Lifelong Learning: The European Perspective.
Humphrey Akanazu. Ph.D, CIoD, MCIPM
Entrepreneur | Educationist | Lecturer I Researcher I Management Consultant | Coach | Business Development Specialist I Human Capital Development Consultant I FDI Consultant
Lifelong Learning is the continuous accumulation of skills and knowledge throughout the life of an individual. This occurs through experiences encountered in the course of a lifetime which maybe be formal, informal, or non-formal. Lifelong learning, also known as LLL, is the "lifelong, voluntary, and self-motivated" pursuit of knowledge for either personal or professional reasons. As such, it not only enhances social inclusion, active citizenship and personal development, but also competitiveness and employability. In the contexts of lifelong learning experiences professional development prepares individuals for jobs at various levels from specific industry skills or trade to a professional position in various fields. Professional development plays a key role in enhancing employee’s competitiveness and innovation, providing the skills, knowledge and competences needed in the labor market. It is therefore an essential part of the business school’s implementation strategy that emphasizes industry focused practical learning more than theories. Professional Development enables people to acquire the knowledge, skills and competences they need on the labor market, whether for a particular job or for a broader range of occupations.
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According to the European Commission, Lifelong Learning is defined as an “all learning activity undertaken throughout life, with the aim of improving knowledge, skills and competence, within a personal, civic, social and/or employment-related perspective”.[1] In the European context, therefore, it becomes a policy that encourages acquiring and updating all kinds of abilities, interests, knowledge and qualifications from pre-school years to post-retirement. The structure of the policy promotes active citizenship, thereby facilitating each individual citizen’s learning pathways, suitable to their needs and interests at all stages of their lives. It therefore, achieves this through promoting, supporting, and valuing/validation of all forms of learning acquired from various contexts like formal, informal, and non-formal learning.
a.????? Formal learning:
Learning that occurs in an organized and structured environment (e.g. an education or training institution or on the job) and is explicitly designed as learning (in terms of objectives, time or resources).
Formal learning is intentional from the learner’s point of view. It typically leads to validation and certification.
b.????? Non-formal learning:
Learning which is embedded in planned activities not always explicitly designated as learning (in terms of learning objectives, learning time or learning support), but which contain an important learning element. Example is a vocational skill acquired at
the workplace.
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Non-formal learning is intentional from the learner’s point of view.
c.????? Informal learning:
Learning resulting from daily activities related to work, family or leisure. It is not organized or structured in terms of objectives, time or learning support.
Informal learning is mostly unintentional from the learner’s perspective. An example is the inter-generational learning, where parents learn to use ICT through their children, or learning how to play an instrument together with friends.
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Lifelong learning is also about providing second chances to update basic skills and to offer learning opportunities at more advanced levels. The lifelong learning policy covers a series of coherent and comprehensive areas that help in developing both the economic and educational sector in Europe. These include the Strategic Framework for Education and Training, Mobility and Lifelong Learning Instrument, School Education, Higher Education, Vocational Education and Training, Adult Learning, Innovation and Creativity, Research and Analysis. The policy also has established different programs as instrument to facilitating the realization of its aims and objectives. Such programs include Erasmus for Higher Education, Leonardo da Vinci for Vocational Training, Comenius for School Education, Grundtvig for Adult Education, Transversal Programs, Jean Monnet for European Integration.