Nordic

interpretation different ;sees LLL through welfare

lens.

Two analytical perspectives Social organisation of

learning

emphasises adjustments to changed conditions in work and society

dysfunctionality in existing provision

Needs for ‘flexibility’ and recognition of prior and informal learning

work/community discourses ‘learning organisations’ or ‘communities of practice.’

Learning as biographical

process – the learning

individual

emphasises conditions

and opportunities for

people as ‘social actors’

social structuring of the

life course and

accumulation of

risk/inequalities

reflexivity in learning

significance of social

networks and use of

‘social capital’

Example from UK : Inquiry into the

Future of Lifelong Learning ( IFLL)

Exemplifies the debate

about what the national

agenda should be and

brings together expert

opinion on directions for

development in UK to

2020 and beyond.

Adopts both lenses, to

focus on – social

organisation of learning

and the learning individual

What’s right and wrong with the

current system in UK ? Strengths Systemic blocks

Relatively high

participation rates

compared to other EU

member states

Quite high levels of

flexibility on formal

education

Initial education not a

secure foundation for

lifelong learning

Demographic challenge:

balance of opportunity and

support for lifelong

learning through different

life stages is wrong (Source, Inquiry into the Future of Lifelong

Learning, NIACE, 2009)

Systemic blocks to LLL in UK, continued (Source, NIACE

Inquiry, continued)

Educational inequalities accumulate over the life course to an

unacceptable extent.

‘for all the rhetoric’, high skilled economy not yet in prospect’.

System does not recognise the increasingly diverse employment

pathways – extent of horizontal movements.

System complex, opaque and demotivating to many adults.

Governance in England is over-centralised, not stable and does not

trust its professionals enough. (Better governance in Scotland and

Wales.)

Infrastructure of building, technologies and services not well

integrated ; and system does not create and use information well

to improve.

Recommendations;

Base lifelong learning

policy on new model

of educational life

course, with 4 stages:

up to 25, 25-50,50-

75,75 plus.

Rebalance resources

fairly and sensibly

across the different

life stages

Current or recent participation in learning, NIACE

adult learning survey findings, 2009 – year of

IFLL

Age 18-24 25-49 50-74 75+

Men 66% 41% 29% 13%

Women 62% 46% 30% 12%

Whole sample 64% 44% 30% 13%

Learning entitlements

Build a set of learning

entitlements:

Legal entitlement to free access

Financial entitlements to

minimum level of qualification

Entitlements to learning leave as

occupational benefit to be

developed flexibly and over time

as part of mainstream

employment conditions

Construct a curriculum

framework – of learning

opportunities that should

be available in any given

geographical area:

Civic, digital, health,

financial, employability

competences

Minimum local offer,

interpreted locally to meet

diverse needs.

‘Learning cities’ (see Osborne et al)

‘A learning city or town or region recognises and understands the key role of learning in the development of basic prosperity, social stability and personal fulfilment, and mobilises all its human physical and financial resources creatively and sensitively to develop the full human potential of all its citizens’. (EC 2002)

Framework for developing strategies for regional policy attempts to bring together concepts of social capital, individual learning, organizational learning, economic competitiveness and social inclusion’. (Sankey and Osborne 2006)

European Networks to promote the local and regional dimensions of LLL from 2011.

Questions

31

What different versions of LLL do practitioners

subscribe to, in your fields of interest?

How do different discourses of LLL translate into teaching and

learning practices?

What assumptions are made about individual

responsibilities and wider social responsibilities in

versions of lifelong learning with which you are

familiar?

How do cultural differences influence the lifelong learning

discourses and values that are dominant in different societies

and groups?

Key additional sources – all in IOE

library

Aspin, Chapman, Evans and Bagnall, eds. (2012) Second

International Handbook of Lifelong Learning, Dorcrecht;

Springer.

2013 Special Issue of British Journal of Educational Studies,

on Learning and Life Chances in Knowledge Economies and

Societies, Vol. 61, Number 1.

Journal Compare – international journal of comparative and

international education; Special Issues on Lifelong Learning

published in 2006 and in 2009.