Life-longlearning.docVIP

Lifelong learning Lifelong learning, also known as LLL, is the lifelong, lifewide, voluntary, and self-motivated[1] 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.[2] The term recognises that learning is not confined to childhood or the classroom, but takes place throughout life and in a range of situations. During the last fifty years, constant scientific and technological innovation and change has had a profound effect on learning needs and styles. Learning can no longer be divided into a place and time to acquire knowledge (school) and a place and time to apply the knowledge acquired (the workplace).[3] Learning economy Lifelong learning may be most usefully thought of as a policy response by largely western governments to a changing world. These underlying changes are a move away from manufacturing to a services economy, the emergence of the knowledge economy and the decline of many traditional institutions which has been requiring individuals to become more active in managing their lives.[4] This has led to the realization that formal learning, typically concentrated in the earlier stages of life, can no longer sustain an individual throughout their life. In a book by Christopher Day, published in 1998, Developing Teachers: The Challenge of Lifelong Learning, there was recognition towards the role of teachers in inculcating lifelong learning in the formal teachings of his/her students while at the same time realising the need for teachers to practice lifelong learning, in order to develop themselves as well. Through this realisation, that throughout a teachers/educators professional being, lifelong learning is a must[1]. In October 2006 the European Commission published a Communication entitled Adult learning: It is never too late to learn.[2] This document suggests lifelong learning to be the core of the amb