Education as living
Education as part of living is a theme that Basil Yeaxlee
develops in the first book-length
exploration of lifelong education in 1929. He drew on the work of Lindeman and
others, and upon his own extensive experience within adult education in Britain.
Three key features stand out of subsequent accounts of lifelong education:
First, lifelong education is seen as building
upon and affecting all existing educational providers, including both schools and
institutions of higher education... Second, it extends beyond the formal educational
providers to encompass all agencies, groups and individuals involved in any kind of
learning activity... Third, it rests on the belief that individuals are, or can become,
self-directing, and that they will see the value in engaging in lifelong education. (Tight
1996: 36)
The term has come to be applied to a wide
variety of different policy initiatives and structures. Lindeman and Yeaxlee were
concerned with non-vocational forms, others have looked to quite narrow notions of
skilling. The vagueness of the notion and its capacity to be used to serve very different
political ends has opened it up to considerable critique. Is education life, as Lindeman
contends? Is lifelong education simply the distribution of education throughout life, or
preparation for learning and so on? As Tight (1996: 37) points out, the practical
objections to the notion of lifelong education are also telling. How possible is it to
overturn the hegemony of schooling and 'preparation for life'? What are the financial
implications of establishing lifelong educational opportunities and entitlements? How are
resistances to continuing participation in more structured forms of education to be
overcome?
Lifelong education and lifelong learning
Lifelong education was taken up as a central
organizing idea by UNESCO in 1970. Perhaps the best known report arguing for the movement
was prepared by Edgar Faure and his associates (1972). More recently there has been a shift in much of
the literature and policy discussions from lifelong education to lifelong learning. There
has been an associated tendency to substitute the term adult learning for adult education
(Courtney 1979: 19). One of the criticisms made is that in the process little attention
has been paid to distinguishing education and learning. One way to approach this is to
view learning, as a cognitive process internal to the learner, that can occur 'both
incidentally and in planned educational activities', while, 'it is only the planned
activities we call.. education' (Merriam and Brockett 1997: 6).
Field (2000: 35) has argued that there has been a fundamental
shift in the behaviour of 'ordinary citizens', 'who increasingly regard the
day-to-day practice of adult learning as routine, perhaps so routine that they
give it little explicit attention'. Economic, social and cultural changes mean
that many now live in 'knowledge' or 'informational societies' that have
strong individualizing tendencies and a requirement for permanent learning
(reflexivity) (after Ulrich Beck [1992] and Anthony Giddens [1990,
1991]). As a result, Field goes on to suggest, many adults now take part in
organized learning throughout their lifespan; that the post-school system is
populated by adults as well as by young people; and that 'non-formal' learning
permeates daily life and is valued (ibid.: 38-49). Typical of the last of
these has been a substantial increase in activities such as short residential
courses, study tours, fitness centres, sports clubs, heritage centres,
self-help therapy manuals, management gurus, electronic networks and
self-instructional videos (ibid.: 45). In the UK the government has embraced
the notion and used it to describe post-16 education and training - much of
which is vocationally-based. Just whether the English government (or for that matter any
government) has come to grips with lifelong learning is an open question.
There is an increasing emphasis on individual,
rather than collective, learning experience. Where The 1919 Report saw adult
education resting 'upon the twin principles of personal development and social service',
the current concern with the learning society looks
to personal change and economic development (and social control, Coffield [1999] would
argue).
As can be seen from the above,
'lifelong learning' is a problematic notion. So is it worth pursuing? Field
(2000: ix-xii) provides us with three reasons why we should continue to
speak and write about it.
It is important to retain the
aspirations it contains. Learning continually throughout life is vital
if we are to make informed choices about our lives and the societies in
which we live.
Despite the weaknesses and
confusions of current policies something new is happening. There
have been significant shifts in policies and these require interrogation;
and there have been major changes in the ways in which we approach learning.
Lifelong learning is now a
mechanism for exclusion and control. As well as facilitating development
it has created new and powerful inequalities. There are issues around access
to knowledge; and individualization. In knowledge-based economy, those who
have the lowest levels of skill and the weakest capacity for constant
updating are lees and less likely to find paid employment. Individualization
has also meant that access to social support mechanisms has weakened.
There are all sorts of debates
around these questions - but Field's point still stands - the term has entered
discourse in such a way that it would be foolish to ignore it. Furthermore,
the idea that learning has to be supported and encouraged throughout the life
course, as Yeaxlee (1921, 1929) recognized, is of fundamental importance.
Full text and references can be found in lifelong
learning in the encyclopedia of informal education.
First published September 2002. Last
update: January 31, 2005
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