Lifelong learning and demographics: a Japanese perspective

This paper explores the social dimension of lifelong learning from the perspective of demographics, with particular focus on the issue of the birth of fewer children, which has become one of the most important current social issues in Japanese society. When considering the relationship between lifelong learning and demographics, the issues arising from an ageing population are usually the focus of policy‐makers. This perspective often overlooks crucial children’s issues, such as child development and the influence of the child’s daily environment. This paper suggests that it is necessary to analyse the issues arising from a society with fewer children independent of the concept of an aged society with fewer children in an attempt to emphasize these essential issues. The presented relationship between lifelong learning and the issues surrounding the birth of fewer children is based on two perspectives. The first perspective seeks to remove barriers such as the economic burden of educating children and the traditional stereotypical gender‐roles that have contributed to the birth of fewer children. The second perspective includes a response to the negative influences that the birth of fewer children has had on family’s experiences of child rearing and on children’s growth. Specifically, this paper develops the second perspective by focusing on three aspects: the development of children’s social skills; children’s growth as influenced by a high adult:child ratio; a decline in the quality of child rearing. Three issues are identified as necessary in order to build a Japanese society that fosters children: (1) embracing the concept of the ‘family‐friendly company’; (2)creating opportunities for mixed age groups to participate in learning programmes based on communities and schools; (3) reconsidering an intergenerational exchange programme.     

The evolution of the European Union’s lifelong learning policies: an institutional learning perspective

The EU’s lifelong learning policy has emerged as an overarching educational reform policy intended to address a wide range of issues, including education, employment and competitiveness. The question has been raised as to whether the resulting policy is merely a catch‐all concept that can be applied to any needs or whether it is underpinned by a comprehensive concept and strategy. This article advances the notion of institutional learning as the selective adoption by organisations of characteristics or policies from other organisations, as opposed to the wholesale homogenisation suggested by institutional isomorphism. Based on our periodisation of international lifelong learning policy, this article argues that a complete historical analysis of the discourse on lifelong learning, coupled with an analysis of the European Commission’s institutional learning from others will give a more appropriate picture of what contributed to the current conceptualisation of lifelong learning.     

多元化终身学习资源的开发与整合研究

实现终身学习资源的共享,需建立起多元化终身学习资源的立体网络,将学校、家庭、社区、网络等教育资源进行全面开发和有效整合,在此基础上,应进一步开发企事业单位、社会团体、学习型组织中蕴含的学习资源,推进终身学习体系建设,从而形成立体化的终身学习资源网络.     

‘Bringing learning closer to home’: the value and impact of the Lisbon strategy for strengthening the role of local learning centres and partnerships in south‐eastern Europe

This paper presents a comparative examination of four local learning centres that provide learning opportunities throughout life in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece and Turkey. The paper aims to assess some of the strengths and weaknesses of different types of local learning centres and partnerships in South‐Eastern Europe—in line with the value and impact of the Lisbon strategy for developing multipurpose local learning centres for ‘brining learning closer to home’—in order to draw some conclusions on how to promote greater collaboration and a culture of co‐operation, in an area where a lifelong learning culture is still underdeveloped, compared with that in other parts of the European Union.     

Can lifelong learning be the post-2015 agenda for the Least Developed Countries?

This paper discusses what approaches to ‘lifelong learning’ should guide the post-2015 education agenda for the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) which refers to a group of 49 countries that are off-track in achieving most of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the Education for All goals. Reports prepared by major consultation groups such as the High Level Panel established by the United Nations and Global Thematic Consultation Group have proposed that ‘providing quality education and lifelong learning’ is an overarching post-2015 education agenda. It is an important breakthrough since ‘lifelong learning’ has been recommended; however, it is not clear what understanding(s) of lifelong learning has been articulated in those documents. How have those recommendations addressed the issues and challenges of the LDCs? In this paper, I review literature on lifelong learning and analyse major documents related to the post-2015 education agenda, especially the one prepared by UN High Level Panel. I conclude that unless the LDCs are given a leadership role for setting their goals—according to their contextual realities—the post-2015 millennium initiatives, such as ‘lifelong learning’ as a new educational agenda, will make no sense.     

Nurturing lifelong learning in communities through the National University of Lesotho: prospects and challenges

This paper analyses one aspect of a pan-African action research project called ITMUA (Implementing the Third Mission of Universities in Africa). This particular paper draws on the data from that project to explore the National University of Lesotho’s contribution to lifelong learning in its communities. It provides background information on the ITMUA initiative and analyses interview and focus group responses to two case studies in terms of their contribution to lifelong learning. It uses, as its analytical framework, a modified version of Mbigi’s African perspective on the four De Lors’ ‘pillars’, by adding a fifth pillar, courtesy of Torres. The paper argues that community engagement is a two-way process between universities and their wider constituencies with opportunities for mutual lifelong learning. But there are also challenges of understanding and process which must be addressed if the full range of these lifelong learning pillars is to be accommodated within African contexts. The paper provides an introduction to the history of community engagement in Africa as a university mission, followed by a brief discussion of lifelong learning within African perspectives. After describing the particular context of Lesotho, the concept of community service and community engagement in contemporary African contexts introduces the action research project and the case studies. The final part of the paper presents and discusses the research findings.     

Growing up in the Federal Republic of Germany: chance and risk in a modern Sozialstaat 1

This paper seeks to extend work previously published that points to the importance of rhetorical analysis to policy studies. It argues against the notion that policy can be dismissed as ‘spin’ and explores further the work of rhetoric within the UK government’s policy texts of lifelong learning. For the authors, rhetorical analysis helps to point to the politics of discourse that is at play in policy‐making processes. This paper points to some of the conceptual resources upon which one can draw in undertaking rhetorical deconstructions of policy texts and discourses, in this case, of lifelong learning, and one’s own role, as analysts and sultans of spin.     

服务全民终身学习:社区教育 的潜力及其激活机制

构建服务全民终身学习的教育体系是中国教育现代化的一项重要任务。社区教育作为服务全民终身学习的重要依托,近年来取得了多方面的新进展。学习型自组织成为社区教育的新兴主体,一方面通过学习型自组织可以将资源转变为社区教育供给;另一方面通过学习型自组织能够开发居民终身学习需求。在学习型自组织发展的推动下,社区层面初步形成了服务全民终身学习的教育体系。为进一步促进社区教育的发展,应将发展学习型自组织作为社区治理绩效考核的重要内容之一;在社区终身学习中采取志愿服务“银行”活动;在条件成熟的社区积极开办社区学院;促进社区教育与学校教育、远程教育等有效衔接。     

Collaborative mentor support in a learning context using a ubiquitous discussion forum to facilitate knowledge sharing for lifelong learning

The Internet has recently been identified as a potential enabler of lifelong learning. Web‐based learning systems enable learners easily to access rich resources and actively participate in learning activities without time and distance limits. The main challenge in lifelong learning is providing the opportunity for discussion and collaborative knowledge construction to engage learners in acquiring and applying knowledge in the context of learning, working and collaboration. Moreover, knowledge sharing is a key component in the formation of communities of lifelong learners. Most online collaborative learning communities use Web text‐based discussion forums for knowledge sharing. However, such discussion forums are separated from the context of learning activities. Furthermore, the facilitation of beneficial dialogue through discussion forums, requires the involvement of mentors as facilitators. This study proposes an e‐book interface that enables learners easily to annotate or enter queries in a text in which questions arise, where a query context is transferred to a discussion forum. The subsequent anchors of questions are linked to a discussion forum for actuating sustained participation. A mentor finder recommends a collaborative peer based on learner knowledge level to answer the questions. Learners can also use mobile phones to access this ubiquitous discussion forum using voice/text anytime and anywhere. The experimental results showed a clear increase in the level of discussions, and most learners indicated that they benefited considerably from collaborative mentor support in an e‐book learning context through the provision of a ubiquitous discussion forum.     

The politics of ‘lifelong learning’ in post‐1997 Hong Kong

This article is concerned with the politics of lifelong learning policy in post‐1997 Hong Kong (HK). The paper is in four parts. Continuing Education, recast as ‘lifelong learning’, is to be the cornerstone of the post‐Handover education reform agenda. The lineaments of a familiar discourse are evident in the Education Commission policy documents. However, to view recent HK education policy just in terms of an apparent convergence with global trends would be to neglect the ways in which the discourse of lifelong learning has been tactically deployed to serve local political agendas. In the second part of this paper, I outline what Scott has called HK’s ‘disarticulated’ political system following its retrocession to China and attempts by an executive‐led administration to demonstrate ‘performance legitimacy’—through major policy reforms—in the absence of (democratic) political legitimacy. Beijing’s designation of HK as a (depoliticized) ‘economic’ city within greater China must also be taken into account. It is against this political background that the strategic deployment of a ‘lifelong learning’ discourse needs to be seen. In the third section of this paper, I examine three recent policy episodes to illustrate how lifelong learning discourse has been adopted and has evolved to meet changing circumstances in HK. Finally, I look at the issue of public consultation. The politics of education policy in HK may be seen to mirror at a micro‐level, the current macro‐level contested interpretations of HK’s future polity.     

Preparing professionals for lifelong learning: Comparative examination of master’s education programs

There has been continued debate regarding educational policies and practices regarding the lifelong learning social order with significant focus upon the preparation of educators of children and youth for this global lifelong learning society. However, there has been limited discussion and research regarding the professional preparation of lifelong learning adult educators. This article investigates the current status of graduate professional programs to prepare lifelong learning adult educators (individuals who are prepared and credentialed through a professional graduate master's degree in adult education and human resource development). Because of differing international policies and structures of graduate education, this discussion will present a comparative examination of current structures and characteristics of master's degree programs at two institutional sites located in Denmark and the USA. Current objectives, characteristics, and understandings of graduate professional preparation programs will be delineated between these two case studies. Contextual issues and influences in the preparation of lifelong learning adult educators will be discussed, with comparative discussions of cultural norms and policies regarding graduate professional preparation, innovative programmatic and instructional efforts, engagement of theory and best practices in lifelong learning, and comparative cultural differences between program students and faculty.     

汉语作为第二语言的学习策略研究

学习策略研究是现代心理学发展的产物。随着现代心理学对人类自身研究的不断深入,第二语言的教学研究也从"教"转向了"学",从以往侧重研究教学方法转移到研究学习者的特征和学习策略,以及这些特征和策略在第二语言教学中可能产生的影响。语言学习策略是当前教育领域和应用语言学领域颇受关注的热点问题,同时也是汉语作为第二语言学习即对外汉语学习成败的关键因素。系统探讨语言学习策略,可以全面提高对外汉语的教学质量。     

Muslim women in higher education: new sites of lifelong learning

How does a traditional research-led university embrace the implications of lifelong learning and widening participation? If it lowers its entry requirements or offers a more flexible approach to adult learning, can it continue to strive for and attain academic excellence? Using a project designed to increase participation by an under-represented group, this paper explores the institutional issues involved in developing lifelong learning strategies in partnership with local colleges and community organizations. Lifelong learning is not cheap to deliver, as non-traditional students may need additional learning support. Off-campus delivery can decimate an orderly campus-based timetable, extra exam boards had to be set up; extra books and learning resources have to be duplicated across different sites. However, the institutional benefits include greater flexibility in university procedures, and a source of enthusiastic mature learners from an under-represented group.     

Building trust and shared knowledge in communities of e-learning practice: collaborative leadership in the JISC eLISA and CAMEL lifelong learning projects

Trust and collective learning are useful features that are enabled by effective collaborative leadership of e‐learning projects across higher and further education (HE/FE) institutions promoting lifelong learning. These features contribute effectively to the development of design for learning in communities of e‐learning practice. For this, reflexivity, good leadership and the capacity to engage in innovation is crucial to team performance. This paper outlines a serendipitously useful combination of innovative models of collaboration emerging from two 2005–06 UK e‐learning pilots: the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) e‐Learning Independent Study Award (eLISA) and JISC infoNet Collaborative Approaches to the Management of e‐Learning (CAMEL) projects. The JISC‐funded eLISA Distributed e‐Learning (DeL) project set up a collaborative partnership among teachers to try out LAMS and Moodle using study skills in e‐learning. Simultaneously, the JISC infoNet CAMEL project developed a model of collaborative approaches to e‐learning leadership and management across four UK HE/FE institutions. This paper proposes two new theoretical collaborative team leadership and operational models for e‐learning projects, including indices of trust, reflexivity and shared procedural knowledge, recommending that these models are further developed in future communities of e‐learning practice in institutions promoting lifelong learning.     

Student motivations,quality and status in adult higher education (AHE) in China

This article examines an important and yet neglected aspect of the relationship between higher education and the labour market in contemporary China. It does this through a detailed case study of student motivations, quality and status in adult higher education (AHE) in the city of Taiyuan, Shanxi Province. This is a region which has seen major economic and social changes as China makes the transition from a centrally planned to a market‐oriented economy. The case study is placed in that context. Using the theoretical perspective of human capital theory, the article examines the role of education in labour markets. It then considers the relevance of lifelong learning to the research and provides an account of the methodological approach used in the study. The findings of the research are then presented according to the key research questions. These are that the utilitarianism which exists in AHE provision and demand in China has had an impact upon the quality of provision and learning in this sector. This will definitely not help to develop a lifelong‐learning‐based society and promote citizens’ all‐round development as suggested by government regulations on lifelong learning.     

Lifelong learning and the knowledge economy: those that know and those that do not—the discourse of the European Union

This article is based on a textual analysis of European Commission documents that, from 1993 to 2006, construct the discourses of lifelong learning and the knowledge economy. Exploring an apparent conceptual laxity, it finds absolute consistency in the construction of two categories of learner: the high knowledge‐skilled learner (graduate/postgraduate) for the knowledge economy, and the low knowledge‐skilled learner located in (or beyond) the knowledge society. The low knowledge‐skilled learners are not only those at risk, they are increasingly constructed as the risk. The analysis suggests that the binary classification is initially classed and raced—and only then is it gendered. In contrast, labour market studies of the knowledge economy, providing either gendered or national data, obscure the vital cross‐cutting matrix of social class, ‘race’ and age. The article advocates further studies of lifelong learning practices and labour market data based on finely‐crossed analyses of social class, poverty, age and race.     

Dewey,Derrida, and ‘the Double Bind’

It is taken for granted that the complexity of the information society requires a reorientation of our being in the world. Not surprisingly, the call for lifelong learning and permanent education becomes louder and more intense every day. And while there are various worthwhile initiatives, like alphabetisation courses, the article argues that the discourse of lifelong learning contains at least two difficulties. Firstly, the shift from a knowledge‐based to an information society has revealed a concept of learning with an emphasis on skills related to information retrieval, dissemination and evaluation. Learning now is the constant striving for extra competences, and the efficient management of the acquired ones. Secondly, the discourse of lifelong learning suggests the autonomy of the learner. However, educational practices are organized in a way that ‘choosing to learn (particular things)’ has become the contemporary human condition. With reference to Marshall's notion of ‘busno‐power’, it is argued that—contrary to what one likes to believe—lifelong learning has become a new kind of power mechanism.     

Preparing Students for Lifelong Learning: A Review of Instructional Features and Teaching Methodologies

Lifelong learning is intentional learning that people engage in throughout their lives for personal and professional fulfillment and to improve the quality of their lives. In today's climate of continual change and innovation, lifelong learning is a critical educational goal. In order to prepare people for lifelong learning, educational opportunities must develop their capacity for self‐direction, metacognitive awareness, and disposition toward lifelong learning. Several instructional features facilitate the development of metacognitive and self‐directed learning skills, and the disposition to lifelong learning: (1) student autonomy, responsibility, and intentionality; (2) intrinsically motivating learning activities; (3) enculturation; (4) discourse and collaboration among learners; and (5) reflection. This article describes and presents examples of how three teaching methodologies—problem‐based learning, intentional learning environments, and cognitive apprenticeship—employ these instructional features.     

Community and Learning: contradictions,dilemmas and prospects

In this article I reflect on learning and community and their joint deployment. ‘Community’ evokes images and feelings of security and comfort (‘us’ and ‘ours’), while ‘learning’ evokes a sense of progress and confidence in overcoming obstacles—a lifelong and somewhat breathless journey these days. We learn every day, but what is worthwhile learning? What types of communities are worth learning towards? Such crucial considerations can remain unexamined because these words are so beguiling—every one can agree that learning communities are worthwhile. Together these terms have provided a powerful contemporary discourse for different educational reform agendas. Recent proponents of ‘learning communi ties’ have drawn upon sociocultural theorising of learning initiated by Vygotsky and others in the early 20th century. I suggest that this recent deployment of sociocultural learning theory is opportunistic and reflects an effort to resolve certain endemic pedagogical dilemmas related to how inclusion/exclusion is negotiated, how diversity/uniformity is reconciled, and how membership of a learning community is managed over time. I suggest that our role as learning and/or community theorists is principally to critically reflect on what types of learning and communities are worth striving towards.     

Education with production in Zimbabwe: an evaluation of teachers’ and pupils’ attitudes and perceptions

The terms community development and lifelong learning have been in use for several decades and refer to different areas within the field of adult education. This paper sets out to explore the relationship between these two concepts. It examines the ways in which community development work contributes to the development of an overall system of lifelong education. Recent writing on the idea of the learning society points towards a more holistic view of education, which acknowledges learning in all its forms and venues and which values the many and varied ways in which people learn. The nature of this rapidly changing society demands that individuals and communities take up this challenge, so that they can play their part in shaping the future. This paper is based on research which was carried out in the early 1990s, under the auspices of the Community Research and Development Centre, by one of the authors (RM) as part of a DPhil study. It was constructed with a view to exploring the need for a more holistic, integrated approach to meeting the educational needs of those involved in adult education, community development and community regeneration in Belfast. The research set out to investigate the relationship between the various forms of learning, through an examination of organizations engaged in providing formal, non‐formal and informal adult learning opportunities in Belfast. The results confirm that traditional providers of adult education no longer hold a monopoly over learning and that there is an emerging sector of community and voluntary organizations engaged in providing learning opportunities for adults in their communities. There is some indication that whilst the relationship between traditional and non‐traditional providers is complex, the opportunities for learning which they offer are complementary. The voluntary and community sector emphasizes issue‐based and action‐oriented learning within a democratic, participative culture. Non‐formal providers often seek to support such groups, by providing more structured learning situations. Their programmes frequently offer an alternative adult education to that of the formal providers, who are more concerned with traditional ‘liberal adult education’. Whilst formal providers may try to be more community‐based, they are severely confined by their bureaucratic, hierarchic structure. Informal providers, however, also offer opportunities for more formal adult learning opportunities, through links with formal providers. The existence of this network suggests the basis for a system of lifelong education, which incorporates the range of adult learning opportunities.