Learning for Life

A change of paradigm in education

Until the 1960s and 1970s, education was a common synonym for schooling. It existed to compensate for a lack of knowledge, if needed, and mostly completed with the end of school or university. However, globalisation – and the increased dynamics of innovation and demographic ageing – started to jeopardize this input-oriented definition of education. The technology and ideas behind education were evolving rapidly. New attitudes about the concept of learning were taking shape, supported by studies such as the one performed by Martin Baethge in 2002, which depicted learning “at or during work” as the most efficient method. Qualifications from formal education such as diplomas, baccalaureates and certificates (input) became less important in comparison to what a person could cope with in real practical life (output). Hence, social skills, the ability for networking and intercultural competences were needed in addition to one’s university diploma.

And so, old slogans such as “We learn for life, not for school!” and “We learn everywhere and at every time!” must come under new consideration. These ideas aren’t born. They had to grow.

“When planning for a year, plant corn. When planning for a decade, plant a tree. When planning for life, train and educate people.” (Ancient Chinese proverb)

A European Council meeting in March 2000 in the Capital of Portugal kicked off what has come to be known as the Lisbon process. Here, a general framework on the future of education in Europe was agreed upon. The common goal was to make the European Union “the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world” by the end of 2010, identifying lifelong learning as a basic component for the European social model. Planners hoped to integrate the Lisbon Process into the ongoing structure of the Bologna Process, a set of reforms to make higher education more competitive. At the top of the agenda: trans-European compatibility of university diplomas, increased mobility, and tools to recognize non-formal activities as a realisation of a holistic approach to education.

One year later the European Commission reacted, and provided us with a European definition of what was already laid down in the Bologna and the Lisbon Declaration:

“The notion of lifelong learning covers all learning activities, at any time in life and in a wide range of environments (education establishments, workplace, etc.), undertaken with a view to improving knowledge and skills which may be personal, civic, social or employment-related.”

These principles, established in Brussels, now coincided with a development emerging in another part of Europe. In many Scandinavian countries – Denmark at the front – vocational educational training (VET) had already found its place in society. VET, another name for adult education, emphasized training next to the job. This would be done through postgraduate programmes, long distance learning, e-learning, home schooling or correspondence courses.

From here, the Danish EU presidency assembled thirty-one Ministers of education in Copenhagen to pass a declaration which identified (once again) lifelong learning as the key element for reaching the aims of the Lisbon Process. At that time the attractiveness and quality of VET was considered to be lagging behind other fields. However, before any tool to integrate VET into the European job market could be developed, a general consensus on the meaning of LLL and its position in modern civil society had to be reached. The ultimate objective was to implement a true European labour market – an essential complement to the single market for goods and services, and the single currency. This relied on a skilled, adaptable and mobile workforce able to use its qualifications and competences as a kind of “common currency” throughout Europe.

Priorities for action – what is in for the youth?

Having agreed on the fact that the process of learning summarizes much more than institutionalised learning itself, mechanisms on how to put this in practice had to be developed. Europe was still far from integrating VET into the everyday job life, or developing ways of recognizing non-formal education. Hence, the European Commission established Working Groups to synchronise the aims of the Lisbon (lifelong learning) and the Copenhagen (vocational training) Agendas and to find ways to put them into practice. So apart from declarations, statements and policy papers, what was the result of all this?

Examples of LLL

1. The Europass is a set of documents designed to visualise activities whose outcomes are hard to measure. It can be filled in online and attached to the CV for job/internship applications in case the standard Europass CV is not used as a template itself. It was developed by the European Commission and provides a common framework of assessing non-formal education activities, language skills or the outcomes of studies abroad. It works by means of depicting language skills by translating them into the EU standards (A1 level [basic knowledge] – C2 level [fluency]) providing space for commenting on non-formal learning activities.

2. The YOUTH Pass is a qualified certificate to recognise non-formal education activities organised through the European Youth Forum (YFJ – Youth Forum Jeunesse). It is designed as a tool to value the participation in projects supported by the YOUTH/ Youth in Action Programme of the European Commission, and is currently under development.

3. The ECVET (European Credit Transfer System for VET) can be found amongst the most concrete outcomes of the Copenhagen Process. It aims to develop a common credit transfer system in the field of adult education. For example, an “introductory course on conflict management” in France could serve as the pre-condition for a “conflict management course – level 2” in Romania (rather than a repetition of similar courses in differing nations).

4. The EQF (European Qualifications Framework) is a European system of “translating” the learning achievements in one country into those of another. A person’s learning outcome is divided into eight different levels where Level 1 describes “basic knowledge in a special field” and Level 8 “knowledge at the most advanced frontier of a field of work or study and at the interface between fields”. Whether a person got there by doing a master and an additional certificate or two bachelors doesn’t matter. The EQF proposal will now be examined by the European Council and the European Parliament. It is to be adopted before the end of 2007.

LLL – A lifelong revision of its own idea

So after this load of abbreviations, how does lifelong learning change the European perception of education? What is the real difference between a person “learning for life” or “learning for school”?

The simple answer: there is no difference. At least there does not seem to be a practical one. We will probably continue to read books and to learn – be it obligatory (for uni) or voluntary (self-education or leisure). Lifelong learning is not aimed at changing the “educational system”, but instead at changing our perception of education.

The idea of lifelong learning is a form of education that does not end at graduation. It established a system that caters more to each individual, regardless of the way one chooses to go about his or her education–whether it is university, vocational training, study abroad. There are many ways to learn and to advance one’s own education; these new systems attempt to acknowledge this, and to find ways to adapt it into the evaluation of education. But the most important factor is the individual. It is increasingly up to the individual to decide his or her own learning requirements; this involves constant self-assessment and re-positioning in one’s environment. However, it also allows for the recognition of non-formal education, even informal education like reading a book for leisure. Moreover, it embraces the understanding that you don’t need a classroom to learn.

Photograph: © Sven Weigand, 2006