Challenges for lifelong learning

Available online at www.sciencedirect.com

Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 47 (2012) 1539 – 1544

CY-ICER 2012

Challenges for lifelong learning Marjan Laal a *, Ashkan Laal b a, b

Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Sina Trauma & Surgery Research Center, Sina hospital, Tehran 11555/3876, Iran

Abstract To develop a new learning culture, it is essential to help people meet challenges they now face in the twenty-first century. This review article attempts to present a clear concept of lifelong learning, while describing major challenges toward establishing it in a society. Lifelong learning is viewed as involving all strategies that are put in place to created opportunities for people to learn throughout life. It is about learning of what , how, when and where one wants to learn. Various challenges are to be found to many spheres of life including: financial, demographic, technological, social, environmental and democratic challenges. © 2012 2012Published Publishedby byElsevier ElsevierLtd. Ltd.Selection and/or peer review under responsibility of Prof. Dr. Hüseyin Uzunboylu © Keywords: lifelong learning, concept, challenges;

1. Introduction Nowadays, there is a draw more than ever to lifelong learning (LLL) to stay young, stay sharp mentality. It is important to note that LLL can take on many different forms and does not have to be what we think of when we think of the traditional learning classroom environment. One thing cannot be disputed though; LLL is something we should all be participating in, having an obligation to ourselves to continue learning throughout the whole of our lives (Eggelmeyer, S., 2010). Globalization and the growth of the fast-changing knowledge economy mean that people require upgrading their skills throughout their adult lives to cope with modern life, both in their work and in their private lives. Nowadays, there is an increasingly important basic skill in ever-changing technological universe: ability to learn and adapt to the needed new skills and training (OECD, 2007). The knowledge-based economy, new technologies, the growing speed of technological changes and globalization all influence the needs to improve the population’s skills and competences. In Europe, this has been acknowledged for several years (Colardyn, D. & Bjornavold, J., 2004). The point is; change is life. Successfully dealing with change means choosing to grow and develop continuously. Failing to grow is failing to live. And while we can't control much of the world changing around us, we can control how we respond. Our world is changing in such a frantic pace that if we do not continue to grow and develop; we will soon be left behind. (Clemmer, J., 2003).

* Corresponding author, Tel.: +98-216-675-7001 E-mail address: [email protected]

1877-0428 © 2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer review under responsibility of Prof. Dr. Hüseyin Uzunboylu doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.06.857

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Marjan Laal and Ashkan Laal / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 47 (2012) 1539 – 1544

Whether it's in schools, at home, on the job or in the community, people are always gaining new knowledge and formal, non-formal and informal learning, as we live in a world where people must have the skills to understand, interpret and process different information (CanLearn, 2009 Oct. 15, Last modified). it is not a learning planet, and sustainable development will be achieved by learning through life. This paper is commissioned with the aim of providing a greater understanding of major challenges toward establishing a learning society. One has to realize these challenges for addressing them to stimulate LLL. 1.2. Material and Method This review article presents a sum of the challenges for LLL. Key issues were identified through review of literature on LLL and through review of literature on challenges facing toward developing learning lifetime. This article begins with an overview of LLL, continues with presenting major groups of the challenges thereof. 1.3. Results As Green says (2002): LLL literally means that learning should take place at all stages of life cycle (from the cradle to the grave) and, in more recent versions that it should be life-wide; that is embedded in all life contexts from the school to the workplace, the home and the community. The learning society therefore, is the vision of a society where there are recognized opportunities for learning for every person wherever they are and however old they should be. By a survey in the literature on the major challenges we meet toward LLL, many barriers have been identified by experts in the field that are described as follows: In 1965, Johnstone and Rivera organized the challenges in two main categories of situational (external) and dispositional (internal) ones, which consisted 10 potential barriers to learning. These barriers were then linked to different gender, age, and socioeconomic categories. Older adults tended to have more dispositional barriers, while younger people and women were more constrained by situational barriers. Persons of lower socioeconomic circumstances face both kinds of obstacles (Johnstone, J. W. C. & Rivera, R. J., 1965). In 1981, Cross added one more barrier category to Johnston and Rivera which was institutional. She identified three main barriers to environment at a given point; Institutional: Those practices and procedures that exclude or discourage adults from participating in organized learning activities; and Dispositional: Those related to the attitudes and self perceptions about one self as a learner. She used the model of chain-of-response to highlight how individuals respond to internal and external variables associated with LLL (Cross, K.P., 1981). In 1982, Darkenwald and Merriam added another category to Cross' list, called Informational barriers means the person is not aware of available educational activities. They labelled barriers such as beliefs, values, attitudes, and perceptions about education or about oneself as a learner as psychosocial (Darkenwald, G. G., & Merriam, S. B., 1982). While the developed countries are advocating the phrase of Expanding lifelong education, moving toward a learning society, we should realize that LLL would be the best medicine guiding people to deal with these challenges. The book titled Learning: The treasure within, published by the UNESCO (1996, p.37) indicates that lifelong education works as a key to let people into the 21st century, that lifelong education has become the core of the future society. The book also points out four basic learning, as four educational pillars, for people to deal with social changes:


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Learning to know Learning to do Learning to live together Learning to be Learning to know has been over-emphasized for the past years, and the other three, learning to do, learning to live together, and learning to be, have been overlooked. In the learning society, all four of them will deserve equal emphasis. Learning is considered as a panacea for coping with the various challenges brought by the changes. As a vision of the future society, the establishment of the learning society is to offer everyone an effective means in learning to know, to do, to live together, and to be (Ministry of education, 2006). 1.4. Discussion The recent focus on LLL is a reflection of the realization that learning must be more active than passive, more structured and long term, all the pieces must interlock (Luker, P., 1996). The United Kingdom government published a Green Paper on LLL in 1998, which states: We stand on the brink of a new age. Familiar certainties and old ways of doing things are disappearing. Jobs are changing and with them the skills needed for the world of tomorrow. In our hearts we know we have no choice but to prepare for this new age, in which the key to success will be the education, knowledge and skills of our people. Learning is the key to prosperity, for each of us as individuals, as well as for the nation as a whole. This is why the Government has put learning at the heart of its ambition. The fostering of an enquiring mind and the love of learning are essential for our future success. To achieve stable and sustainable growth, we will need a well-educated, wellequipped and adaptable workforce. To cope with rapid change we must ensure that people can return to learning throughout their lives. We cannot rely on a small elite: we will need the creativity, enterprise and scholarship of all our people (DfEE 1998). LLL is fraught with economic, personal, social, foundational, technological, access, and motivational barriers that affect all of us in different ways (Sinel, T., 2011). The impact of the barriers will vary depending on the circumstances. But, there appears to be evidence that dispositional and motivational barriers are as much of a hurdle to the establishment of a learning society as structural and institutional barriers (Bates, P. J., 2003, p. 34). Barriers to learning; whether they are categorized as cultural, structural and personal (Maxted, P., 1999; Gorard, S., Selwyn, N. & Madden, L., 2002; Gorard, S. & Selwyn, N., 2005), or situational, institutional and dispositional (Harrison, R., 1993) are now seen as resolvable through the use of technology. We know relatively little about what really motivates people to learn and the processes involved in an individual findings, much of the research reviewed did not actually increase: understanding of the dispositional factors that lead to learner motivation; and how these interact with policy, structural or situational factors. It is clear, however, that learner motivation is a very complex phenomenon that develops and changes over time, and that the motivation of any individual is likely to depend upon the effect of a combination of external influences, such as: income; time available to learn; availability of attractive learning; and internal influences, such as prior experiences of learning and personal confidence (Dsyg, 2003). An analysis of the personal variables associated with the respondents in a study took place by Richardson et al., indicates the overwhelming implication of situational variables, which the findings bore out. Also, the low educational attainment of most participants, as well as their low economic status, could influence self-esteem

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negatively and thereby explain why they indicated a lack of comfort in group settings. Indeed, the low education levels, high unemployment, and lack of economic status may all be contributors to low self esteem and its resulting behavioral influences (Richardson, J.G., Williams, J.A.Y. & Mustian, R.D., 2003). National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE, 2011) enumerates a range of the following challenges that a government, of whatever political complexion, faces as: Financial; to ensure effective recovery from global recession; Demographic; to prepare for half a million fewer young people entering the labour market in the coming decade, a rapidly growing older population and greater international labour market flexibility; Technological; to match the pace of innovation and entrepreneurialism of our trading partners; Environmental; to secure a low carbon economy and greater sustainability; Social; to secure social justice, community cohesion, and to minimize the negative impacts of inequality; Democratic; to encourage active citizenship and strengthen trust in representative democracy locally and nationally. Education is inadequate in most developing countries. Coverage is insufficient, access is inequitable; especially in tertiary (higher) education and in employee and adult training, and the quality of education is poor. Adult literacy rates are low, and too few children complete basic education. The goal of education for all remains elusive in many low-income countries. In the transition economies of Europe and Central Asia, the quality of education is inadequate and the education system is too rigid. Rote learning, exam-driven schooling, and the soaring cost of private education have long been policy concerns in some Asian countries. Evidence from international assessments of students suggests that some developing countries and transition economies lag significantly behind industrial countries in providing their people with the skills needed in the knowledge economy. Policy actions are needed to reduce inequities in the distribution of learning opportunities and discrepancies in the incidence of the costs and benefits of education. Developing countries and transition economies face the dual challenge of addressing the longstanding issues of access, quality, and equity while moving toward a LLL system. Basic education and skills remain the foundation of LLL, and countries with low or declining basic education coverage must set increasing coverage as their top priority. The quality and nature of the learning process must change, however, and outcomes must improve (World Bank, 2003). In the book entitled Learning: The treasure within, Jacques Delors the Chairman of the Commission, notes: In confronting the many challenges that the future holds in store, humankind sees in education an indispensable asset in its attempt to attain the ideals of peace, freedom and social justice. As it concludes its work, the Commission affirms its belief that education has a fundamental role to play in personal and social development. The Commission does not see education as a miracle cure or a magic formula opening the door to a world in which all ideals will be attained, but as one of the principal means available to foster a deeper and more harmonious form of human development and thereby to reduce poverty, exclusion, ignorance, oppression and war (UNESCO, 1996; p.11). 1.5. Conclusion The increasing emphasis on LLL in some countries leads them to reconsider their educational systems and educational culture. Despite reforms, LLL is still not a reality in the 21st century. Among many challenges to be addressed include better bridging among levels and learning settings; considering the need to maintain skills throughout life; considering financial issues to bring the discourse more decisively into policy discussion, and exploring the social dimension of learning. The challenges that our newly arrived Knowledge Age brings to learning and education are great, but the promise of a renaissance of learning in 21st Century Learning Societies is even greater. There is important work to be done in helping turn this vision of a global network of Learning Societies into a Knowledge Age reality.


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