Understanding and Theorizing the Role of Culture in the Conceptualizations of Successful Aging and Lifelong Learning

Successful aging and lifelong learning are value-laden concepts that are culturally determined. To this effect, people with different value systems and cultural backgrounds may perceive and understand these two concepts differently, resulting in different definitions and conceptualizations by people in diverse cultural contexts. There have been studies of successful aging and lifelong learning that considered what role culture plays in these two constructs separately. However, there is a lack of research studying successful aging and lifelong learning alongside each other, using the same culturally relevant approach to examine the impact of culture on how these two constructs are understood and conceptualized. The aim of this paper is, therefore, two-fold. First, it will examine the concepts of successful aging and lifelong learning and consider the role that culture plays in the understanding of these two constructs. Second, it will present a culturally relevant theoretical framework to theorize and explain older people's own value systems and the predominant cultural values that have influenced their understandings and conceptualizations of what successful aging and lifelong learning mean to them in old age. Considering and examining the theoretical framework from the perspectives of elders themselves is necessary if we are to understand the ways in which culture shapes the experiences of aging and learning in later life.     

Lifelong learning policy in two national contexts

This article describes and discusses the development of lifelong learning policy in two EU member states, Denmark and Portugal. The purpose is to show how different societal and historical contexts shape the development and implementation of lifelong learning policies, even though these policies have significant common elements. As a basis for the discussion an inventory of policy elements is presented. Denmark and Portugal have been chosen as examples of smaller EU member states with different historical, social and cultural characteristics. Developments and policies in the two countries, including the links with EU education policy, are described. The discussion includes comparison drawing on the inventory of policy elements. A main conclusion is that the different historical trajectories of the two countries remain very important for present-day education and for the advancement of lifelong learning policy. Early development of public primary education and popular adult education has provided a strong foundation for lifelong learning policy in Denmark while in Portugal not only institutional provision but also popular demand for lifelong learning has had to be built up relatively recently. EU education policy has had much more impact on lifelong learning policy in Portugal than in Denmark, because Portugal has had to depend much more on economic support from the EU social fund.     

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.     

国际组织终身学习战略的进展和困难

自20世纪70年代"终身学习"概念提出以来,国际组织一直是它的主要支持和推动者。20世纪90年代,国际组织重新定义和宣传了"终身学习",有力地推动了其进展。但是,当前国际组织在实施"终身学习"过程中存在一些困难,包括"终身学习"概念的模糊性、不同文化背景及理解中的实施问题,以及行动与意识之间的差距。     

新加坡终身学习发展历程及动向分析

半个世纪以来,新加坡政府一直重视终身学习,其终身学习政策从关注职业教育发展到全民学习型社会。近五年来,新加坡在终身学习方面推行技能创前程计划。该计划通过强调个人终身学习的选择、开发全面高质量的终身学习体系、制定技能创前程技能框架及营造终身学习文化氛围等方面促进新加坡终身学习进入一个包容性、系统性及连贯性的新阶段。     

关于区域终身学习体系中民间文化传承模式的研究——以天津为例

民间文化艺术是民族文化艺术的重要组成部分,是民族文化的发源根基,是民族精神的承载,国民教育是对国民进行文化知识、技能、民族精神、民族文化的教育。终身学习和终身教育也承担着民族民间文化艺术的传承责任,民族民间文化艺术的传承要靠终身学习和终身教育的形式实现,历史是这样,将来也是这样。     

终身教育视野中的开放大学社区发展文化(下)——开放大学社区发展认证与服务文化

一切普惠性、公益性、福利性的终身教育文化制度,其本质就是对人个体和社会尊严文化价值的认同和确认。开放大学组织各办学单位共同签订能相互认可的"终身学习互认书",有助于打造"社区课程超市",实现"学习资历的统一文化认可";全面建设"体系学分银行",实现"学习质量的相互文化认定";发展完善"优势专业菜单",实现"学习水平的相互文化认证",逐步建构并完善其社区发展认证文化;促进其打造自身的"优势型在线课程云",形成一个多触角、兼容式、立体化的社区远程开放终身学习支持服务体系,培育出具有开放大学校本特色的社区发展服务文化。     

终身教育视野中的开放大学社区发展文化(中)——开放大学社区发展体系与公益文化

在培育我国开放大学社区发展文化进程中,积极沟通各种教育文化形态,建设连通式学习立交桥;打通各级教育文化层级,建设直通式学习立交桥;疏通各类教育文化规制,建设贯通式学习立交桥,这是搭建互通式终身学习立交桥的关键。基于此,整合各种社区教育资源,设计出适应居民学习者文化兴趣的"终身学习项目",构建课程选修立交桥;建立起能提供强有力社区学习文化支持的终身学习账户,构建灵活的学分积累立交桥;建设具有文化完善特点的居民终身学习档案,构架办学单位相互认同的学习证书资格立交桥。建立居民终身学习卡制度,是开放大学实现社区终身教育和居民终身学习的公益化、普惠化、福利化文化发展战略的重要基础。     

Towards a cross-cultural understanding of ageing and learning by senior adults in Hong Kong and Australia

Ageing and learning are value-laden concepts that are culturally relevant. Culture plays an important role in influencing what people think, resulting in different views and understandings by people from diverse cultural backgrounds. In the literature, there have been research and discussions relating culture with ageing and culture with learning to shed light on the value systems and predominant cultural values that have influenced the understanding of ageing and learning by people in different cultures. The aim of this paper is fourfold. First, it examines the concepts of ageing and learning and considers the role that culture plays in the understanding of these two constructs. Second, it draws on the predominant East–West cultural debate to shed light on the cultural values and views that have influenced the understanding and conceptualisation of ageing and learning. Third, limitations are identified for the East–West dichotomous view of ageing and learning using the Confucian perspective of learning to illustrate the inadequacies of the Eastern and Western ideas of learning, or lifelong learning, in particular. Finally, this paper draws on findings from a cross-cultural study to compare and contrast senior adults in Hong Kong and Australia, with regard to ageing and learning.     

当代终身学习概念的本质特征及其理论发展的国际动向

近年来终身学习的概念逐渐受到社会各界的关注，那么何谓终身学习?终身教育和终身学习理念所蕴藏的基本内涵又有什么不同?为什么围绕同一个概念会出现两种不同的表述?终身教育的地位又为何有逐渐被终身学习所取代的趋向?关于这一问题目前仍还处在一种较为模糊的认识状态。而对基本概念的理解和认识不清，则将在很大程度上影响了上述理念对实践所产生的指导作用。因此对终身学习与终身教育的关系及其蕴涵于概念之中的本质特征作一番梳理和研究则实属必要。     

挪威的终身学习政策

挪威终身学习政策制定有其特定的社会与政治背景、经济与劳动力市场背景以及人口与文化背景.在这些背景下,政府出台了一些终身学习政策的具体措施,包括颁布有关终身学习的法律与文件、建立终身学习的经费保障机制、健全完善终身学习体制、开展终身学习的创新与科研活动、提供终身学习的技术支撑等.从这些政策举措中可以看到挪威终身学习政策具有其鲜明的特点.     

Social foundations of lifelong learning: a Habermasian perspective

ABSTRACT

The idea of learning rooted in behavioural psychology has become dominant in the field of teaching and learning for several decades. Even though it has been widely used in formal education it is inadequate for informing lifelong learning policies and plans. In this paper, first I critique the psychological foundation of learning and in the second part, drawing on Habermasian conceptualisation of three structural components of the lifeworld (culture, society, and personality), I conceptualise the three components as the social foundations of learning: learning as cultural reproduction, learning as social integration and learning as socialisation. In the context of the UN’s declaration of ‘lifelong learning’ as one of the Sustainable Development Goals, this paper will be useful for developing policies to address challenges faced by individual countries at cultural, societal and individual levels.     

Lifelong learning-attitudes to practice in the rural context: a study using Bourdieu's perspective of habitus

This article compares and contrasts the views of educational policy makers and consumers within Lincolnshire, an English rural county, using Bourdieu's notion of ‘habitus’ as a vehicle for analysis. The article focuses on the relative importance of education as cultural capital in determining the motivational factors affecting participation in lifelong learning. The article considers lifelong learning in the context of ‘continuing education’. If lifelong learning is characterized into three discrete yet connected phases: the first, ‘full-time education’ from the age of 5 until leaving full-time education at age 16, 18 or 21; the second, the ‘transitional phase’ between school and work at age 16–21; the third, ‘continuing education’ beyond the age of 21; it is the policies and attitudes to this third phase described in this paper. Education for adults rather than simply the education of adults. Interviews with small groups of learners and an experienced manager of lifelong learning policies in Lincolnshire are used to illuminate clear differences between the continuing education providers' expectations of lifelong learning and those of the learners. The conclusions reaffirm the importance of community and cultural tradition in education and highlight the importance of family learning within the rural context.     

Theorising decolonisation in the context of lifelong learning and transnational migration: anti-colonial and anti-racist perspectives

ABSTRACT

In the age of transnational migration, the practices and policies of lifelong learning in many immigrant-receiving countries continue to be impacted by the cultural and discursive politics of colonial legacies. Drawing on a wide range of anti-colonial and anti-racist scholarship, we argue for an approach to lifelong learning that aims to decolonise the ideological underpinnings of colonial relations of rule, especially in terms of its racialised privileging of ‘whiteness’ and Eurocentrism. In the context of lifelong learning, decolonisation would achieve four important purposes. First, it would illustrate the nexus between knowledge, power, and colonial narratives by interrogating how knowledge-making is a fundamental aspect of ‘coloniality’. Second, decolonisation would entail challenging the hegemony of western knowledge, education, and credentials and upholding a ‘multiculturalism of knowledge’ that is inclusive and responsive to the cultural needs and values of transnational migrants. Third, decolonisation would lead to the need for planning and designing learning curricula as well as institutionalised pedagogy based on non-western knowledge systems and epistemic diversity. The final emphasis is on the urgency to decolonise our minds as lifelong learners, practitioners and policy-makers in order to challenge the passivity, colonisation, and marginalisation of learners both in classrooms and workplaces.     

职业教育的职业性与教育性:偏差与融合

职业教育中职业性与教育性的相关探讨对职业教育的发展具有基础性的作用。职业性作为职业教育的本质属性,无论在课程设置上还是培养规格中都应体现出职业导向的特点。厘清和明辨教育性的本质特征,认识到教育性是在专业技能学习中发挥渗透作用,对于职业教育的发展至关重要。缺乏对职业教育的教育性的正确认识,导致了在职业教育中把教育性等同于文化课、通识课以及认为职业性会弱化教育性等认识上的偏差。在终身教育和智能化时代,职业性与教育性的融合是推动职业教育的发展助力,两者融合的土壤依托于终身学习体系和资格标准的构建,即建立统一的国家职业资格框架。消除职业性与教育性的偏差,才能实现两者的融合,在终身学习时代实现职业教育专业技能和人文道德素养的共生。     

Memento mori: is there room for death in lifelong learning?

This article presents a groundwork for the benefit of making death more explicit in the knowledge domain and practice of lifelong learning. The existential notion of human mortality is discussed in relation to the prevailing cultural context, theoretical frameworks of human development, and the exercise of lifelong learning. Death is explored as a latent force that can advance learning agendas in adults. Death, as a constant theme in the human condition, can be an existential burden but a significant motivator as well. As a matter of comprehensibility, it is argued that the reality of death, or human finitude, must be incorporated into discourses of lifelong learning towards establishing a deeper sense of meaning to all educative and learning endeavors.     

台湾终身学习社会的营造

台湾终身学习社会的发展,得益于社会各教育机构与组织的贡献,这些机构与组织涵盖各级正规、非正规及社会教育机构,为民众提供了多元化的终身学习资源与服务。＂贯穿正规教育体制的终身学习＂、＂打破学校藩篱的社区学习＂、＂面向海外的远程学习＂反映了台湾终身学习社会的起源与发展过程。空中教育机构及社区大学是台湾终身教育的两大支柱,台湾通过＂非正规终身学习成就认证制度＂、＂社区大学与空中大学合作＂、＂两岸终身学习合作＂、＂融入国际的终身学习社会＂等途径建设起终身学习体系。     

Canadian and US adult learning (1945–1970) and the cultural politics and place of lifelong learning

This essay examines adult learning in Canada and the USA (1945–1970). It explores this emergence in relation to moves to establish academic adult education as a cultural force that could help citizen learners to negotiate a way forward amid the collision of instrumental, social, and cultural change forces altering life, learning, and work in the emerging postindustrial society. In this regard, it focuses centrally on lifelong learning as an idea designed to have broad appeal in rapid-change postindustrial culture. In particular, it attempts to explicate a cultural politics of lifelong learning, which academic adult educators hoped would give the field a higher profile within what they perceived to be an emerging change culture of crisis and challenge. Two key factors are considered in these deliberations. First, this essay explores the relationship between public education (understood as schooling for children) and adult education. It takes up how this problematic relationship interfered with a post-war turn to lifelong learning. Second, it examines the shift in the meaning of the social in understanding adult education as social education in postindustrial society. It argues that the post-war discourse of democracy delimited this meaning, locating the social predominantly within a concern with preserving the dominant culture and society.     

国际组织终身学习理念阐释与政策发展

终身学习理念在国际组织中具有独特的地位,联合国教科文组织、世界经合组织、世界银行和欧盟都不同程度地成为终身学习理念发展的推动力量。随着20世纪70年代终身学习理念出现开始,国际组织对终身学习理念的理解也在不断加深和提升,终身学习的观念在国际组织中不断发生变化。由于国际组织对成员国具有一定的政策影响力,国际组织通过相关政策制定和推行等方式来实现终身学习理念以及政策目标。     

廊坟社区文化现状与影响因素的相关研究

面对终身教育、终身学习成为当今世界主要教育思潮,发展社区文化建设成为我国重要的现实任务。以廊坊市社区文化建设的为例,从社区文化建设认识、受教育程度以及社区文化建设投入等方面,具体分析廊坊市的社区文化特色,以期为社区文化的未来发展提供思路和发展方向。