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The Benefits of Lifelong Learning

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Published: Jan 30, 2024

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Table of contents

Benefits of lifelong learning, professional advantages of lifelong learning, cognitive and health benefits of lifelong learning, overcoming barriers to lifelong learning, promoting lifelong learning in society.

• National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE)
• World Economic Forum survey
• Journal of Vocational Behavior study
• Neurology research study

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Search Utah State University:

The benefits of being a lifelong learner.

By Emma Parkhurst, Extension Assistant Professor

Many of us spent the entirety of our youth and adolescence learning. Whether it was learning how to multiply or how to ride a bike, it seems like we were constantly engaging our brains. Mental health can be impacted by many different things, and research shows that being intentional about learning throughout the lifespan has a positive impact. Therefore, it is important for us as adults to continue pursuing opportunities to learn in order to benefit our overall mental health and well-being.

What is a lifelong learner?

According to the dictionary, a lifelong learner is someone who pursues both formal and informal opportunities to continually develop and improve one’s knowledge and skills for both employment and personal fulfillment. The act of learning can look different to everyone – to some it may be returning to school, taking stand-alone workshops, using an app to learn a new language or simply learning how to make the newest trendy meal, what really matters is that it is something you find useful, interesting, meaningful or enjoyable. When we dedicate time to voluntarily engage in learning opportunities, research shows our mental health can flourish.

Mental health benefits

• Self-esteem and confidence: adult learning has been shown to increase self-esteem, confidence, and self-efficacy throughout the lifespan, but may be most effective when the concepts or skills are meeting a need for the learner. It also increases confidence in our ability to learn and to share the information with others, and gives us a sense of purpose.
• Cognition and memory: as we age, it is common to experience a mental decline which may affect our memory. Research shows that continuing to learn throughout the lifespan may reduce our risk of dementia as we age and keep the mind sharp.
• Social connection : research shows that most people are likely to find connections with like-minded people that share similar interests. Engaging in lifelong learning can present opportunities to develop new relationships with other learners, or to nurture existing connections by sharing or exchanging knowledge.
• Positivity and accomplishment : some experts suggest that setting and achieving goals and learning new skills can lead to positive feelings of accomplishment. People engaged in learning report feeling better about themselves and a greater ability to cope with stress, as well has feeling a greater sense of hope and purpose.

Becoming a lifelong learner

If you are ready to start your journey as a lifelong learner, there are different ways to get started. One of the easiest and least expensive ways is to access self-learning resources is on the internet. There are videos available on websites like TED.com, podcasts on about any topic you can think of, and of course, there is social media with micro-learning opportunities, such as “quick tip” or “did you know” videos or posts. As you navigate through any self-learning resource, try to be aware of who is providing the educational content to make sure it is legitimate and accurate.

Another great resource when looking for opportunities to learn something new is USU Extension. We provide both informal and formal learning opportunities through in-person and online classes, events, and activities. There are workshops and webinars on financial wellness, gardening, beekeeping, nutrition, food preservation, and more – you name it! Visit your local County Extension Office website or Facebook page to see what classes are currently being offered.

References:

Marjan, L. (2012). Benefits of lifelong learning. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences. 46 (2012) 4268 – 4272.  Sabates, R. & Hammond, C. (2008). The Impact of Lifelong Learning on Happiness and Well-being. Retrieved from https://www.academia.edu/32125048/The_Impact_of_Lifelong_Learning_on_Happiness_and_Well_being  Living Well AU: Keep on learning. Retrieved from https://livingwell.org.au/well-being/five-ways-to-mental-wellbeing/keep-on-learning/#:~:text=It%20can%20boost%20self%2Dconfidence,self%20confidence%2C%20hope%20and%20purpose.  University of Cincinnati: New Year, New You: 4 reasons to become a lifelong learner for the New Year. Retrieved from https://www.uc.edu/news/articles/2022/01/4-reasons-to-become-a-lifelong-learner-for-the-new-year.html#:~:text=It's%20good%20for%20your%20brain%20and%20your%20mental%20health.&text=Research%20shows%20mental%20activity%20could,hope%20and%20feelings%20of%20competency

Lifelong Learning

Ivan Andreev

Demand Generation & Capture Strategist

ivan.andreev@valamis.com

February 17, 2022 · updated April 3, 2024

8 minute read

What is lifelong learning?

Importance of lifelong learning, examples of lifelong learning, benefits of lifelong learning, organizational lifelong learning, how to adopt lifelong learning in your life.

Lifelong learning does not necessarily have to restrict itself to informal learning, however. It is best described as being voluntary with the purpose of achieving personal fulfillment. The means to achieve this could result in informal or formal education.

Whether pursuing personal interests and passions or chasing professional ambitions, lifelong learning can help us to achieve personal fulfillment and satisfaction.

It recognizes that humans have a natural drive to explore, learn and grow and encourages us to improve our own quality of life and sense of self-worth by paying attention to the ideas and goals that inspire us.

We’re all lifelong learners

But what does personal fulfillment mean?

The reality is that most of us have goals or interests outside of our formal schooling and jobs. This is part of what it means to be human: we have a natural curiosity and we are natural learners. We develop and grow thanks to our ability to learn.

Lifelong learning recognizes that not all of our learning comes from a classroom.

• For example, in childhood, we learn to talk or ride a bike.
• As an adult, we learn how to use a smartphone or learn how to cook a new dish.

These are examples of the everyday lifelong learning we engage in on a daily basis, either through socialization, trial and error, or self-initiated study.

Personal fulfillment and development refer to natural interests, curiosity, and motivations that lead us to learn new things. We learn for ourselves, not for someone else.

Key checklist for lifelong learning:

• Self-motivated or self-initiated
• Doesn’t always require a cost
• Often informal
• Self-taught or instruction that is sought
• Motivation is out of personal interest or personal development

The definitive guide to microlearning

The what, why, and how-to guide to inject microlearning into your company.

Here are some of the types of lifelong learning initiatives that you can engage in:

• Developing a new skill (eg. sewing, cooking, programming, public speaking, etc)
• Self-taught study (eg. learning a new language, researching a topic of interest, subscribing to a podcast, etc)
• Learning a new sport or activity (eg. Joining martial arts, learning to ski, learning to exercise, etc)
• Learning to use a new technology (smart devices, new software applications, etc)
• Acquiring new knowledge (taking a self-interest course via online education or classroom-based course)

Incorporating lifelong learning in your life can offer many long-term benefits, including:

1. Renewed self-motivation

Sometimes we get stuck in a rut doing things simply because we have to do them, like going to work or cleaning the house.

Figuring out what inspires you puts you back in the driver’s seat and is a reminder that you can really do things in life that you want to do.

2. Recognition of personal interests and goals

Re-igniting what makes you tick as a person reduces boredom, makes life more interesting, and can even open future opportunities.

You never know where your interests will lead you if you focus on them.

3. Improvement in other personal and professional skills

While we’re busy learning a new skill or acquiring new knowledge, we’re also building other valuable skills that can help us in our personal and professional lives.

This is because we utilize other skills in order to learn something new. For example, learning to sew requires problem-solving. Learning to draw involves developing creativity.

Skill development can include interpersonal skills, creativity, problem-solving, critical thinking, leadership, reflection, adaptability and much more.

4. Improved self-confidence

Becoming more knowledgeable or skilled in something can increase our self-confidence in both our personal and professional lives.

• In our personal lives, this confidence can stem from the satisfaction of devoting time and effort to learning and improving, giving us a sense of accomplishment.
• In our professional lives, this self-confidence can be the feeling of trust we have in our knowledge and the ability to apply what we’ve learned.

Sometimes lifelong learning is used to describe a type of behavior that employers are seeking within the organization. Employers are recognizing that formal education credentials are not the only way to recognize and develop talent and that lifelong learning may be the desired trait.

Thanks to the fast pace of today’s knowledge economy, organizations are seeing lifelong learning as a core component in employee development . The idea is that employees should engage in constant personal learning in order to be adaptable and flexible for the organization to stay competitive and relevant.

This type of personal learning is often referred to as continuous learning. You can read more about continuous learning and what it means for both the employee and employer here.

According to some researchers, however, there is criticism that organizations are leveraging the concept of lifelong learning in order to place the responsibility of learning on employees instead of offering the resources, support and training needed to foster this kind of workforce.

Do I need to be proactive about lifelong learning?

Most people will learn something new at some point in their daily routine just by talking with other people, browsing the internet based on personal interest, reading the newspaper, or engaging in personal interest.

However, if making more effort to learn something new is important for either personal, family, or career reasons, or there is a need for a more organized structure, then here are some steps to get started.

1. Recognize your own personal interests and goals

Lifelong learning is about you, not other people and what they want.

Reflect on what you’re passionate about and what you envision for your own future.

If progressing your career is your personal interest, then there are ways to participate in self-directed learning to accomplish this goal.

If learning history is your passion, there are likewise ways to explore this interest further.

2. Make a list of what you would like to learn or be able to do

Once you’ve identified what motivates you, explore what it is about that particular interest or goal that you want to achieve.

Returning to our example of someone having a passion for history, perhaps it is desired to simply expand knowledge on the history of Europe. Or perhaps the interest is so strong that going for a Ph.D. is a dream goal.

Both of these are different levels of interest that entail different ways of learning.

3. Identify how you would like to get involved and the resources available

Achieving our personal goals begins with figuring out how to get started.

Researching and reading about the interest and goal can help to formulate how to go about learning it.

With our history example: the person who wants to simply learn more about a particular historical time period could discover books in the library catalog, blogs, magazines and podcasts dedicated to the subject, or even museums and talks.

The individual who wanted to achieve A Ph.D. in history as a personal goal could research university programs that could be done part-time or online, as well as the steps one would need to take to reach the doctorate level.

4. Structure the learning goal into your life

Fitting a new learning goal into your busy life takes consideration and effort.

If you don’t make time and space for it, it won’t happen.

It can easily lead to discouragement or quitting the learning initiative altogether.

Plan out how the requirements of the new learning initiative can fit into your life or what you need to do to make it fit.

For example, if learning a new language is the learning goal, can you make time for one hour a day? Or does 15 minutes a day sound more realistic?

Understanding the time and space you can devote to the learning goal can help you to stick with the goal in the long-run.

5. Make a commitment

Committing to your decision to engage in a new learning initiative is the final and most important step.

If you’ve set realistic expectations and have the self-motivation to see it through, commit to it and avoid making excuses.

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What Motivates Lifelong Learners

• John Hagel III

Many leaders think it’s the fear of losing your job. They’re wrong.

Looking to stay ahead of the competition, companies today are creating lifelong learning programs for their employees, but they are often less effective than they could be. That’s because they don’t inspire the right kind of learning: The creation of new knowledge (and not just the transfer of existing knowledge about existing skills). The author’s research shows that those who are motivated to this kind of learning are spurred not by fear of losing their jobs, which is often the motivation given, but by what he calls the “passion of the explorer.” The article describes this mindset and how companies can create it among their employees.

It seems that everyone in business today is talking about the need for all workers to engage in lifelong learning as a response to the rapid pace of technological and strategic change all around us. But I’ve found that most executives and talent management professionals who are charged with getting their people to learn aren’t thinking about what drives real learning — the creation of new knowledge, not just the handoff of existing knowledge. As a result, many companies are missing opportunities to motivate their employees to engage in the kind of learning that will actually help them innovate and keep pace with their customers’ changing needs.

• John Hagel III   recently retired from Deloitte, where he founded and led the Center for the Edge , a research center based in Silicon Valley. A long-time resident of Silicon Valley, he is also a compulsive writer, having published eight books, including his most recent one,  The Journey Beyond Fear . He will be establishing a new Center to offer programs based on the book.

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The Power of Lifelong Learning: What is it and Why is it Important?

Bryant & Stratton College Blog Staff

When did you last enjoy the satisfaction of learning something new? If this isn't a daily or weekly phenomenon, you're missing out—and you might be compromising your career. Thankfully, it is possible to integrate learning into your day-to-day life, as we see below.

What Is Lifelong Learning?

Lifelong learning involves ongoing academic pursuits that continue long after young adulthood. Under this approach, learning is entirely voluntary. This obviously differs from high school, where learning—or at least attendance—is required. But it also stands separate from the stereotypical view of college in which students focus exclusively on school in their late teens and early 20s before leaving it behind for good.

Under a lifelong model, learning cannot and should not conclude after graduating with a bachelor's or master's degree, nor should it occur exclusively with the intention of landing a specific type of job. Lifelong learning means that academic discovery is the goal in and of itself.

Why Is Lifelong Learning Important?

Take a close look at the average lifespan and the 'typical' academic trajectory, and you'll see a sharp divide. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports a life expectancy of 78.7 years for U.S. residents, but the majority of students still attend college in their late teens and early 20s. If they follow the 'expected' path, they could spend five or even six decades of their life without any concerted effort at obtaining further education. During that time, the skills and knowledge gained previously may be forgotten or outdated.

The need for lifelong learning may seem obvious from a professional standpoint, but it also holds personal implications. Ongoing mental stimulation is important for cognitive and emotional health. This is true at all ages but is especially evident among seniors. Research suggests that, as we age, a commitment to learning can limit the potential for memory loss and may even help to prevent concerns such as dementia.

What Are the Benefits of Lifelong Learning?

A wide array of benefits can accompany lifelong learning. This pursuit is beneficial for not only your professional development, but your personal development and emotional wellbeing. Top advantages include:

1. Finding New Areas of Passion

Lifelong learners are inquisitive, curious, and open to new ideas. As you take classes or explore new materials, you may be exposed to concepts that you might otherwise have never considered. Take this curiosity and uncover a new area of interest that ignites the passion for life you crave.

2. New Skill Development

A diverse skill set is imperative, especially as you attempt to transition to a new career path or secure a promotion. As a lifelong learner, you can gain a variety of useful abilities, such as mastery of new technology or clinical skills. You can also continue to develop soft skills such as verbal communication or problem-solving. These stand out on a resume and also make you more effective in everything from day-to-day work tasks to your favorite hobbies.

3. Keeping Up with the Latest Trends and Research

Research breakthroughs have shifted our understanding of virtually every field, thereby impacting how we operate across numerous sectors. This is exciting as it promotes a much-needed spirit of innovation as well as greater productivity.

Unfortunately, the fast pace of research means that it's easy to fall behind. If you're committed to continuous learning, however, you will be exposed to information about the latest developments. No matter how long you've been in the workforce, you can feel confident in knowing that you're up to date. This, combined with years of experience, will make you a compelling employee as you continue to climb the career ladder.

4. Improving Cognitive Health

As mentioned previously, a growing body of research suggests that lifelong learning can be helpful for mitigating a variety of concerns in your personal life that often arrive with age. A report from the journal Neurology reveals that intellectual activity across the lifespan can lead to major delays in symptoms for conditions such as Alzheimer's.

Upon reviewing this study and recommending it for publication, Dr. David Knopman explained, "If two people had the same amount of Alzheimer’s pathology, and one...engaged in more cognitively stimulating activities, and one...didn’t participate in as many mentally stimulating activities, then the symptoms [of Alzheimer’s] would appear earlier in the person with less cognitively stimulating activity."

5. Enjoying the Personal Satisfaction of Learning Something New

There's no feeling quite like true mental stimulation. Novel stimuli, in particular, light up the brain's reward centers, leading to the swift release of the feel-good neurotransmitter dopamine. After years in the workforce, however, many of us forget the sheer joy of academic discovery. When we commit to lifelong learning, we enjoy more of the special moments when it all clicks—and we are flooded with a sense of understanding and appreciation.

Examples of Lifelong Learning

While lifelong learning has always been attainable, it's even more accessible in today's digital world. Finding the time and motivation can be tough, but the materials and resources themselves are wonderfully abundant. The following are just a few of the many opportunities that allow you to pursue your lifelong learning goals:

1. Academic Journals

These days, the pace of advancement is staggering in nearly every field. Typically, the most important developments are outlined in academic journals, which offer a close look at the latest studies as well as a glimpse at the future. Restriction to some academic journals may be limited, but many are available within college libraries or with open access aggregators such as COnnectng REpositories (CORE) .

Blogs cover the gamut from entertaining to educational. They are published by individuals who are eager to share their thoughts. Many are also produced by businesses, nonprofit organizations, and colleges. Not only are the blog posts themselves packed with information, but they often include links to online resources or lists of books and journals worth referencing.

3. Podcasts

When life gets busy, it can feel tempting to leave learning for later. Thankfully, many easy-to-access opportunities allow you to learn on the go. Podcasts, for example, provide intriguing information in a digestible format. They span every topic imaginable, with many produced by academic and professional leaders who are eager to share their expertise with the public. Many are short enough to enjoy during your daily commute or while running errands, but in-depth episodes and series are also in strong supply.

4. Documentaries

Known as an educational tool, documentaries provide a uniquely engaging means of diving into material that might otherwise not feel particularly compelling or relatable. These should be viewed with caution, however, as many include a clear angle, and some are far more reliable than others. When in doubt, look for documentaries recommended by college instructors, librarians, or other respected individuals who know which resources are the most reliable. You'll find many excellent documentaries at your local library, but you can also stream them on services such as Netflix, Hulu, and even YouTube.

5. Online Courses

Books, journals, and podcasts can be helpful, but they may not always provide the sense of direction that aspiring learners need. These resources may be more effective if integrated into a comprehensive system, such as an online course. The simple act of enrolling in higher education provides a burst of motivation, while a detailed curriculum offers structure and accountability. Most important, however, are the connections formed with instructors and fellow students who bring context to cement newfound knowledge as well as support when the going gets tough.

Start Your Journey Today

Are you committed to lifelong learning? Look to Bryant & Stratton for support as you embark on this exciting journey. Contact us today to learn more about our accredited online programs.

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Greater Good Science Center • Magazine • In Action • In Education

Workplace Articles & More

How to be a lifelong learner, the instructor of the world’s most popular mooc explores how to change your life through the power of learning—and why you have more potential than you think..

People around the world are hungry to learn. Instructor Barbara Oakley discovered this when her online course “ Learning How to Learn ”—filmed in her basement in front of a green screen—attracted more than 1.5 million students.

Part of the goal of her course—and her new book, Mindshift: Break Through Obstacles to Learning and Discover Your Hidden Potential —is to debunk some of the myths that get in the way of learning, like the belief that we’re bad at math or too old to change careers. These are just artificial obstacles, she argues. 

“People can often do more, change more, and learn more—often far more—than they’ve ever dreamed possible. Our potential is hidden in plain sight all around us,” Oakley writes.

She should know: Throughout her early schooling, she flunked math and science classes and resisted family pressure to pursue a science degree. Today? She’s a professor of engineering at Oakland University, after many different jobs in between.

Her book aims to help readers discover their hidden potential, by offering them both the tools and the inspiration to transform themselves through learning. 

The benefits of lifelong learning

Besides being fun, Oakley explains, continued learning can serve us well in the workforce. Many professionals today are engaging in a practice called “second-skilling”: gaining a second area of expertise, whether it’s related to their work (like a marketer learning programming) or completely different (a fundraiser training to be a yoga instructor).

When we lose our job, or work just starts to feel unsatisfying, having other skills can give us more choice and flexibility. We can quit our job and find a new one, of course, but we can also choose to move horizontally within the same organization, taking on different responsibilities.

Mindshift tells the story of one Dutch university employee who enriched her career thanks to her passion for online video gaming. Though she didn’t necessarily think of that as a “second skill,” it ended up benefitting her (and her employer) greatly: She became community manager of the university’s online courses, devising strategies to keep digital interactions civil just as she had done in the gaming world. This goes to show, Oakley writes, that we can never tell where our expertise will lead us or where it will come in handy.

Keeping our brains active and engaged in new areas also has cognitive benefits down the line. According to one study , people who knit, sew, quilt, do plumbing or carpentry, play games, use computers, or read have greater cognitive abilities as they age. Other research found that the more education you have , or the more cognitively stimulating activity you engage in , the lower your risk of Alzheimer’s.

Learning could even extend your life. People who read books for more than 3.5 hours a week are 23 percent less likely to die over a 12-year period—a good reason to keep cracking books after college!

Learn how to learn

Whether you’re inspired to learn woodworking or web development, Mindshift offers many tips that can make your learning more efficient and enjoyable.

Focus (and don’t focus). In order to absorb information, our brains need periods of intense focus followed by periods of mind-wandering , or “diffuse attention,” Oakley explains. So, learners will actually retain more if they incorporate time for rest and relaxation to allow this processing to happen. Perhaps that’s why aficionados love the Pomodoro technique , which recommends 25-minute bursts of work followed by five-minute breaks. 

We should also experiment with different levels of background noise to achieve optimal focus, Oakley advises. Quiet promotes deeper focus, while minor distractions or background noise—like what you’d find at a cafe—may encourage more diffuse attention and creative insight . (While your favorite music could help you get in the zone, music that’s loud, lyrical , or displeasing might be a distraction.)

Practice efficiently. Neuroscience research is now exploring what learning looks like in the brain—and it’s bad news for those of us who loved to cram in college. Apparently the brain can only build so many neurons each night , so regular, repeated practice is crucial.

Oakley recommends learning in “chunks”—bite-sized bits of information or skills, such as a passage in a song, one karate move, or the code for a particular technical command. Practicing these regularly allows them to become second nature, freeing up space in our conscious mind and working memory so we can continue building new knowledge. (If this doesn’t happen, you may have to select a smaller chunk.)

It also helps to practice in a variety of ways, at a variety of times. To understand information more deeply, Oakley recommends actively engaging with it by teaching ourselves aloud or creating mindmaps —web-like drawings connecting different concepts and ideas. We can also try practicing in our downtime (in line at Starbucks or in the car commuting, for example), and quickly reviewing the day’s lessons before going to sleep.

Exercise. One of the most surprising—and easiest—ways to supercharge our learning is to exercise. Physical activity can actually help us grow new brain cells and neurotransmitters ; it’s also been shown to improve our long-term memory and reverse age-related declines in brain function. In fact, walking for just 11 minutes a day is enough to reap some benefits.

While clearly informed by neuroscience, Mindshift focuses more on telling stories than explaining research—which makes it a fast read. After hearing so many tales of curiosity and transformation, you yourself may be inspired to pick up that random hobby you’ve fantasized about, or take one of many college-level courses now available online for free (like our very own Science of Happiness course ). Me? The one I signed up for starts next week.

About the Author

Kira M. Newman

Kira M. Newman is the managing editor of Greater Good . Her work has been published in outlets including the Washington Post , Mindful magazine, Social Media Monthly , and Tech.co, and she is the co-editor of The Gratitude Project . Follow her on Twitter!

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Why is Learning Important? A Deep Dive Into the Benefits of Being a Lifelong Learner

Free Guide: 5 L&D Trends to Watch Out for in 2021

Learning and development is changing and to stay ahead of the curve you need to know the ways in which it’s doing so.

Learning is important (at least to us here at Learnerbly 😉). 

But why is learning important? 

Education - both formal and informal - is essential to the development of considerate, compassionate, and cooperative societies, the success of organizations, and the personal pursuit of happiness. 

In this article, we unpack what continuous learning and education can mean to the life of each individual, to the organization's they are part of, and to their broader societies.

Looking at this issue from a different angle, we then reflect on some of the potential consequences of not practicing continuous learning—or at least of not prioritizing education in our day-to-day lives.

What Does Learning Even Mean? 

Learning is essential to humanity. It’s so embedded in our lives that we rarely consider what it means . 

Learning is the process of gaining new skills, knowledge, understanding, and values. This is something people can do by themselves, although it’s generally made easier with education: the process of helping someone or a group of others to learn.

With educational support, learning can happen more efficiently. Education is also how we collect and share all the skills and knowledge we learn individually. Benefitting from education instead of having to build new skills and knowledge by ourselves from scratch is part of what it means to live in a society instead of in isolation.

Learning and education impart more than just knowledge and skills. They also transmit the values, attitudes, and behaviors we have decided to share. 

For example, education has helped us to create and maintain the shared belief that when someone does something particularly harmful, they deserve a fair legal trial no matter their crime.

In simple terms, learning and education help hold together human life and civilization as we know it. They are what we use to make our societies better for ourselves, those around us, and those who come after us.

This is why the right to free elementary education is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights , which states that “education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms” and that “it shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups”.

What Does Learning Mean for Us Today?

Learning is not unique to humans. Scientists have observed many different animals teaching their young skills like how to find food and keep themselves safe.

Among humans, educational practices can be traced back practically as far as human life goes. Evidence of teaching and learning has been found from remnants of human life dating back thousands of years BCE—and that’s just where we’ve found written evidence. Oral and practical education (for example, early humans physically teaching their children to hunt and forage for food) likely go back even further.

Learning has continued all over the world throughout the history of human life, in more ways than we have time to write about here. However, the Fourth Industrial Revolution will have a massive impact on how we as a global society approach education going forward. 

The Fourth Industrial Revolution refers to the rapid rise of new technologies including big data, artificial intelligence, automation, and the Internet of Things. Life in this new technological landscape demands that we change our approach to education in a number of ways. 

One major shift we’ll all have to make is the move from viewing education as something finite (something we do at school and university so we can go into the working world and then never have to study again) to something that keeps going throughout our lives as we gain new skill after new skill.

To face a future of constant technological change, we’ll need to adapt to continuous learning as a new norm. In his book Future Shock, US writer and businessperson Alvin Toffler wrote that “the illiterate of the 21st Century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn and relearn.”

The future of education lies in integrating continuous learning into our everyday personal and professional lives even more than we already do. 

This might be why the Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra has proposed that compulsory, publicly funded education covers not just elementary school—as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights puts forward—but continuous learning, too. 

Sitra cites US American biologist E.O. Wilson, who said “We are drowning in information, but yearn for wisdom. Therefore, the world will be led by those… who are able to compile the correct information at precisely the right moment while thinking critically and making important decisions wisely.”

How Learning Supports Our Wellbeing

We’ve talked about why education is important to society as a whole, but continuous learning also benefits the personal life of anyone who engages with it. Here's how.

Research suggests that people who practice continuous or lifelong learning are happier on average. This may be because lifelong learning helps people to keep developing their passions and interests, which bring us happiness. 

Learning about topics that interest us makes most of us feel happy, at least in the moment, as does spending time honing hobbies we are passionate about (which is also an act of lifelong learning!). It stands to reason that building time for these things into your personal life would contribute to your overall happiness.

Continuous learning also helps us to keep pursuing our personal and professional development goals, and all the achievements along the way are a great source of happiness for many of us. 

It also helps us keep boredom at bay, which is another way of increasing our happiness.

Several scientific studies have shown that lifelong learning activities can help people maintain better brain function as they age. 

One study found that people with Alzheimer’s who practice more learning throughout their lives start to display dementia symptoms later than those who have spent less time learning. In other words, lifelong learning might be able to slow the onset of Alzheimer’s. 

Another study found that spending time learning to play a new musical instrument can help delay cognitive decline. A third study found that spending time learning new skills, namely digital photography and quilting, helped elderly people to improve their memories.

How Learning Supports Our Work

Continuous learning—especially in the form of workplace learning—also offers a host of professional benefits for both employees and their organizations. These include:

One key way that continuous learning helps both employees and their companies is by helping people upskill, which means improving their existing skill sets and broadening them with new skills.

Upskilling is good for employees because it equips them with the knowledge and skills they need to pursue their personal and professional development goals, for example by upskilling towards a promotion.

Building a more highly skilled workforce through continuous learning is also beneficial to companies. More skilled employees can do their jobs better and faster, and research shows that companies with a strong learning culture are 52% more productive.

Employees learning new skills to pursue promotions also benefits companies because internal promotion is generally a more time-efficient and cost-effective solution than hiring externally. 

Lastly, companies who support their employees' continuous learning boast demonstrably higher staff engagement, which in turn boosts productivity and profitability . This is also beneficial to individual employees, because being engaged at work generally means enjoying your job and finding it meaningful.

Adaptability

As we mentioned earlier, the Fourth Industrial Revolution is pushing employees to pursue continuous learning throughout their lives as they will have to constantly adapt to new knowledge and technological changes, which keep appearing faster and faster.

Engaging in continuous learning means becoming accustomed to incorporating new knowledge all the time, and this is essential in order to keep adapting. 

It's important to make learning continuous because this gives people the skills they need to adapt, empowering them to stay competitive in the job market, pursue promotions in their current jobs, and keep pace with knowledge and technological changes in their everyday lives. 

Investing in an adaptable workforce by supporting continuous learning is also key to any company that wants to remain competitive and relevant in its industry.

Learning also drives innovation, which describes the new ideas and technological and cultural developments that people come up with to solve problems and improve their societies. 

Research shows that companies that have a strong learning culture are 92% more likely to innovate by developing new products and processes, and 56% more likely to be first to market with these new developments. 

Innovation is important for society as a whole because the benefits of these new developments can be shared to help improve all of our lives. The fast-tracking of the Covid-19 vaccines are a great example of an organizational innovation that has been developed to combat a global pandemic.

Learning can also help people build the critical thinking skills they need to view problems in new, innovative ways.

What Happens If We Don’t Prioritize Learning?

Another way to reflect on why learning is so important is to think about all the potential negative consequences of not prioritizing learning enough. 

The flipside of everything we’ve said in this article is that a society that didn’t prioritize learning would have a lack of shared knowledge and skills for people to benefit from. It would also have a lack of shared ideas and values, which could stoke conflict and war as people and their leaders might struggle more to find common goals on which they can agree.

Not prioritizing learning about other people and cultures would also diminish our ability to understand people who are different from us, and this too would contribute to increased conflict and violence.

People who don’t prioritize continuous learning enough in their own lives are likely to be less happy or fulfilled, as they spend less time exploring their interests and working on personal development.

Elderly people who spend less time on learning are likely to experience faster cognitive degeneration than those who learn regularly.

Companies that don’t prioritize their people’s learning are less productive, less profitable, and have lower staff engagement rates than those that do. They’re also less likely to remain competitive in their industries or produce novel products or services. 

People who don’t get enough learning support at work are more likely to be disengaged and see their skills stagnate compared to those who work with companies that invest in their people’s learning. 

They will also struggle more with pursuing career development , as they have little support for the upskilling they need to do to grow in their work.

Lastly, if we don’t prioritize learning enough as we face an uncertain—but certainly technologically advancing—future, we will likely have a more difficult time adjusting to the changes ahead of us and making the most of future opportunities.

Continuous learning is important because it helps people to feel happier and more fulfilled in their lives and careers, and to maintain stronger cognitive functioning when they get older. 

Making learning continuous helps companies boost their productivity, profitability, adaptability to change, and potential to innovate in their industries. 

Learning is important to society as a whole because it helps different groups of people to share knowledge, agree on mutual values, and understand one another better. 

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The benefits of lifelong learning

Get to know ingrid johnson, a dnp graduate from 2017 and one of more than 17,000 edson college alumni worldwide.

Edson College alumna Ingrid Johnson shares how her degree program propelled her forward in her career and equipped her with the tools necessary to tackle any challenge.

When Ingrid Johnson was an undergraduate, she wasn’t really sure if she was on the right path. At the time, she was pursuing a Bachelor of Science in nursing.

“I was ambivalent as a BSN student and early on questioned my decision to be a nurse as I wasn't sure I really fit in the box of what a nurse was supposed to be,” Johnson said.

She decided to stay the course, relying on her intuition that as a nurse she’d have a variety of options outside the box. Now, not only is she a nurse, but she’s an advanced practice nurse, having graduated from Arizona State University’s Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation in 2017 with an advanced nursing practice (innovation leadership) DNP .

“I was able to create my own path and feel that my calling was to support nursing practice and expand the role of the nurse so everyone, everywhere has access to quality nursing care, either at the bedside, specialty care, primary care or advanced practice level. Now I have a job that didn't even exist when I first became a nurse. More education is never bad. I am so pleased I didn't stop learning,” she said.

Johnson is the president and CEO of the Colorado Center for Nursing Excellence . During her time in the DNP Innovation Leadership program, she continued to work full time at the center, though in a different role.

Her DNP project was focused on growing programs for advanced practice registered nurses in rural areas. Johnson’s passion for that work carried over to her day job after graduation.

“I continued to work on that and brought in several million dollars of funding to support building APRNs advanced practice registered nurses in rural and underserved communities across Colorado," she said. "The United Health Foundation read my initial article on the project in Nursing Administration Quarterly and we have now expanded the project from an FNP family nurse practitioner focus to add PMHNPs psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner .”

Even as she was promoted, Johnson remained committed to the program, and in 2021, she was inducted into the American Academy of Nursing on the power of that work.

Below Johnson describes how her time at Edson College propelled her forward in her career and equipped her with the tools necessary to tackle any challenge. 

Question: How did your degree program help you in achieving and maintaining the position you have now? 

Answer: The real reason I sought a doctorate was that I knew education teaches us to think differently and ask different questions. One of the hardest realities for me was identifying that the more I learn, the more aware I am of how much more there is to learn. This degree reminds me of that as I continue to learn new things from my staff and the world around me on a daily basis. It has been humbling and very gratifying. 

As a leader, my job is to help every member of my team be at their best. I believe that achieving this degree has opened my heart to look outside my own ideas and better listen and learn from those around me so we can innovate to support, and in the time of COVID, rebuild our health care and nursing workforce. I didn't have the tools to really do that prior to this degree, but now I often have the right tools, and if I don't have the right tools, I have the resources to figure out what tools I need and how to get them

Q: What is a favorite memory from your time in your program? 

A: Kathy Malloch and Tim Porter-O'Grady taught our first DNP course and we were to focus on innovating. After our first assignment, they pulled no punches and told us to think bigger, more creatively, and get out of our own way. I realized that in my whole career as a nurse and life as a student, we were told to follow the evidence and only do what we were told to do. Nurses follow evidence-based practice, so there was never the space to think outside the box. Now, we were in an innovation leadership program and we were not only permitted to think outside the box, but we were also expected to do so and seek the evidence to support it. 

It was scary, because over the years, I had been slapped down for not fitting the mold or for thinking of alternative ideas. When they told us that our job was to stop being a linear thinker and to find evidence around other less obvious solutions, it was incredibly freeing. I think we are born creative, and in an effort to learn evidence-based care and practice, we lose that, and often we are not permitted to find that side of ourselves again. 

This program helped me seek and find that side of myself that had been lost for so long. Now I can balance the desire to seek alternative solutions and see if there is any evidence to support those solutions, so I know we can be both evidence-based and non-linear in our problem-solving.

Q: What advice would you give to students who are currently enrolled in the program? 

A: Enjoy the process and embrace the reality that for the rest of your life, you will have more questions than answers ... and that is OK. Stay curious. Remember that when you get feedback that doesn't feel warranted, listen for what is true in the feedback. It can be your greatest gift. Even if only 2% of the negative feedback is correct, it may be exactly what you need. If you knew everything and did everything perfectly the first time out, you wouldn't need to be there.

Q: What were some unique challenges, if any, you had to overcome while pursuing this degree? 

A: I kept a full-time job throughout my education, and fitting in a job, parenting and school were very challenging. One day, my youngest approached me and said, "Mom, we never see your eyes anymore. You are always studying or working." It knocked me off my feet and I realized I needed to figure out some different habits so I wouldn't miss my kids’ lives. 

Also, my master's degree is in public policy, not nursing. So I had to revisit some foundational nursing courses, like nursing theory. It was initially a little frustrating, but then I realized that nursing theory is much more interesting to me now than it was in my BSN program. Again, I needed to open my heart and embrace the art and science of nursing. I didn't even know I had lost that side of my practice until I started this program.

To learn more about Edson College alumni activities, events and programming visit the alumni section of the college's website.

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Conception of Lifelong Learning in Society Essay

Introduction, lifelong learning concept: key terms, lifelong learning from socio-cultural and technological points of view, neo-liberalism and advanced liberalism concepts: legal and ethical frameworks, education market place: teacher as a professional, reference list.

Lifelong learning may be advocated as a response to economic and technological change in relation to education workplace and the notions of advanced liberalism and a teacher as an accountable professional in an education ‘market place’, it is necessary to define a number of key terms in the essay which have relation to lifelong learning.

This essay will also encompass a social-cultural aspect by means of expanding and identifying the differences between neo-liberalism and advanced liberalism. Lifelong learning has been also advocated through the economical and technological changes that also happen in relation to advanced liberalism and the existed Australian schooling system.

The ways in which diversity, equity and inclusivity are promoted and distinguished will be also evaluated in order to explain the process of facilitation consultative, collaborative, and critical relationships across diverse learning environments, communities and cultures. The discourse and development that is determined by the devolution and understanding of advanced liberalisms in relation to lifelong learning and the teacher as an accountable professional in an educational market place will be discussed as well.

Lifelong education presupposes an idea of constant knowledge exchange due to which people store information and help their generations to make use of the already made achievements properly. This process may be one of the most successful examples of devolution that is defined by Whitty (1998) as a successful passing down through a number of stages.

The first introduction to lifelong learning can be seen through the works of John Dewey who promoted a curriculum focused on lifelong learning. In such learning children are to be prepared for success through personal, intellectual, and social development (Westbrook, 1991). This concept was introduced by the UNESCO in the early 1970s as a means of equalizing earning and responding with the social demands greater opportunities (“Extending learning opportunities: adult education and lifelong learning,” 2001, p. 31).

Crick and Wilson (2005) state continuous learning takes place during one’s lifespan including formal and informal education and self-directed learning. Such knowledge is essential within the liberal doctrine, in which a new relation can be witnessed between the government and knowledge, in which learning is only a part of such knowledge flowing around a diversity of apparatuses (Miller & Rose, 2008, p. 204).

In the context of Australia, such knowledge should aim at maintaining the countries economy competitive in the global economy, where the latter should be achieved through linking the country’s future progress with being the “clever country” (Reich, 2008, p. 204).

The researches of World Bank (2003) admit that many changes in labor market and frequent demands of skilled workers influence the process of lifelong learning and people’s necessity of self-improvement. They admit that “organizational and technological changes may have caused the shift in demand to dominate the shift in supply, leading to a rise in returns to schooling and increased earnings inequality in advanced economies and some middle-income countries” (World Bank, 2003, p. 12).

This is why it is easy to advocate lifelong learning from a perspective that is closely connected to technological changes and new demands. The idea of education marketisation is another powerful example of how changes influence lifelong learning processes. This process implies an idea of adaptation education to the present and to the demands of markets.

From this perspective, education is considered to be a strong instrument that aims at stimulating specific markets. The necessity to connect concepts of lifelong learning and workplace has socio-cultural roots. In the workplace, lifelong learning may be explained as “engagement in study programmes that may continues after compulsory education and post university though continuing professional education” (Sutherland & Crowther, 2007, p. 218).

In their turn, Usher and Edwards (2007) admit that lifelong learning just has to be evaluated as a significant socio-cultural process but not just as a simple policy. Vesa Korhonen (2010) helps to define the role of socialization and learning process: person’s life experience grows up considerably in regard to the changes which happen around. This is why the attention to socio-cultural aspects of our everyday life is considered to be great and significant and makes lifelong learning possible and available for all representatives of humanity.

The concept of lifelong learning can be seen as one of the steps in the transition from learning as a psychological or cognitive in the minds of the learner, toward social and situated account that emphasize the role of culture and social participation (Bathmaker, 2004).

Such process is mainly based on the constructivist theory of learning in which knowledge transforms individuals within a social and cultural context (Delandshere, 2002). With traditional learning being transitioned toward transforming within social and cultural context, the lifelong learning theory more embraced on the view that individuals are placed within an economic environment (Axford & Seddon, 2006, p. 167).

In Australia, these views were advocated across all section of education by pro free-market Liberal-National Party and Liberal-Coalition government’s policies. The most powerful rationality for neo-liberalists is the economic rationality, and neoliberal views remain influential national governments “particularly with the Australian government” (Allport, 2000).

Neoliberal activities can be defined as “free market policies aimed at encouraging private enterprise and consumer choice, and entrepreneurial initiative, undermining the “dead hand” of “incompetent, bureaucratic and parasitic government” (Apple, 2001, p. 17). The strategy of advanced liberalism is defined as a “the broader realm of various assemblages of rationalities, technologies and agencies that constitute the characteristic ways of governing in contemporary liberal democracies” (Reich, 2008, p. 202).

The difference between these strategies was outlined through a distinction by Nikolas Rose who considered advanced liberalism as governmentality, while neo-liberalism as a political ideology (Larner, 2000, p. 14). Due to identification of strategies, educators are able to work within both legal and ethical frameworks in order to protect the ideas of equity and inclusivity.

The influence of advanced liberalism in the field of education can be seen through the introduction of the aspect of accounting and audit that educators interpret as benchmarking, assessments, and tests (King & Kendall, 2004, p.208). Governmentality is a term introduced by Michel Foucault, a French philosopher, in a 1978 lecture at the Collège de France that is explained as “a concern with the art of government … of how to be ruled, how strictly, by whom, to what end, by what methods, etc” (Nicoll, 2008, p. 36).

This notion is considered to be an integral part of lifelong education: the activities of educators aim at explaining the ethical side of this life. Some legal aspects explain how diversity and equity spread, and the strategy of advanced liberalism underlines the necessity to evaluate and to divide people in accordance with their principles and peculiarities.

To remain professional teachers should be concerned with their ongoing professional development, where skills and competencies generated through such self-directed learning should act as an added capital and value for their professionalism (Nicoll, 2008).

In the market economy, teaching should become “a grown-up profession” that includes professional disagreements and conflicts are parts of professional learning. The teacher as an accountable professional in education market place plays an important role in the evaluation of advanced learning and neo-liberalism under some technological changes. Such teachers have to underline an idea of accountability and managerialism. Professional accountability aims at protecting human responsibilities without strict measures.

And managerialism helps to unite the ideas of trust and capital which are important for the social system and for the representatives of neo-liberalism in particular. A school is the place where some morals and living principles are explained and help everyone live a right life and understand an idea of respect to each other. This is why teachers as true professionals in education market place should prove their professionalism by means of improved ethical approaches to lifelong learning.

Lifelong learning has been already successfully advocated as a clear response to numerous economic and technological changes. These changes are closely connected to the education workplace and remain to influential in regard to educators’ activities.

The strategies of neo-liberalism and advanced liberalism help to analyze the relations between different learning environments: it is in human nature to be different and to correspond to different cultures, and the evaluation of socio-cultural aspect introduces a new side of lifelong learning that has to be promoted in order to enable educators work in different spheres.

Allport, C. (2000). Thinking Globally, Acting Locally: lifelong learning and the implications for university staff. [Article]. Journal of Higher Education Policy & Management, 22 (1), 37-46. doi: 10.1080/13600800050030365.

Apple, M. W. (2001). Educating the “right” way : markets, standards, God, and inequality . New York: Routledge Falmer.

Axford, B., & Seddon, T. (2006). Lifelong learning in a market economy: Education, training and the citizen-consumer. [Article]. Australian Journal of Education, 50 (2), 167-184.

Bathmaker, A. M. (2004). Supporting Lifelong Learning, Volume 1: Perspectives on Learning/Supporting Lifelong Learning, Volume 2: Organizing Learning/Supporting Lifelong Learning, Volume 3: Making Policy Work (Book). [Book Review]. Studies in the Education of Adults, 36 (1), 139-143.

Crick, R. D., & Wilson, K. (2005). BEING A LEARNER: A VIRTUE FOR THE 21ST CENTURY. [Article]. British Journal of Educational Studies, 53 (3), 359-374. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8527.2005.00300.x.

Delandshere, G. (2002). Assessment as inquiry. Teachers College Record, 104 (7), 1461-1484.

Extending learning opportunities: adult education and lifelong learning. (2001). [Article]. Education Links, 63 , 30-37.

Hyslop-Margison, E. J., & Sears, A. M. (2006). Neo-liberalism, globalization and human capital learning : reclaiming education for democratic citizenship . Dordrecht: Springer.

King, R., & Kendall, G. (2004). The Liberal State The state, democracy and globalization (pp. 186-215). Hamshire: Palgrave Macmillan.

Korhonen, V. (2010). Cross-Cultural Lifelong Learning . Tampere: University of Tampere.

Larner, W. (2000). Neo-liberalism: Policy, Ideology, Governmentality. Studies in Political Economy 63 , 5-25. Web.

Miller, P., & Rose, N. S. (2008). Governing Advanced Liberal Democracies Governing the Present: Administering Economic, Social and Personal Life (pp. 199-218). Cambridge: Polity Press.

Nicoll, K. (2008). Foucault and lifelong learning : governing the subject . London New York, NY: Routledge.

Reich, A. (2008). Intersecting work and learning: assembling advanced liberal regimes of governing workers in Australia. [Article]. Studies in Continuing Education, 30 (3), 199-213. doi: 10.1080/01580370802439912.

Sutherland, P. & Crowther, J. (2007). Lifelong Learning: Concepts and Contexts. Oxon: Routledge.

Usher, R. & Edwards, R. (2007). Lifelong Learning: Signs, Discourses, Practices. Netherlands: Springer.

Westbrook, R. B. (1991). John Dewey and American democracy . Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press.

Whitty, P. (1998). Devolution and Choice in Education. London: Prince Hall Publishers.

World Bank. (2003). Lifelong Learning in the Global Knowledge Economy: Challenges for Developing Countries. Washington: World Bank Publications.

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6 The Learning Way: Learning from Experience as the Path to Lifelong Learning and Development

Angela Passarelli, Department of Management & Marketing, College of Charleston

David Kolb, Experience Based Learning Systems

• Published: 02 September 2020
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Lifelong learning requires the ability to learn from life experiences. This chapter describes the theory of experiential learning, whereby knowledge is generated from experience through a cycle of learning driven by the resolution of dual dialectics of action/reflection and experience/abstraction. The chapter provides an overview of stylistic preferences that arise from patterns of choosing among these modes of learning, as well as the spaces in which learning occurs. Movement through these modes and spaces links one experience to the next, creating a learning spiral that guides growth and development through a lifetime. Lifelong learning is also shaped by an individual’s learning identity, the extent to which one believes he or she can learn, and learning relationships, connections that promote movement through the learning spiral. Strategies for enhancing the learning process are provided for each of these topics.

to learn from life itself and to make the conditions of life such that all will learn in the process of living. – John Dewey ( 1916 , p. 56)

The Challenges of Lifelong Learning

Since its emergence in the educational policies of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in the early 1970s, lifelong learning has today become a necessary reality. The transformative global, social, economic, and technological conditions that were envisioned then have come to fruition in a way that requires a fundamental rethinking of the relationship between learning and education. From a front-loaded, system-driven educational structure dominated by classroom learning, we are in the process of transitioning to a new reality where individual learners are becoming more responsible for the direction of their own learning in a multitude of learning environments that span their lifetime. This transition parallels other self-direction requirements that have been placed on individuals by the emergence of the global economy such as responsibility for one’s own retirement planning and healthcare.

The challenge of lifelong learning is not just about learning new marketable skills in an ever-changing economy. It is about the whole person and personal development in one’s many roles as family member, citizen, and worker. While the individual is primarily responsible for his or her learning, lifelong learning occurs in an interdependent relationship with others. Hinchcliffe, in his critical rethinking of lifelong learning, describes the situation thusly:

For in embracing the concept of lifelong learning one also embraces a whole pedagogy: one cannot have a life-long learner without bringing in the associated features of the reflective learner, teaching through facilitation, the emphasis on the transferability of learning and the importance of self-direction and self-management. One cannot be a lifelong learner unless one absorbs a whole discourse of pedagogy…a person has to live a whole ideology so that one must “acquire the self-image of a lifelong learner.” (2006, p. 97)

In his rethinking, he emphasizes the organic learner who is an interdependent actor, a becoming self immersed in the contextual world of practices. He emphasizes “the activity-based nature of learning which is experiential, collaborative and often activated by individual learners rather than trainers or teachers” (2006, p. 99). Su adds the importance of a “being” versus “having” approach to lifelong learning:

The ability that a lifelong learner is expected to demonstrate changes from a focus on how much “static” knowledge one has to the development of a dynamic ability to make sense of knowledge in order to be within change. This dynamic ability, which insists on human agency, and thereby on the possibility of flexibility, serves as the foundation for the transformation and development of adult learners into lifelong learners. (2011, p. 58)

Peter Vail, in Learning as a Way of Being ( 1996 ), makes a similar point, stressing the importance of approaching the turbulent change of an emerging world of “permanent white water” with a beginner’s mind.

To navigate on this new journey of lifelong learning, the most important thing for individuals to learn is how to learn from their life experiences. We call this approach to lifelong learning the learning way . The learning way is about approaching life experiences with a learning attitude. The learning way is not the easiest way to approach life, but in the long run it is the wisest. Other ways of living tempt us with immediate gratification, at our peril. The way of dogma, the way of denial, the way of addiction, the way of submission, and the way of habit; all offer relief from uncertainty and pain at the cost of entrapment on a path that winds out of our control. The learning way requires deliberate effort to create new knowledge in the face of uncertainty and failure and opens the way to new, broader, and deeper horizons of experience. A life path of learning is intrinsically rewarding and empowering. It is not a solitary journey but is sustained and nurtured through growth-fostering relationships in one’s life.

In this chapter we describe how experiential learning theory (ELT) research can help learners on their journey of lifelong learning. We examine the key concepts of the theory—the cycle of learning from experience, the spiral of learning and development, learning styles, learning spaces, learning identity, and learning relationships—and their application to lifelong learning and development. For each concept we provide strategies that individuals can use to enhance their lifelong learning process.

Experiential Learning Theory

ELT draws on the work of prominent 20th-century scholars who gave experience a central role in their theories of human learning and development—notably William James, John Dewey, Kurt Lewin, Mary Parker Follett, Jean Piaget, Lev Vygotsky, Carl Jung, Paulo Freire, and Carl Rogers, among others—to develop a dynamic, holistic model of the process of learning from experience and a multidimensional model of adult development. ELT is a dynamic view of learning based on a learning cycle driven by the resolution of the dual dialectics of action/reflection and experience/abstraction. It is a holistic theory that defines learning as the major process of human adaptation involving the whole person. As such, ELT is applicable not only in the formal education classroom but in all arenas of life. The process of learning from experience is ubiquitous, present in human activity everywhere all the time. The holistic nature of the learning process means that it operates at all levels of human society from the individual to the group to organizations to society as a whole. Research based on ELT has been conducted all around the world supporting the cross-cultural applicability of the model. 1 There have been countless applications of ELT in educational programs ranging from individual class sessions to courses and training programs to degree programs to the total school and university curriculum and even to national curricular policies and standards in New Zealand and Singapore. However, in this chapter the focus is on the individual learner and how that learner can use ELT concepts to enhance the lifelong learning process.

ELT integrates the works of the foundational experiential learning scholars around six propositions that they all share:

  Learning is best conceived as a process, not in terms of outcomes . Although punctuated by knowledge milestones, learning does not end at an outcome, nor is it always evidenced in performance. Rather, learning occurs through the course of connected experiences. As Dewey suggests, “education must be conceived as a continuing reconstruction of experience:…the process and goal of education are one and the same thing” (1897, p. 79).

  All learning is relearning. Learning is best facilitated by a process that draws out the learner’s beliefs and ideas about a topic so that they can be examined, tested, and integrated with new, more refined ideas. Piaget called this proposition constructivism —individuals construct their knowledge of the world based on their experience.

  Learning requires the resolution of conflicts between dialectically opposed modes of adaptation to the world. Conflict, differences, and disagreement are what drive the learning process. In the process of learning one is called on to move back and forth between opposing modes of reflection and action and feeling and thinking.

  Learning is a holistic process of adaptation. Learning is not just the result of cognition but involves the integrated functioning of the total person—thinking, feeling, perceiving, and behaving. It encompasses other specialized models of adaptation from the scientific method for problem-solving, decision-making, and creativity.

  Learning results from synergetic transactions between the person and the environment. In Piaget’s terms, learning occurs through equilibration of the dialectic processes of assimilating new experiences into existing concepts and accommodating existing concepts to new experience. Following Lewin’s famous formula that behavior is a function of the person and the environment, ELT holds that learning is influenced by characteristics of the person and the learning environment.

  Learning is the process of creating knowledge. ELT proposes a constructivist theory of learning whereby social knowledge is created and re-created in the personal knowledge of the learner. This stands in contrast to the “transmission” model on which much current educational practice is based, where preexisting fixed ideas are transmitted to the learner.

The Experiential Learning Cycle

ELT defines learning as “the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience. Knowledge results from the combination of grasping and transforming experience” (Kolb, 2015 , p. 49). The experiential learning cycle is the central concept in this process, portraying an idealized learning cycle or spiral, where the learner “touches all the bases”—experiencing, reflecting, thinking, and acting—in a recursive process that is sensitive to the learning situation and to what is being learned. Immediate or concrete experiences are the basis for observations and reflections. These reflections are assimilated and distilled into abstract concepts from which new implications for action can be drawn. These implications can be actively tested and serve as guides in creating new experiences. The learning cycle is a recurring circular process as opposed to the linear, traditional information transmission model of learning used in most education where information is transferred from the teacher to the learner. Paulo Freire called this the “banking concept of education” where ideas are deposited in the minds of passive learners. In the cycle of learning, learners receive information through experiencing and transform it by reflecting and thinking and then transform it again by acting to change the world. They are both receivers and creators of information.

The learning cycle is driven by two dialectically opposed dimensions. The grasping dimension opposes two different ways of knowing the world: experiencing (concrete experience) and thinking (abstract conceptualization). The transforming dimension opposes two modes of transforming experience: reflecting (reflective observation) and acting (active experimentation).

The reflecting and acting transforming dimension is often called praxis —reflection informed by action and action informed by reflection. The Brazilian educator Paulo Freire describes it thusly:

Within the word we find two dimensions, reflection and action, in such radical interaction that if one is sacrificed—even in part—the other immediately suffers.…When a word is deprived of its dimension of action, reflection automatically suffers as well; and the word is changed into idle chatter, into verbalism, into an alienated and alienating “blah.”…On the other hand, if action is emphasized exclusively, to the detriment of reflection, the word is converted into activism. The latter action for action’s sake negates the true praxis and makes dialogue impossible. (1993, pp. 75–78)

The experiencing and thinking grasping dimension was first identified by William James and is today the foundation of dual processing theory (Evans, 2008 ), which states that we know the world simultaneously in two ways, through direct sensory perception and concepts. He described these as knowledge of acquaintance and knowledge about.

Perception is solely of the here and now; conception is of the like and unlike, of the future, and of the past, and of the far away. But this map of what surrounds the present, like all maps, is only a surface; its features are but abstract signs and symbols of things that in themselves are concrete bits of sensible experience. ( James , 1977 , p. 243)

The Nobel Prize–winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman, in his book describing perceiving/thinking dual processing Thinking Fast and Slow (2011), says that we actually have two selves—an experiencing self and a remembered/thinking self. The experiencing self perceives and registers our feelings and reactions to every moment of our lives. For the experiencing self, life is a succession of momentary experiences—happiness, sadness, amazement, boredom, curiosity, love, pain—that exist only in the present and are soon replaced by another feeling. The remembering/thinking self contains memories of concrete experiences that have been given meaning through cognitive interpretation. Unlike the experiencing self, the remembering/thinking self is relatively stable and permanent: “It is a basic fact of the human condition that memories are what we get to keep from our experience, and the only perspective we can adopt as we think about our lives is that of the remembering/thinking self” (Kahneman & Riis, 2005 , p. 286).

Perhaps inspired by the Theravada Buddhist image of moment consciousness as a string of pearls, Daniel Kahneman has argued that our lives are made up of a succession of experiencing moments:

An individual’s life could be described—at impractical length—as a string of moments. A common estimate is that each of these moments of psychological present may last up to 3 seconds, suggesting that people experience some 20,000 moments in a waking day, and upwards of 500 million moments in a 70 year life. Each moment can be given a rich multidimensional description.…What happens to these moments? The answer is straightforward: with very few exceptions, they simply disappear. ( Kahneman & Riis , 2005 , p. 285)

The remembered thinking self is like the string that holds together the pearls of our experience. The pearls and the string together form the story of our lives—what we think and feel and who we are. We base all our choices on this life story, but our life story is not always the best basis for decision-making. The way that we remember our experiences is very different from the active process of experiencing—our minds create illusions that impact how we remember experiences. For example, we often give more weight to our most recent experience. This can cause us to remember an event that ended well as a positive event, even if it was filled with painful experiences. A study on vacations found a substantial difference between the vacationers’ recalled enjoyment and their actual experienced enjoyment. Their recalled enjoyment, not their actual experienced enjoyment, led them to desire to repeat the vacation. Another study found that people predict they will be happier on their birthday, but their actual experience of happiness is the same as other days. Studies like these emphasize the importance of being in touch with both the experiencing and remembered thinking selves when making life decisions. Being aware of the experiencing process can help us use relevant experiences instead of illusions to guide our decisions.

Mary Parker Follett in Creative Experience ( 1924 ) emphasized the importance of not allowing the thinking self to dominate the experiencing self in learning from experience:

The people who “learn by experience” often make great messes of their lives, that is, if they apply what they have learned from a past incident to the present, deciding from certain appearances that the circumstances are the same, forgetting that no two situations can ever be the same.…All that I am, all that life has made me, every past experience that I have had—woven into the tissue of my life—I must give to the new experience. That past experience has indeed not been useless, but its use is not in guiding present conduct by past situations. We must put everything we can into each fresh experience, but we shall not get the same things out which we put in if it is a fruitful experience, if it is part of our progressing life.…We integrate our experience, and then the richer human being that we are goes into the new experience; again we give our self and always by giving rise above the old self. ( Follett , 1924 , pp. 136–137)

The learning cycle integrates the experiencing self and thinking self through the transformation dimension of reflection and action. While the remembered self is inevitably a biased representation of the directly experienced self, it is nonetheless the basis on which we make most life choices and decisions. Practices of deep experiencing facilitate this integration by empowering the experiencing self. Mindful cycling through the learning cycle can increase the congruence between the thinking and experiencing self. This can be thought of as an internal conversation between the perspectives of your experiencing self and thinking self that incorporates Freire’s dialogue between acting/speaking and reflecting/listening.

Strategies for Lifelong Learners: The Learning Cycle

The learning cycle itself is intrinsically rewarding and empowering, bringing new avenues of experience and new realms of mastery. The key is to use this process of learning as a guide. Oprah Winfrey ( 2016 ) says it well: “I am a woman in process. I’m just trying like everybody else. I try to take every conflict, every experience, and learn from it. Life is never dull.” Oprah’s ability to learn from experience cannot be denied: from a young girl in rural Mississippi in the 1950s to talk show host, media entrepreneur, and actress, Oprah keeps learning as she follows her ever-expanding interests. The lessons we learn from our past experiences are not fixed rules for living but must be open to revision. Each new experience is like no other and must be experienced fully to reap its wisdom. In a life of learning, the rules of the game are always changing, and the learning cycle is the guiding star.

Experiencing Is the Gateway to Learning

All modes of the learning cycle are experiences, but it is here-and-now experiencing that initiates learning. Everyday experience and behavior are notoriously conservative and automatic, being habitual and culturally mediated by concepts derived from many previous trips around the learning cycle. Experience can appear fresh and new, but it is saturated with the interpretations of past generations. John Dewey emphasized that to initiate reflection and learning this normal flow of experience must be interrupted by deep experiencing, such as when we are “stuck” with a problem or difficulty or “struck” by the strangeness of something outside of our usual experience. William James ( 1977 ) called this “pure experience.”

While many have stressed that critical reflection is of primary importance for learning from experience; we see here that a concrete “pure” experience that violates the expectations of previous convictions and habits of thought is necessary to activate such reflection in the first place. While some learning probably occurs from everyday experience, it is probably the kind that reinforces previous conclusions or refines thought or behavior in small ways. For bigger changes in beliefs and behavior, a “shock” that disrupts life may be required.

Without new experiences there can be no real learning. We only recombine and reiterate what we already know. Opening ourselves to new experiences and living those experiences fully, with awareness in the moment, is necessary for learning, renewal, and growth. Yet our habits and beliefs tend to engage automatically, turning a new experience into an old pattern of response. Ironically, what we think we know can be the greatest barrier to our learning.

Deep Experiencing Practices

There are other ways beside “shock and awe” to strip a momentary concrete experience from its judgmental habitual biases. Practices of deep experiencing facilitate deliberate learning by empowering the experiencing self. Focusing on here-and-now experiencing and mindful cycling through the learning cycle can increase the congruence between the thinking and experiencing self (Yeganeh & Kolb, 2009 ). Major deep experiencing practices are derived (1) from Carl Rogers’ client-centered therapy and (2) from concepts of mindfulness.

Mindfulness

The practice of mindfulness aims to overcome automaticity and to reach direct, pure experience through mindful awareness and attention. Meditative mindfulness is the core of Buddhist meditation, advocating the development of mindfulness through a discipline of anchoring the mind in the present moment. Non-judgment, in mindfulness theory, is accepting the current state as part of a constant flow of changing experiences. Letting go of judgment strengthens the mind and challenges the illusion that overthinking something gives one control over it. Brown and Ryan ( 2003 ) quote William James, who stated “Compared to what we ought to be, we are only half awake.” They go on to say, “Mindfulness captures a quality of consciousness that is characterized by clarity and vividness of current experience and functioning that stands in contrast to the mindless less ‘awake’ states of habitual or automatic functioning that may be chronic for many individuals” (p. 823).

The key is to focus on here-and-now experience uncluttered by preconceptions and bias. To be present and engaged in direct experience, one must anchor in present-centered awareness by attending to the five senses. One of the strongest ways to attend to the present moment is through calm and aware breathing. Attending to the present moment serves to quiet the mind, reducing automatic, habitual patterns of thinking and responding. This presence enhances experiencing and allows the learning cycle to begin. In a sense, we cannot learn from experience if we do not first have an experience, and often automatic routines make it difficult for direct experiencing in the moment to occur.

Eugene Gendlin, a phenomenological philosopher who developed a philosophy of implicit knowing, worked with Carl Rogers at the University of Chicago in the 1950s, isolating the client’s process of experiencing as the key transformative aspect of therapy. When he studied this kind of experiencing among clients of Rogerian and other forms of psychotherapy (1961), he discovered that assessments of a client’s experiencing ability in the first two therapy sessions predicted the success or failure of the therapy. Experiencing ability was more important than anything the therapist did in predicting outcomes.

Gendlin calls this “focusing,” an embodied way of experiencing that is beneath thought, language, and emotion. When this bodily sense comes to awareness there is a physical change in the body, a felt shift that then can be analyzed and conceptualized. Like mindfulness practices, focusing emphasizes awareness in the present moment.

In Focusing , Gendlin ( 1978 ) developed a basic six-step technique, reminiscent of the learning cycle, to guide individuals in learning how to engage in this kind of direct body experiencing. The first step involves making time for the activity in a safe and quiet space and then focusing your attention inward on your body sensations. Wait until a sensation comes to the fore. This is called a felt sense. Pay attention until to you have a sense of the problem. Then find a handle for the felt sense, a word or phrase that feels right, trying different ideas until one fits. Next is resonate—going back and forth between the felt sense and phrase, searching for a fit. Next ask of the felt sense “What is the whole problem that makes this felt sense, again sensing the felt sense. Try out answers until one fits and creates a felt shift, a kind of release. Finally, receive the release and stay with it, reflecting for a few moments.

We Create Ourselves by Learning

Much of who we are is determined by what we have learned from our life experiences. As we have seen, experiences matter; but we use the meaning we make of them to define ourselves. An accident of birth brings us into poverty or privilege, yet many have risen from the lowest to the highest rungs of society by choosing to see their conditions as a challenge, while many of the most privileged have squandered their riches through indifference. Sometimes learning creates profound transformation in a person’s life. By learning, doors can be opened through the barriers of class, race, gender, and ethnic identification. It can open eyes and hearts to the experience of others. It transforms the child’s awkward hand into the surgeon’s blade.

Some experiences are thrust upon us; some we create for ourselves. We string these experiences together like pearls to define who we are. Looking forward to the future, the pearls are only dreams and distant visions of our future experiences. The experience in this present moment is all that actually exists. In the present moment, we fashion a pearl of meaning to remember and choose the next experience ahead. The next experience offers new possibilities for meaning and choice and so on in a lifelong process of self-creation and learning.

Being aware and choiceful about what we are attending to is, as James says, the process that creates our experience. By intentionally guiding the learning process and paying attention to how we are going through the phases of the learning cycle, we make ourselves through learning. We are in a real sense what we learn. How and what we learn determine the way we process the possibilities of each new emerging experience, which in turn determines the range of choices and decisions we see. The choices and decisions we make to some extent determine the events we live through, and these events influence our future choices. Thus, we create ourselves through the choices of the actual occasions we live through. For many, this learning choice is relatively unconscious, an autopilot program for learning. In some spiritual traditions, we humans are thought to be basically “asleep,” going through life in a semiconscious way, strangely disengaged from our own lives. The learning way is about awakening to attend consciously to our experiences and then deliberately choosing how they influence our beliefs and choices. The cycle of learning from experience—experiencing, reflecting, thinking, and acting—is the process by which we can consciously choose, direct, and control our life.

The Spiral of Learning and Adult Development

In ELT, adult development occurs through learning from experience. This is based on the idea that the experiential learning cycle is actually a learning spiral. When a concrete experience is enriched by reflection, given meaning by thinking, and transformed by action, the new experience created becomes richer, broader, and deeper. Further iterations of the cycle continue the exploration and transfer to experiences in other contexts. In this process learning is integrated with other knowledge and generalized to other contexts.

Maturana ( 1980 ) saw the spiral as the pattern of organization that characterizes all living systems. He concluded that all living systems are organized in a closed circular process that allows for evolutionary change in such a way that circularity is maintained. He called this process autopoiesis , which means “self-making,” emphasizing the self-referential and self-organizing nature of life. Applying autopoiesis to cognition, he argued that the process of knowing was identical to autopoiesis, the spiraling process of life (Maturana, 1980 ).

The balance between integration of the experiencing and remembered thinking selves through the learning spiral shifts over the course of our lifetime. As children, we are guided primarily by our experiencing process and as a result are spontaneous, authentic, and able to easily embrace contradiction and change. As we grow older, our remembered thinking self takes charge. Our experiences are impacted by memories, beliefs, and values that are not always relevant. Carl Rogers argues that the mature adult needs to recapture the child’s capacity to experience directly. He describes this as a process of “letting oneself down into the immediacy of what one is experiencing, endeavoring to sense and to clarify all its complex meanings.” He explains that adults experience not only the present moment but also their memories of the past and predictions about the future, so they must strive to consciously interpret each experience anew with the learning cycle (Rogers, 1964 , p. 164).

The ELT developmental model (Kolb, 2015 ; Kolb & Kolb, 2017 ) follows Jung’s theory that adult development moves from a specialized way of adapting toward a holistic integrated stage that he calls individuation . The model defines three stages: (1) acquisition, from birth to adolescence, where basic abilities and cognitive structures develop; (2) specialization, from formal schooling through the early work and personal experiences of adulthood, where social, educational, and organizational socialization forces shape the development of a particular, specialized learning style; and (3) integration in midcareer and later life, where nondominant modes of learning are expressed in work and personal life. Development through these stages is characterized by increased integration of the dialectic conflicts between the four primary learning modes (feeling, reflecting, thinking, doing) and by increasing complexity and relativism in adapting to the world. Each of the learning modes is associated with a form of complexity that is used in conscious experience to transform sensory data into knowledge such that development of feeling increases affective complexity, of reflecting increases perceptual complexity, of thinking increases symbolic complexity, and of doing increases behavioral complexity (Figure 6.1 ). These learning modes and complexities create a multidimensional developmental process that is guided by an individual’s particular learning style and life path.

Experiential learning theory of growth and development.

A study by Clarke ( 1977 ) of the accounting and marketing professions illustrates the ELT developmental model. The study compared the learning styles of cross-sectional samples of accounting and marketing students and professionals in school and at lower-, middle-, and senior-level career stages. The learning styles of marketing and accounting students were similar, being fairly balanced among the four learning modes. Lower-level accountants had convergent, abstract, and active learning styles; and this convergent emphasis was even more pronounced in middle-level accountants, reflecting a highly technical specialization. The senior-level accountants, however, became more accommodative in learning style, integrating their non-dominant concrete learning orientation. Clark found a similar pattern of development in the marketing profession. Gypen ( 1981 ) found the same move from specialization to integration in his study of the learning styles of a cross-sectional sample of social work and engineering university alumni from early to late career.

As engineers move up from the bench to management positions, they complement their initial strengths in abstraction and action with the previously non-dominant orientations of experience and reflection. As social workers move from direct service into administrative positions they move in the opposite direction of the engineers. (p. ii)

Notice that in both studies the transitions to non-dominant learning modes in later life stages are associated with changes in the work environment. Development appears to be a function not of individual factors alone but of the transaction between the person and the environment. For example, engineers who move from the “bench” into management may become more integrated because of the demands of the interpersonal and unstructured management role. However, choosing to move into the management position required individual development in interest and talent. For this reason, we consider development in a way that is more context-specific, less age-related, and non-hierarchical. While these modes may be typical of the acquisition, specialization, and development ELT developmental stages, there may be many exceptions in individual cases. Thus, a young person who has been primarily in a specialization may transition into a period in the integrative mode “to figure out what to do with life,” or an older person in the integrative development mode may return to specialization to work on a project of importance.

Strategies for Lifelong Learners: Spiral Through Development

The pervasiveness of the spiral as a symbol of learning and renewal throughout the history of civilization is a testament to the power of the autopoietic life force that it represents. To follow the learning way is to embrace fully the life force of learning in every one of us. The recursive, ongoing spiraling process of self-making makes each living moment an opportunity for new beginnings and creations, fueling the awareness of ourselves as learning beings.

Practice Makes Perfect

Little of importance is learned in one sitting. For example, the expertise literature shows that practice is a major factor in expertise development (Ericsson & Charness, 1994 ). Practice is not just the amount of time doing something, so experience with something alone is not a good predictor of performance. Practice involves comparison with a mental model or explicit outcome (Keeton, Sheckley, & Griggs, 2002 ). In Mastery , George Leonard describes the master’s journey as a path that follows a recurring cycle of brief spurts of progress followed by dips of performance and a plateau of performance that is slightly higher than before where nothing seems to be happening until the next spurt. For many, this path, particularly the long plateaus, proves frustrating, and efforts to learn and develop are abandoned. Leonard advises, “To put it simply, you practice diligently, but you practice primarily for the sake of practice itself. Rather than being frustrated while on the plateau, you learn to appreciate and enjoy it as much as you do the upward surges” (1991, p. 17).

Exercise Appropriate Time Framing

The learning spiral describes the process of learning as a recursive progression through the learning cycle over time. A key to learning success is the establishment of the appropriate time frame of expectation for its achievement. The most common time framing error is the expectation of a “quick fix” and instant mastery. When it doesn’t happen, the learning effort is abandoned. Learning to control one’s weight is perhaps the best example. To embark on a “lose 10 pounds in 10 days” diet is to limit oneself to one turn through the learning cycle, while weight control is a long-term process with spirals of learning around many issues (calorie intake, exercise, etc.) and many contexts. The inertia of old habits takes time to change, and setbacks and failures are inevitable. By framing the learning process correctly as one that will happen with slow progress over time, quitting and fixed self-attributions can be avoided.

Self-Making and the Development of Interest

The spiral of learning is applicable not only to the development of specific skills and subject matter but also to self-development in general. Self-development proceeds through the identification and development of a person’s interests. It occurs through an ongoing spiral of learning that refines, deepens, and extends an initial interest in something. The spine of the learning spiral represents interest in James’ spiral of interest–attention–selection, which, as he says, using another metaphor, is “the very keel on which our mental ship is built.” We attend to those things which draw our interest and select those experiences which allow our interests to be explored and deepened in a continuing spiral of learning. John Dewey, James’ colleague, describes the developmental aspects of this process: “I believe that interests are the signs and symptoms of growing power. I believe that they represent dawning capacities…showing the state of development which the child has reached (and) the stage upon which he is about to enter” (1897, p. 79). To trust these signs of growing power and nurture the growth of one’s interests is to follow the learning way.

Learning Style

Learning style describes the unique ways that individuals spiral through the learning cycle based on their preference for the four different learning modes—experiencing, reflecting, thinking, and acting. Because of one’s genetic makeup and particular life experiences and the demands of the present environment, a preferred way of choosing among these four learning modes is developed. The conflict over being concrete or abstract and over being active or reflective is resolved in patterned, characteristic ways. Previous research (Kolb, 2015 ) has shown that learning styles are influenced by culture, personality type, educational specialization, career choice, and current job role and tasks.

Much of the research on ELT has focused on the concept of learning style using the Kolb Learning Style Inventory (KLSI) to assess individual learning styles (Kolb, 2007 ). While individuals who took the KLSI show many different patterns of scores, nine consistent styles have been identified based on individuals’ relative preferences for the four learning modes (Boyatzis & Mainemelis, 2000 ; Eickmann, Kolb, & Kolb, 2004 ; Kolb & Kolb, 2005a , 2005b ). Four of these style types emphasize one of the four learning modes—experiencing (CE), reflecting (RO), thinking (AC), and acting (AE) (Abby, Hunt, & Weiser, 1985 ; Hunt, 1987 ). Four others represent style types that emphasize two learning modes, one from the grasping dimension and one from the transforming dimension of the ELT model—diverging (CE and RO), assimilating (AC and RO), converging (AC and AE), and accommodating (CE and AE). The final style type balances all four modes of the learning cycle (CE, RO, AC, and AE) (Figure 6.2 ).

Nine learning styles and learning spaces.

ELT argues that learning style is not a psychological trait but a dynamic state resulting from synergistic transactions between the person and the environment. This dynamic state arises from an individual’s preferential resolution of the dual dialectics of experiencing/conceptualizing and acting/reflecting. The stability and endurance of these states in individuals do not come solely from fixed genetic qualities or characteristics of human beings, nor, for that matter, do they come from the stable fixed demands of environmental circumstances. Rather, stable and enduring patterns of human individuality arise from consistent patterns of transaction between the individual and the environment. The way we process the possibilities of each new emerging event determines the range of choices and decisions we see. The choices and decisions we make to some extent determine the events we live through, and these events influence our future choices. Thus, people create themselves through the choice of actual occasions they live through.

Learning Spaces

If learning is to occur, it requires a space for it to take place. In ELT this space exists in the experience of the learner and is formed both by objective factors, such as the physical setting and time available for learning, and by subjective factors, such as learning preferences and expectations. The idea of learning space builds on Kurt Lewin’s field theory and concept of life space. For Lewin, person and environment are interdependent variables where behavior is a function of person and environment and the life space is the total psychological environment which the person experiences subjectively. To take time as an example, in many organizations today employees are so busy doing their work that they feel that there is no time to learn how to do things better. This feeling is shaped by the objective conditions of a hectic work schedule and the expectation that time spent reflecting will not be rewarded. Teachers objectively create learning spaces by the information and activities they offer in their course, but this space is also interpreted in the students’ subjective experience through the lens of their learning style.

The nine learning styles correspond to regions of a learning space that may or may not be present in any learning experience. Fazey and Marton ( 2002 ) have argued that learning leads to understanding with greater retention and transfer when an “experiential space of variation” is created through repeated practice from different perspectives and under different conditions. This space of variation can be portrayed as the number of learning regions that a person engages in the learning process. Another popular way of representing this idea is a learning pyramid, where learning retention is increased from 20% when one learning mode is engaged to 90% when all four modes are engaged (Dale, 1969 ; Reese, 1998 ). Although we have seen no studies that have assessed these retention percentages by learning mode empirically, Specht and Sandlin ( 1991 ) have shown that retention of accounting concepts after 6 weeks was 84% for students in a course taught using a learning method that followed the experiential learning cycle and only 46% in a course taught using the traditional lecture method.

Learning spaces are nested in the social system such that the wider social environment can influence learners’ experience of a learning space. Urie Bronfrenbrenner ( 1977 , 1979 ) defines the ecology of learning/development spaces as a topologically nested arrangement of structures, each contained within the next. The learner’s immediate setting, such as a course or classroom, is called the microsystem , while other concurrent settings in the person’s life, such as other courses, the dorm, or family, are referred to as the mesosystem . The exosystem encompasses the formal and informal social structures that influence the person’s immediate environment, such as institutional policies and procedures and campus culture. Finally, the macrosystem refers to the overarching institutional patterns and values of the wider culture, such as cultural values favoring abstract knowledge over practical knowledge, that influence actors in the person’s immediate microsystem and mesosystem.

The socially embedded nature of the learning space is further elaborated in situated learning theory (Lave & Wenger, 1991 ). Like ELT, situated learning theory draws on Vygotsky’s ( 1978 ) activity theory of social cognition for a conception of social knowledge that conceives of learning as a transaction between the person and the social environment. Situations in situated learning theory, like life space and learning space, are not necessarily physical places but constructs of the person’s experience in the social environment. These situations are embedded in communities of practice that have a history, norms, tools, and traditions of practice. Knowledge resides not in the individual’s head but in communities of practice such as a trade or profession. Learning is thus a process of becoming a member of a community of practice through legitimate peripheral participation (e.g., apprenticeship). Situated learning theory enriches the learning space concept by reminding us that learning spaces extend beyond the teacher and the classroom. They include socialization into a wider community of practice that involves membership, identity formation, transitioning from novice to expert through mentorship and experience in the activities of the practice, as well as the reproduction and development of the community of practice itself as newcomers replace old-timers.

Strategies for Lifelong Learners: Learning Style and Spaces

An understanding of one’s unique learning preferences and capabilities and the match between these and the demands of learning tasks can increase learning effectiveness. This awareness allows the lifelong learner to develop the capacity for all four learning modes, become more flexible in navigating a learning space, and take charge of the learning space. Overall learning effectiveness is improved when individuals are highly skilled in engaging all four modes of the learning cycle. Those who use the KLSI to assess their learning style often decide that they wish to develop their capacity to engage in one or more of the four learning modes, either to improve an underdeveloped mode or to increase capability in a mode that is particularly important for their learning tasks. Because of the dialectic relationships among the learning modes, containing the inhibiting effects of opposing learning modes can be as effective at getting into a mode as actively trying to express it.

Developing the Capacity for Experiencing

Experiencing requires fully opening oneself to direct experience. The thinking mode, being too much “in your head,” can inhibit the ability to sense and feel in the moment. Engagement in concrete experience can be enhanced by being present in the moment and attending to direct sensations and feelings. Presence and attention are particularly important for interpersonal relationships. Interpersonal skills of leading, building, and maintaining relationships and giving and receiving help aid in the development and expression of the experiencing mode of learning.

Developing the Capacity for Reflecting

Reflection requires space and time for it to take place. It can be inhibited by impulsive desires and/or pressures to take action. It can be enhanced by the practices of deliberately viewing things from different perspectives and exercising empathy. Stillness and quieting the mind foster deep reflection. Information skills of sense-making, information-gathering, and information analysis support the development and expression of the reflecting mode of learning.

Developing the Capacity for Thinking

Thinking requires the ability to represent and manipulate ideas in your head. It can be distracted by intense direct emotion and sensations as well as pressure to act quickly. Engagement in thinking can be enhanced by practicing theoretical model-building and the creation of scenarios for action. Analytical skills of theory-building, quantitative data analysis, and technology management can aid in the development and expression of the thinking mode of learning.

Developing the Capacity for Action

Acting requires commitment and involvement in the practical world of real consequences. In a sense, it is the “bottom line” of the learning cycle, the place where internal experiencing, reflecting, and thinking are tested in reality. Acting can be inhibited by too much internal processing in any of these three modes. Acting can be enhanced by courageous initiative-taking and the creation of cycles of goal-setting and feedback to monitor performance. Action skills of initiative-taking, goal-setting, and action-taking can aid in the development and expression of the acting mode of learning.

Increase Your Learning Flexibility

The flexibility to move from one learning mode to the other in the learning cycle is important for effective learning. The Adaptive Style Inventory (ASI; Boyatzis & Kolb, 1993 , 2000 ) was developed to help individuals assess their learning flexibility. Mainemelis, Boyatzis, and Kolb ( 2002 ) found that individuals who balance AC/CE and AE/RO have greater adaptive flexibility in their learning as measured by the ASI. Individuals with high adaptive flexibility are more self-directed, have richer life structures, and experience less conflict in their lives (Kolb, 2015 ). Moon ( 2008 ) found that ASI flexibility was related to sales performance, and Akrivou ( 2008 ) showed that it moderated the move from self-complexity to self-integration in adult development.

Customize Your Learning Spaces

When embarking on a course of learning, it is useful to consider the learning spaces where it will happen and to customize these spaces for yourself based on your learning style and the particular subject matter. When teachers plan their courses, they may or may not explicitly consider the kind of learning spaces they are creating and the appropriateness of these spaces for the students in their course and/or for the material being taught. For example, John and Tanya Reese ( 1998 ) created “Connecting With the Professor” workshops to help law students bridge the differences between the learning spaces created by law school professors and their own learning space preferences resulting from their individual learning style. Recognizing that law school professors were unlikely to change their course and learning style, they worked with students to develop the learning skills needed to succeed in the learning spaces created by their professors.

Another strategy is to supplement the learning space that is given with other spaces that suit your style. For example, a person who learns best by diverging may want to form a group of classmates to talk about the material in the course, or a thinking style person may want to prepare in advance by reading about material to be covered in the training session.

Learning Identity

A learning identity lies at the heart of the learning way. People with a learning identity see themselves as learners, seek and engage life experiences with a learning attitude, and believe in their ability to learn. Having a learning identity is not an either-or proposition. A learning identity develops over time from tentatively adopting a learning stance toward life experience to a more confident learning orientation to a learning self that is specific to certain contexts and ultimately to a learning self-identity that permeates deeply into all aspects of the way one lives. This progression is sustained and nurtured through growth-producing relationships in one’s life.

In ELT the concept of learning identity is based on the works of Carl Rogers and Paulo Freire. For both of these foundational scholars of experiential learning, people who see themselves as learners are those who trust their direct personal experiences and their ability to learn from them. Their primary focus is not on immediate performance or goal achievement but on the ongoing process of learning from these experiences. Instead of desiring some fixed goal, they prefer the excitement of being in the process of potentialities being born.

In his classic paper on how values are learned Carl Rogers emphasized the central role of experiencing in the learning process of the mature person: “He uses his experiencing as a direct referent to which he can turn in forming accurate conceptualizations and as a guide to his behavior.” The process of learning values is “fluid and flexible…highly differentiated…the locus of evaluation is within the person.…There is also involved in this valuing process a letting oneself down into the immediacy of what one is experiencing, endeavoring to sense and to clarify all its complex meanings” (1964, pp. 163–164). Echoing William James’ radical empiricism, he emphasizes that experiencing includes not only direct sensations and emotions but prior concepts: “For there is involved in the present moment of experiencing the memory traces of all the relevant learnings from the past. This moment has not only its immediate sensory impact, but it has meaning growing out of similar experiences in the past” (p. 164). He contrasts this approach of a mature learning person with fixed values formed through introjections acquired in youth in order to please loved ones: “These conceived preferences are either not related at all, or not clearly related, to his own process of experiencing. Often there is a wide discrepancy between the evidence supplied by his own experience and these conceived values. Because these conceptions are not open to testing in experience, he must hold them in a rigid and unchanging fashion” (p. 162).

In a very different context, Paulo Freire also has emphasized the critical role that learning centered on one’s own personal experience plays in forming a learning identity. In Pedagogy of the Oppressed he describes his literacy work with Brazilian peasant farmers, helping to liberate them from a self-identity formed through internalized oppression, the incorporation and acceptance by individuals within an oppressed group of the prejudices against them—“So often do (the oppressed) hear that they are good for nothing, know nothing and are incapable of learning anything—that they are sick, lazy and unproductive—that in the end they become convinced of their own unfitness” (1993, p. 49). His method for achieving the personal and social transformations necessary to escape this negative, fixed self-identity was to facilitate the creation of critical consciousness in these farmers through his version of the experiential learning cycle which he called praxis , “reflection and action on the world in order to transform it.”

Freire argues that traditional education also promotes a form of internalized oppression and a non-learning identity. It is based on a “banking concept” where all-knowing teachers deposit ideas in students’ minds to be received uncritically, mechanically memorized, and repeated. He offers the alternative of “problem-posing education” that empowers a learning self-identity. It is based on a democratic relationship between student and teacher that begins with the here-and-now experience of students’ lives and encourages the praxis of critical reflection and action to improve their lives.

Fixed Versus Learning Identity

If there is a starting point for learning from experience, it must be in the belief that I can learn and develop from my life experiences. In our many years of sharing results from the KLSI with thousands of people, we have discovered to our surprise that not only do most people not understand their unique way of learning but many have not thought about what learning is or of themselves as learners. More people than we imagined do not think of themselves as learners at all and have what psychologist Carol Dweck calls a “fixed” view of themselves, in varying degrees believing that they are incapable of learning. At the extreme, if a person does not believe that they can learn, they won’t. Learning requires conscious attention, effort, and “time on task.” These activities are a waste of time to someone who does not believe that they have the ability to learn.

Carol Dweck (Molden & Dweck, 2006 ) has studied the “lay theories” that people hold about themselves and others. In particular, she and her colleagues have examined the differences between those who see their abilities and attributes as fixed and static and those who believe that they can incrementally learn and change themselves. Those individuals who believe that they can learn and develop have a learning identity. The learner faces a difficult challenge with a “mastery response,” while the person with a fixed identity is more likely to withdraw or quit. Learners embrace challenge, persist in the face of obstacles, learn from criticism, and are inspired by and learn from the success of others. The fixed-identity person avoids challenge, gives up easily, avoids criticism, and feels threatened by the success of others. Not surprisingly, students with a learning identity, regardless of their tested intelligence, are more successful in school than those with a fixed identity.

It is possible to develop a learning identity. Research studies have shown that educational interventions can influence the development of a learning identity. Blackwell, Trzesniewski, and Dweck found that eight 25-minute classes for seventh graders focused on the message that “learning changes the brain by forming new connections and that students are in charge of this process” (2007, p. 254) led to increased classroom motivation and reversed a decline in grades experienced by the control group. Similarly, Good, Aronson, and Inzlicht ( 2003 ) found that an incremental learning intervention led to significant improvements in adolescents’ achievement test scores, and Aronson, Fried, and Good ( 2002 ) found that such teaching led to higher grades among college students.

Another example in higher education has focused on the difficult problem of mathematics anxiety and the sense of inferiority many students feel when required to take remedial mathematics. Hutt ( 2007 ) implemented an experiential “learning to learn” course focused on transforming students’ math learning identity from one of anxious inferiority (“I don’t do math”) to one of confident self-efficacy (“I can totally do math”) as well as improving students’ math learning performance in developmental mathematics courses. Results from this research showed that the experiential course content and the teachers’ conscious attention to unconscious processes in the learning space, combined with the students’ reflections on their learning experiences and self-talk, had a positive impact on learning. Students’ mathematics anxiety was reduced, with students in the course feeling safer, more confident, and efficacious about themselves as learners. Students in the “learning to learn” course performed a letter grade better than controls in their developmental math course. Students’ learning style preferences played an interesting role in the findings. Typically in mathematics courses, students with an abstract “thinking” learning style preference, which tends to match that of their instructor’s teaching style, perform better than students with other learning styles. This learning style difference was erased for students in the experiential course, where students of all learning style preferences earned better grades than controls. Hutt maintains that change from a fixed to a learning self-identity requires a safe learning space characterized by unconditional positive regard (Rogers, 1951 ) from the teacher. This space reduces defensive behavior and allows persons to experience themselves as learners in a new way.

Becoming a learner, someone who can say with confidence “I am a learner,” is not accomplished overnight. One’s self-identity is deeply held and defended against experiences that contradict it. For the vast majority of us, our self-identity is a combination of fixed and learning beliefs. We may feel that we are good at learning some things like sports and not good at others like mathematics. Dweck and her colleagues argue that lay theories are domain-specific; for example, one can believe that intelligence is fixed and morality is learned (Levy, Plaks, Hong, Chiu, & Dweck, 2001 ). Every success or failure can trigger a reassessment of one’s learning ability; thus, learning identity is continuously reformulated through experience.

The Learning Identity Scale

Mai Trinh ( 2016 ) developed the Learning Identity Scale to help learners assess the extent to which they embraced a concept of themselves as learners. The original 28-item scale had five factors, the first and largest of which is a Love of Learning self-image. The other four factors were Learning Relationships, Learning Strategies, Resilience, and Intentional Learning. The scale was further reduced to six items by eliminating redundant items in the first factor and picking the remaining items with the highest factor loading.

Her construct validity study of the instrument revealed a pattern of relationships with established constructs that increases our understanding of how a positive learning identity influences a person’s self-image, attitudes, and behavior. Individuals with a strong positive learning identity showed greater openness to experience and less resistance to change. They reported a wider range of interests and greater epistemic curiosity, “a desire for acquiring new knowledge and new sensory experience that motivates exploratory behavior.” They had greater self-esteem and self-efficacy. They were motivated by a learning goal orientation, seeking to increase their understanding and mastery of something new rather than proving their performance competence. Their worldview was based on an organic paradigm indicating a view of reality in terms of changing, holistic patterns. Persons with the organic view are imaginative, aesthetic, complex, and changeable. They tend to be fluid, changing, creative, non-conforming, participative, and imaginative in their cognitive style. They are interpersonally active, autonomous, and individualistic.

Lifelong Learning Strategies: Learning Identity

Certain characteristics reinforce a fixed self (negative self-talk, avoidance of risk and failure, and being threatened by the successes of others), whereas others build a learning self (trusting one’s ability to learn from experience, seeking new experiences and challenges, persistence, learning from mistakes, and using others’ success as a source of learning). To develop your learning identity, we suggest some ways to overcome your fixed self-characteristics and improve your learning identity characteristics, thus tipping the balance toward becoming a learner.

Trust the Process of Learning From Experience

For both Paulo Freire and Carl Rogers, it is embracing the process of learning from experience that tips the balance from a fixed to a learning self-identity.

Trust your experience— Place experience at the center of your learning process, making it the focal point of your choices and decisions. This does not mean that you shouldn’t learn from experts or the experience of others since this advice is also part of your experience. The key is to own your choice of what you learn and validate it in your experience. When you do this, you take charge of your learning and your life.

Trust the learning process— Avoid an excessive focus on the outcomes of immediate performance and focus instead on the longer-term recursive process of learning by tracking your performance progress over time. Rarely is a single performance test a matter of life and death, and to treat it as such only reinforces a fixed identity. Every performance is an occasion for learning and improvement in future performances.

Reassess Your Beliefs About How You Learn and What You Are Good At

It is important to consciously reflect on and choose how you define yourself as a learner. Often, people are unaware of the way in which they characterize themselves and their abilities. Jim, a participant in a recent study, explained how he successfully freed himself from a fixed perception of self and embraced his new identity as a learner. Being primarily an active learner, he was hesitant about accepting a new position that required competency in abstract skills:

This was a dream job for any true Assimilator, but not for a 40 year old Accommodator who started early in this new career with “negative self-talk.” Fortunately for me though, I am able to positively embrace change and learned that I do have intellectual flexibility. So I was able to take this opportunity and instead of generating pain, I was able to generate a bounty of knowledge for myself.

Monitor the Messages You Send Yourself

Pay attention to your self-talk. Saying to yourself “I am stupid” or “I am no good at …” matters and reinforces a negative fixed identity, just as saying “I can do this” reinforces a positive learning identity. Beware of internalized oppression. Some of these messages are introjections from others that you have swallowed without careful examination.

Redefine Your Relationship to Failure

No one likes to fail, but failure is an inevitable part of doing something new. Thomas Edison provided a role model for the learning response to failure when he said, “Failure is the most important ingredient for success.” James Dyson, the inventor of the Dyson vacuum cleaner and founder of Dyson, Inc., sees Edison as a role model, saying he “achieved great success through repeated failure. His 10,000 failures pale in comparison to his 1093 US patents. Each one of Edison’s inventions, from the Dictaphone to the light bulb came from his inability to give up” (Yang, 2008 , p. 28).

Failures can also help focus your priorities and life path on your talents and strengths. In her commencement address to the 2008 graduates of Harvard University, J. K. Rowling described the low period in her life after graduation, which was marked by failure on every front, and talked about its benefits:

Failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena where I believed I truly belonged. I was set free because my greatest fear had been realized and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. ( Rowling , 2008 , p. 56)

Control Emotional Responses to Learn From Failure

Failures, losses, and mistakes provoke inevitable emotional responses. Yet it is important to learn to control emotional reactions that block learning and feed into a fixed identity. Golfers who slam their club and curse themselves and the game after a bad shot lose the opportunity to coolly analyze their mistake and plan for corrections on the next one.

Balance Your Success/Failure Accounts

Most of us remember our failures more vividly than our successes. For example, as teachers both of us tend to focus on the one or two negative remarks in our course ratings and ignore the praise and positive reactions. “Negative experiences have lasting negative effects primarily when they affect an individual’s beliefs” (Blackwell et al., 2007 , pp. 259–260). Sometimes it is useful to make an inventory of learning strengths and successes to balance your accounts.

Risk Losing

Winning is not everything, and too great a focus on it can block learning. Joel Waitzkin, in The Art of Learning , provides a handbook of his metacognitive learning based on his process of becoming first a chess master and then a martial arts champion. He emphasizes the importance of losing in order to learn how to win:

If a big strong guy comes into a martial arts studio and someone pushes him, he wants to resist and push the guy back to prove that he is a big strong guy. The problem is that he isn’t learning anything by doing this. In order to grow, he needs to give up his current mindset. He needs to lose to win. The bruiser will need to get pushed around by little guys for a while, until he learns to use more than brawn. William Chen calls this investment in loss. Investment in loss is giving yourself to the learning process. (2007, p. 107)

Learning Relationships

ELT draws on Lev Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory of development to describe learning as a social process. From a social constructivist perspective, learning can be thought of as a process of knowledge creation by which collective knowledge is created and re-created in the personal knowledge of the learner. All learning is, at some point, rooted in shared meanings and knowledge that is transformed by the individual. Vygotsky’s ( 1981 ) “general genetic law of cultural development” explains the distinction between interpersonal and intrapersonal aspects of learning. The theory suggests that learning occurs first between people in an environment of social exchange laden with sociocultural artifacts whose meanings are the products of our human history. These artifacts, such as language and number systems, provide tools for learning and are simultaneously reproduced through the social process. Learning then occurs within an individual as he or she makes sense of the interaction. The second level of interpretation allows for individual agency in making sense of one’s perceptions about the environment. In this way, learning is social not only in terms of human interaction but also in terms of taking place in a sociocultural context which offers cognitive artifacts for use in the learning process.

Not only can knowledge be thought of as socially constructed, but the very process of human interaction can be viewed as a learning spiral shared between individuals. Hunt ( 1987 ) claimed that people relate to one another in an alternating pattern of “reading” and “flexing” that mirrors the experiential learning process. When one person is reading —receiving feedback (experiencing) and formulating perceptions (reflecting)—the other person is flexing —creating intentions based on those perceptions (thinking) and acting on them (acting). As the exchange continues, their modes of learning shift back and forth. However, many interactions take place without mindful awareness of perception and intention, creating a sequence of feedback and action that bypasses key steps in the learning process. This can damage relationships and stunt the mutual learning process. On the contrary, mindful engagement in interrelating by those who seek to support learning can activate desired learning modes in others. For example, counselors and therapists ask careful questions to draw out different learning responses in their clients (Abbey et al., 1985 ). Individuals engaged in informal learning relationships also influence one another’s learning processes.

Learning relationships are integral to lifelong learning. ELT defines learning relationships as connections between one or more individuals that promote growth and movement through the learning spiral, ultimately inspiring future learning and relationship-building. A connection is constituted by an interaction or series of interactions, which build toward a deeper relationship. Similar to Fletcher and Ragins’ ( 2007 ) description of the development of a mentoring relationship through a series of small “episodes,” learning relationships evolve as learning interactions increase in quality and frequency. Each interaction carries with it a sentiment, or emotional charge, which sets the tone for learning. Interactions characterized by compassion, respect, and support build the trust and positive emotional resources necessary to create space for learning—even when learning is challenging.

To learn more about how lifelong learners build and utilize learning relationships, we interviewed 29 adults in a master’s degree program (age range 25–55 years). Our research suggests that there is no minimum number of interactions necessary for a learning relationship to take form. When asked who has recently impacted their learning growth and development, some learners told stories of a recent acquaintance making a positive impact on their learning journey. Others, however, were impacted by long-standing, close relationships with individuals such as a spouse, sibling, or mentor. What was common to all of the stories is that learners expressed a baseline level of positive feelings or perceptions of the other, even when the content of a specific interaction was not positive. This is consistent with Miller and Stiver’s ( 1997 ) work on relational-cultural theory (RCT), which suggests that growth-fostering relationships are formed through a series of interactions that are characterized by mutual empathy and empowerment. Experiences of mutual empathy and empowerment create the conditions for growth. Under these conditions, individuals experience an increase in their vitality, ability to take action, clarity about themselves and their relationship, sense of self-worth, and desire to form more connections (Miller & Stiver, 1997 ).

The desire to form future connections is also a theme in Dewey’s distinction between good experience and bad experience. He held that good experience carries forward into new experiences, whereas bad experience cuts off future experience in much the same way abuse causes a child to withdraw. This also holds true for relationships. As suggested by RCT, learning relationships inspire a learner to seek new experience and build new relationships. One of our interviewees, Cynthia, provided an example of the generative power of learning relationships. She shared a story of a friend, Alexis, who helped her make sense of being eliminated from the applicant pool for a position that would have advanced her career. The conversation with Alexis helped her transform an unfortunate circumstance into a learning experience and opened her to the possibility of future learning relationships:

By sharing that with [Alexis] and talking about it, keeping it in an optimistic frame of mind and laughing, it’s like it started opening up all these other doors. Then two weeks later, this person sits next to me and gives me all that information that the job wasn’t what it looked like on paper. And then when I get off the plane she taps me on the shoulder, and asks if I have a business card. She said “keep in touch, you just never know.” And that would have never happened [if it hadn’t been for my conversation with Alexis]. The conversation with Alexis left it in a very positive frame. If I had gone the other route, then when I sat down next to that woman, I might have had a very different conversation. And she wouldn’t have asked me for my business card and in turn given me hers.

As this example implies, learning relationships may arise from any connection that occurs between two or more people. Learning relationships are not isolated to formal, traditional relationships like that of a teacher and student. Rather, they could emerge between peers, near peers, or even in reverse roles, such as parent-as-learner and child-as-teacher. In contrast to learning relationships, we acknowledge that certain relationships hinder lifelong learning in various ways. For example, some relationships reinforce a fixed identity, and others create a codependency that does not allow for flexibility in the learning modes. Although this also impacts lifelong learning, a discussion of such dysfunctional relationships is beyond the scope of this chapter. Instead, we focus on learning relationships that promote and enhance one’s ability to learn throughout a lifetime.

How Learning Relationships Support Learning

Learning relationships promote growth and movement through the learning spiral in a manner that resembles forms of social support which have positive effects on physical and psychological well-being. Social support has been studied in many areas such as mental health (Buschmann & Hollinger, 1994 ), social networks (Ibarra, 1992 ), and mentoring (Kram & Hall, 1989 ). Langford, Bowsher, Maloney, and Lillis ( 1997 ) analyzed multiple conceptualizations of social support and created a typology of four of its attributes. These attributes include emotional support (caring, empathy, and love), instrumental support (tangible resources), informational support (help with problem-solving), and appraisal support (information for self-evaluation). This framework has been adapted to describe four ways learning relationships foster movement through the experiential learning spiral as expressed in interviews with the adult learners we interviewed. The four attributes correspond to the four primary learning modes in the experiential learning cycle and contribute to enhanced cognitive complexity (Table 6.1 ).

Support for Experiencing

When a learning relationship provides support for the experiencing mode of learning (CE), it enhances the affective complexity by providing positive emotional or expressive benefits. This type of support puts learners in a positive emotional state that opens them to direct experience and bolsters their emotional well-being to be able to persist in the face of adversity. In an example from our research, Jeff described how an expression of care and support from his employer created the mental conditions for a powerful learning experience:

I asked for permission [to attend the training] from my boss’s boss. She said “Yes—we see you as an emerging leader in the organization and we want to support your growth so we’ll find a way to get you there.” No one had ever told me what she told me at that point—that they wanted to invest in my development. So, it was that recognition and their willingness to send me to this training and pay for the expenses that I was primed to learn. I was feeling appreciated and valued. The mindset was right to learn.

Frederickson’s ( 1998 ) “broaden and build” theory of positive emotions provides an explanation for this. Broaden in this theory refers to the notion that positive affect and positive emotion are higher-order adaptive mechanisms that enable individuals to expand their attention, cognition, and behavioral responses—particularly in comparison to the narrowing effects of negative affect. The psychological benefits of positive experiences are then stockpiled ( build ) to create a reservoir from which individuals draw in future circumstances. This enables learners to more fully grasp experience and provides them with the emotional fortitude to persist through challenge.

Support for Reflecting

Support for the reflecting mode of learning (RO) enhances one’s perceptual complexity by encouraging observation and trust in the meaning made of those observations. This type of support often involves validating or strengthening one’s beliefs about one’s own ability to observe and reflect. This in itself is a reflective process that may help a learner adopt a learning identity. Like other aspects of self-identity, learning identity is strongly influenced by one’s important relationships. Learning identity is determined not by past learning successes and failures alone but by the attributions one makes about them. Learning relationships intervene to shape these attributions in critical ways.

For example, Mary described her struggle to decide whether or not to speak up about a negative dynamic she observed emerging in a workgroup. She was concerned that she was overthinking the situation based on feedback she’d received in the past of others saying “quit thinking about it so much.” She wrote about the situation in a class paper, and the feedback she received prompted further reflection:

One of the things Professor Smith wrote in my paper, she said Divergers—because they tend to sit back—they do observe more and they are the type that sometimes will be the ones to bring that type of stuff up. And that actually made me feel a lot better.

This small amount of information enabled Mary to challenge an old self-concept that her dominant learning style was wrong or undesirable and replace it with a new understanding of herself as a learner. Evaluations or observations from others, particularly those in a role of authority, can influence learning identity in unexpected and subtle ways. Dweck ( 2000 ) has shown that teachers who reward students for successful learning by praising them for being “smart” actually promote a fixed identity. Having a fixed identity results in decreased study effort (“I don’t need to study because I am smart”). On the other hand, teachers who praise effort promote persistence in the face of adversity and resilience to failure in the learning process.

Support for Thinking

Some learning relationships offer new ways of thinking, conceptualizing, or solving problems. These learning relationships offer support for the thinking mode of learning and develop symbolic complexity and reasoning capability in the learner. The ability to offer support for thinking may require that the learning partner has more experience or knowledge about the problem to be solved. This idea is central to Vygotsky’s ( 1978 ) “zone of proximal development,” which holds that the potential for learning exists between a learner and someone who is more capable. A learner who cooperates with someone slightly more advanced in an area will be able to perform that cognitive function alone one day. Similarly, Lave and Wenger’s ( 1991 ) situated learning theory suggests that learning occurs in a social context as a newcomer moves toward central participation in a community of practice. Participation within the structure of social activity locates the newcomer nearest those who are most influential in their learning—their peers, near-peers, and, finally, their masters. The opportunity to engage with others to problem-solve and complete tasks necessary for the operation of the community creates the conditions for learning to occur.

One learner explained how her more experienced supervisor helped her troubleshoot a sale:

There was a deal I was working on with a client and I hit a couple snags where situations came up that I didn’t know what to do with them. I went to my boss and said, “I’ve hit a wall. I’ve done everything I knew I could do and now I’m at a point where I need your help and your expertise.” He didn’t take it and do it. He coached me through the process, step by step. And rather than just saying we need to do x, y, and z to solve the problem, he asked why is this happening?…Because of his assistance, I was able to get it done and move forward. And now I have a little bit more experience and have a bit better sense of what happens in these situations.

In a group-based example, an international student explained her experience of drawing upon team members to help her verbalize her ideas and improve her command of the English language:

My way to contribute to a flourishing idea was to just throw words out there, because [my teammates] had experienced the same thing out in the [field]. Somebody would say “yea, Gloria, that makes sense” and they would crystallize the idea. And that was my way to have them verbalize what I was thinking. That was my mechanism of putting together how I would speak out that which I had in myself. And I think that played a double role for me because it helped me and helped the group as a whole to [analyze the] data.

Support for Acting

Support for the “acting” mode of learning can be described as instrumental in that this type of support provides tangible resources that move learners to action (Ibarra, 1992 ). These relationships and the resources they provide help learners set goals, perform, experiment, and take risks. Examples of such resources provided by learning relationships in our research include financial assistance to participate in formal education programs, information about new learning opportunities, and a push to put these resources to use for future behavior.

As an illustration, we return to our story of Jeff. In the previous section, his boss’s emotional support changed his affective state in a manner that opened him up to learning. However, the manner in which he came to know about the training opportunity is an example of support for acting:

I was flying back to Dallas from Los Angeles last August and met this guy on a plane who was sitting next to me. He was an [organizational development] consultant and turned out to be my neighbor in Dallas. He said “have you ever heard of Appreciative Inquiry?” We talked about it during the plane ride and he [suggested] we go out for lunch when we got back to Dallas. And we did, a week later. He told me all about his consulting work in AI [artificial intelligence] and by that point I was like, “Wow, this really has a lot of potential.” He said he was doing this training in DC in a few weeks with another big AI practitioner through the National Training Laboratories. I said I don’t think my organization can pay to send me there. It’s $3,000. He said just ask.

This learning relationship provided not only information for Jeff but also encouragement to take a risk by asking for funding for training. In another example, Brian’s brother provided support for doing both by helping him select courses and by giving him money to attend a semester of class when he lost his job:

My brother has always been an enabler by saying “Brian, you should continue with your education. People can take anything they want from you, but they can’t take your education.” (When I decided to go back to school at age 38, I asked for his help because he had been a Dean for years.) He drove from Chicago to Pittsburgh and said, “Ok, here’s the game plan. You’re going to take this class, that class, and that class. Drop this. Go over here and move on this. Report back, we’ll get together next year and do it again.”

Three years later, when Brian needed financial support to continue on to his master’s degree, his brother said, “ ‘You’ve gotten a fellowship award in honor of our dad. In dad’s memory, here’s the money you need. Your bill will be paid.’ And it was paid, which was very affirming.”

Although four types of support for learning are neatly described here, clear distinctions are not always present in lived experience because any given learning relationship can impart multiple forms of support. Moreover, support for learning is not always direct or intentional. For example, several learners described simply observing another person’s behavior in a particular context as support for thinking because it offered them a new model for responding to a similar situation in the future. It is likely that informal learning relationships begin quite mindlessly—a sequence of feedback and action, as Hunt ( 1987 ) put it—and become increasingly purposeful as the relationship deepens. A constellation of deep learning relationships forms a web of support for lifelong learning. Higgins and Kram ( 2001 ) called these constellations “developmental networks” in reference to the multiple individuals who offer developmental assistance to one’s career.

Lifelong Learning Strategies: Learning Relationships

Consider how nurturing relationships is central to the learning process. Fueled by the (mis)belief that learning is a solitary endeavor, we often approach learning challenges in isolation. We fail to acknowledge the role of others in the learning process and, thus, do not capitalize on the various ways social relationships can support lifelong learning. The first step is to become more conscious of how others can help you. This may require counteracting the bias for action to slow down and consider what you need from others and who can provide that assistance. The second step is to nurture those relationships. It is often useful to formalize a learning relationship by making specific requests for help to garner the support one needs. More generally, it is also advisable to invest in growth-fostering relationships before specific requests are needed. Investing in learning relationships means taking intentional action to build and maintain relationships that are mutually empowering.

Another learning strategy is to be aware of learning identity contagion. Engage in relationships that support the development of a positive learning identity, and avoid those people and situations that make you feel bad about yourself and incapable of learning. Learning identity may be contagious in the sense that those who have a learning identity tend to create relationships that reinforce a learning identity in both parties, whereas those with fixed identities act in ways that transmit fixed views to others. For example, those with a fixed versus incremental (learning) view of themselves show greater stereotype endorsement, perceive greater out-group homogeneity, and show greater intergroup bias and more biased behavior toward out-group members. They are more susceptible to the fundamental attribution error—believing that others’ actions indicate the “kind” of person they are, underestimating the influence of situational factors on their behavior (Levy et al., 2001 ). One of our respondents describes how this contagion may be passed on through generations:

I can recall stories of my Father describing a childhood in which he was shown very little love and was repeatedly told he was stupid. He was told that he wouldn’t understand things. To this day, my Grandmother still says to him that she will tell him [confidential things] when he is old enough to understand. He is 63 years old. As a child, I remember my Father’s dislike for any kind of game. On the rare occasion when he would play, he got angry and frustrated if he didn’t do well and often quit. I now know that my father developed a “fixed” self-concept around learning. He was told he was stupid and wouldn’t understand and therefore, in his mind, he was and didn’t. He also criticizes educated people, which I can now link to the fixed self-identity. This fixed self-concept has implications beyond his attitude towards games—it impacted my learning development. As a child, I often heard my father ask me, “What were you thinking?” when I did something wrong. I believe that contributed to the lack of confidence I have with my decision-making.

Yet another learning strategy is to apprecate the diversity of your interactions for their potential to contribute to your learning. Individuals who have diverse interactions are likely to experience support for all modes of learning through one or more relationships. Every connection holds the potential for learning, and you never know who will positively contribute to your learning. Always be open to learning from others, regardless of their status relative to yours.

Future Directions

We have reviewed the current state of the art in ELT—the cycle of learning from experience, the spiral of learning and development, learning styles, learning spaces, learning identity, and learning relationships—in order to provide a guide for living life by the “learning way.” In conclusion, we offer directions for future research in lifelong learning. First, individuals encounter different learning challenges as they journey through life and career stages. Inquiry into this area could address such questions as How do strategies for learning from experience vary in different life stages? and What are the opportunities and pitfalls of learning in times of transition? Second, a growing body of evidence demonstrates that individuals’ metacognitive processes—their thinking about their own thinking—impact their ability to effectively learn from experience (Kolb & Kolb, 2008 , 2009 ). Further research into processes such as the effect of one’s learning identity on one’s openness to experience can help us better understand how the learning is monitored and controlled through metacognitive processes. Drawing on the importance of interpersonal processes in developing a learning identity, a third research direction is, What role do relationships play in developing metacognitive capacity? Finally, relationships can affect learning for better or for worse. Inquiry into individuals’ relationship constellations could help learners recognize and manage relationships that are dysfunctional for learning. This could also empower learners to build networks of positive learning relationships in their multiple life contexts. Each of these avenues of research builds upon ELT to enhance one’s ability to learn from life experience.

Since its first statement in 1971 (Kolb, 1971 ; Kolb, Rubin, & McIntyre, 1971 ), there have been many studies using ELT to advance the theory and practice of experiential learning. Since ELT is a holistic theory of learning that identifies learning differences among academic specialties, it is not surprising to see that ELT research is highly interdisciplinary, addressing learning and educational issues in many fields. An analysis of the 1,004 entries in the 1999 ELT bibliography (Kolb, Boyatzis, & Mainemelis, 2001 ) shows 207 studies in management, 430 in education, 104 in information science, 101 in psychology, 72 in medicine, 63 in nursing, 22 in accounting, and 5 in law. About 55% of this research has appeared in refereed journal articles, 20% in doctoral dissertations, 10% in books and book chapters, and 15% in conference proceedings, research reports, and other forms. Research on ELT has increased dramatically in recent years. The updated 2019 Experiential Learning Theory Bibliographies (Kolb & Kolb, 2005b , 2008a ) include over 4,500 entries.

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Skills Development for Inclusive and Sustainable Growth in Developing Asia-Pacific pp 29–42 Cite as

Lifelong Learning: Meaning, Challenges, and Opportunities

• Colin Nelson Power 36 &
• Rupert Maclean 37  
• Open Access
• First Online: 15 November 2012

24k Accesses

4 Citations

Part of the book series: Technical and Vocational Education and Training: Issues, Concerns and Prospects ((TVET,volume 19))

In the foreseeable future, Asia will face some daunting demographic, economic and environmental challenges, all of which will necessitate the acquisition of new knowledge and skills if development in the region is to be sustainable and to cope with the impact of climate change and advances in science and technology. In this chapter, it is argued that skills development throughout life is crucial for all, for the entire workforce ranging from ‘knowledge workers’ to those living in poverty and refugees (political, economic and environmental). The research suggests that VET, industry-based training and adult and continuing education play a pivotal vital role in providing the ‘additionality’ needed for sustainable development and that skills development must be an integral part of education at all levels and in all of its form.

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Introduction

The idea of lifelong learning became a central theme in UNESCO’s work with the publication of Learning to Be (UNESCO 1972 ). The report argued that lifelong learning needs to be the keystone or organising principle for education policies and that the creation of the learning society should become a key strategy for facilitating learning throughout life for individuals and societies.

Learning: the Treasure Within , the Delors Report (UNESCO 1996 ), built on these two ideas, enlarging them in the light of the challenges facing individuals and the global community in the twenty-first century. For the Delors Commission, lifelong learning implies the acquisition of knowledge, skills and values throughout life, a continuous process of learning to know, to do, to live together and to be the ‘four pillars’ of education.

In recent years, UNESCO, OECD and other international organisations have replaced the terms ‘lifelong education’ and ‘recurrent education’ with the term ‘lifelong learning’, and this is now virtually universally accepted as the preferred term. As such, the term shifts the focus from education to learning and from just attending school or college during formal education to learning how to continue to learn throughout the life cycle .

Defining Lifelong Learning

In embracing all forms of learning from ‘cradle to grave’, lifelong learning (LL) is sometimes referred to as being ‘life-long and life-wide’. The definition used by the European Commission ( 2000 ) is typical and one of the most widely accepted definitions among researchers and policy makers: lifelong learning is defined as:

all purposeful learning activity undertaken throughout life with the aim of improving knowledge, skills and competencies within a personal, civic, social and/or employment-related perspective.

Generally, learning is classified into three types: formal, nonformal and informal learning. The notions of formal, nonformal and informal learning demonstrate not only the vertical dimension of learning (learning throughout life) but also its horizontal dimension (life-wide learning). Life-wide learning helps to facilitate learners to acquire and integrate various sets of knowledge and skills in order to apprehend, advance or even invent new knowledge and skills (Ouane 2009 ).

Lifelong learning has become something of an umbrella term. As a slogan, it has contributed to considerable confusion and debate about its meaning and implications for research, policy and practice. As a principle, lifelong learning has rarely been given the prominence it merits: we need to close the gaps between the rhetoric of lifelong learning and what happens in practice. While the focus in lifelong learning is generally on the individual, one of the characteristics of successful organisations and communities is their capacity to continue to learn. Not only do they encourage research and innovation, but they also make optimal use of the diversity of ways in which their members share knowledge, skills and ideas to improve productivity and to ensure that development is sustainable and equitable. Thus, we can speak of a ‘learning society’, ‘learning cities’, ‘learning regions’, ‘learning organisations’ and ‘cultural development’.

Why Is Lifelong Learning Important?

Ll = a basic human right = full development = empowerment.

The Hamburg Declaration (UNESCO 1997 ) argues the case for a new vision of education and training in which learning becomes truly life-long on the grounds that it benefits individuals and the society. Lifelong learning is important because it helps to develop the autonomy and sense of responsibility of people and communities; to reinforce the capacity to deal with the transformations taking place in the economy, in culture and in society; and to promote coexistence, tolerance and the informed and creative participation of citizens in their communities: in short to enable people and communities to take control of their destiny and society to face the challenges ahead.

Acceptance of the principle of lifelong learning by governments, corporations and communities means that individuals can expect to be supported in their efforts to acquire and update the latest knowledge and skills that are essential to their daily and work lives, whenever and wherever they need them. This not only facilitates the personal development of learners but also enhances their employability, social mobility and capacity to be effective in participating in activities designed to improve the quality of life in the community. In Hong Kong, China for instance, the government is committed to the development of a lifelong learning ladder. In this regard, ‘a key development was the establishment in 2004 of the Qualifications Framework to provide learners with a clear articulation ladder to foster a vibrant, flexible and responsive environment that would promote lifelong learning’ (UGC 2010 ).

LL = Better Employment Prospects + Higher Income

For the most part, the research (as set out below) has focused on the rates of return (RoR) to individuals and society from formal education and training, as reflected in higher qualifications. Because lifelong learning covers all education, both formal and nonformal, and also covers training, it can be argued that we need to undertake research on how different levels and types of learning contribute to poverty alleviation and sustainable development (Maclean and Wilson 2009 ).

In the knowledge economy, there can be no doubt that for the individual, continuing to learn, whether by formal or nonformal means, is the key to gaining employment and income stability. The longer one has engaged in formal education and training as reflected in one’s skills and qualifications, the higher one’s income and the more likely one is to be employed. It turns out the main reason that well-educated and trained individuals earn higher incomes is that they have higher knowledge and skill levels, that is, higher qualifications are simply a proxy for more skills (Maclean and Wilson 2009 ).

The lifelong learning perspective goes beyond formal education and training to include ‘skills development’. The latter is used to describe the wide variety of ways in individuals who are seeking work or who are in employed continue to learn and to acquire the skills and competencies influencing employment and earnings. Adams ( 2010 ) points out that measuring and tracking the skills acquired at later stages of the lifecycle are difficult, given the variance in the competencies sought by employers, the diversity of ways in which skills and competencies are acquired and the variations in duration, level and quality of the training being given. Certainly reliable and comparable statistics on within-industry training are difficult to find.

Addressing the learning needs of all young people and adults is a key EFA goal, one that must be met if the MDG goal of eradicating poverty is to be achievable. It concerns literacy, numeracy and the generic (e.g. problem-solving, team work, life skills) and more context-specific skills (e.g. livelihood, health, marketing) and vocational skills that are usually acquired in more formal settings.

In developing countries, field studies suggest that effective programmes respond to the expressed needs of the poor and are closely linked to income-generating activities and provide training in entrepreneurship and practical knowledge of science and technology (UNESCO 1997 ; Mahbub ul Huq 1997 ; Sachs 2005 ). In developed countries, education and skill levels are strongly related to a person’s employability and productivity. Persons who have higher language and quantitative skills are not only more likely to find work, to earn more and to be more productive, and they are less vulnerable to long-term unemployment (OECD 2005 ).

The evidence suggests in many countries, governments and formal education institutions give little attention to the unmet learning needs of disadvantaged and vulnerable young people who are not in school – their needs are generally left to NGOs (Mahbub ul Huq 1997 ; UNESCO 2010 ). Many initiatives exist to reach youth and adults who are poor through nonformal vocational skills training, but they are often locally based, short-lived, underfunded and not part of a comprehensive national strategy for the alleviation of poverty and for sustainable development. Reviews of skills development suggest that countries can begin to design national skills development strategies only if there is adequate information on the learning needs in disadvantaged communities, programme providers, course content, duration and cost-effectiveness (IIZ-DVV 2004 ; UNESCO 2010 ).

LL = Social Benefits (Productivity, GDP, Social Capital, Health)

While there is a fairly sizable body of research on the benefits of education for the individual, much remains to be done to clarify the benefits to society stemming from investing in various forms of learning and education throughout the life span. The research certainly suggests that human capital is the key driver of economic development: countries investing most in developing their human capital are those enjoying the most rapid and sustained economic growth and the highest quality of life (Deutsch Bank 2008 ).

The social benefits of education and training are usually measured in terms of ‘social internal rates of return’, that is, as the sum of the private and public benefits. Given the limitations of the national data and international indicators being used, estimates are available only for a handful of countries. The estimated long-term effect on economic output of one additional year of education or training in OECD countries generally falls between 3 and 6% (OECD 2005 ). Learning throughout life leads to improved human capital and labour productivity, and this in turn is the major contributor to economic development ( Banks 2008 ).

To be successful in the global knowledge economy, public and private organisations and industries need information-age workers. Knowledge is growing at an exponential rate: employers need managers and employees who are creative problem-solvers, innovators who are constantly updating their knowledge and expertise, reflecting on what can be done to improve productivity, seeking to be at the cutting edge of knowledge in their field, and are good team players. Successful organisations take the notion of lifelong learning for their employees and the organisation seriously (Ordonez and Maclean 2006 ).

As a general rule, the payoffs from investment in basic skills training for the masses are highest in low-income agricultural economies and those still in the early stages of industrial development (UNESCO 1997 ). It also seems that investing on lifelong learning for all raises the productivity of the whole workforce and also contributes to a lowering of fertility and infant mortality rates and to increases in social capital (UNESCO 1997 ; OECD 2005 ).

The existing RoR research is of limited salience to our principal concern: lifelong learning. From a life span perspective, there needs to be shift from the focus on formal levels, GDP and incomes to learning across the life span, poverty alleviation and sustainable development. As Sachs ( 2005 ) and others have shown, the obsession with economic growth and rates of return does not necessarily translate into poverty alleviation and sustainable development: in reality, growth often means that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer and even greater exploitation of natural resources.

LL and Poverty Alleviation

The wider social benefits of education in terms of poverty alleviation have been set out in the literature since the early 1980s. For developing countries, the case is almost always made in terms of formal education and specifically primary education, and there is ample evidence that provided primary schooling is inclusive, a good quality and focus in teaching is on learning, and completion of primary education contributes to productivity and thus to the alleviation of poverty (Power 2007 ; UNESCO 2010 ). For girls, basic education (particularly if it extends to the secondary level) translates into lower birth rates and lower mortality (Klasen 2002 ; Jha 2009 ; Sachs 2005 ; Power 2007 ).

What evidence there is on female literacy suggests that continuing to develop skills and learning about the Facts for Life (UNICEF et al. 1992 ) also pays off in terms of improved health, nutrition and family stability. Literate, educated women have fewer and healthier children and better health themselves than those with little or no education. Moreover, the higher the education and skill level of the mother, the more likely it is that her children will stay on to complete their formal education and perform well (Power 2007 ; UNESCO 2010 ).

Many education and development policies are based on the assumption that literacy and primary education play a key role in poverty reduction, while higher education is crucial for economic development in the global knowledge society. While both are true, the evidence is also mounting that all levels of education and types of training (formal and nonformal) can contribute to both, that is, learning throughout life is the ‘master key’ to sustainable development and poverty alleviation. For example, recent analyses of Indian and cross-national data indicate that higher education not only contributes to economic development in India but also makes a significant contribution to the reduction in absolute as well as relative poverty (Tilak 2007 ). When higher education institutions use their expertise to work with poor communities and act as their advocates, progress can be made in combating poverty, raising the basic skill levels of both children and adults and improving crop yields, health and nutrition (Arini et al. 2007 ; Power 2007 ).

The key issue, however, is whether it is that exposure to initial formal education that makes a difference or whether it is continuing to develop skills and learning about the Facts for Life which ‘pays off’. One suspects that both are important.

LL as the ‘Master Key’ for MDGs

For most international organisations, the policy of providing additional learning opportunities throughout life is viewed as ‘the master key’ that opens the doors to poverty alleviation, greater social justice, equity, peace building and sustainable development (Ordonez and Maclean 2006 ). Nations with low levels of investment in education and training tend to have low levels of school life expectancy and wide skills gaps. They are very much in danger of falling even further behind in terms of human and economic development and are the countries least likely to meet their Millennium Development Goals (UNDP 2009 ). On the other hand, the Asian developing countries that have invested heavily in meeting the learning needs of both children and adults have made, for the most part, remarkable social progress in achieving their key MDG targets (UNDP 2009 ; Power 2007 , 2009 ).

Moreover, all children and adults will constantly need to update their understanding of how the environment is changing and its implications for how we will need to act in the future as the planet warms, and new scientific evidence on the impact of human activity comes to light. The MDGs relating to climate change and carbon emission will not be achieved in the absence of effective ESD formal school, higher and TVET programmes and nonformal programmes that reach out-of-school youth and adults, young and old and rich and poor.

From the perspective of lifelong learning, it is the additionality , the learning outside the formal system and the learning over and above initial formal education and training, that counts in a world of constant change and increasing complexity. When it comes to poverty alleviation and education for sustainable development, what evidence there is suggests that both a sound formal education and this additionality are needed.

Issues in Addressing Poverty Alleviation and Sustainable Development

What it means to be poor and the measures that need to be taken to address poverty issues depend very much on the context. The more effective PRSs are sensitive to the facets of poverty that are dominant in a given context; they engage the poor being targeted at all stages of the development and implementation of the programme; they adopt a multi-sectoral approach; and they generate new strategies for leveraging resources (Power 2007 , 2011 ).

Poor families are concentrated in nations and communities caught in what Sachs ( 2005 ) calls the ‘poverty trap’. The key problem is that when poverty is extreme, the poor do not have the ability by themselves to get out of the trap. In particular, girls and women in most poor parts of the world are locked into a cycle of poverty and early marriages, with illiterate mothers bring up illiterate daughters who are married off early into yet another cycle of poverty, illiteracy, high fertility and early mortality. Breaking this cycle requires more than educational interventions: it demands a comprehensive development programme that transforms the basic conditions of rural and slum community life. Learning throughout life, and especially literacy, needs to be part of this transformation (UNESCO-UIE 2010 ), but providing other basic infrastructure elements (water wells, fuel supply, health clinics, roads, etc.) is also necessary, not to speak of micro-credit, improved employment and income-earning opportunities (Power 2007 ).

Sustainable Development

The major issue facing the world today is that of learning how to live and work in ways that are sustainable, so that the reasonable needs of people from all walks of life and in all countries can be satisfied, without so overexploiting the natural resources upon which all life depends that the ability of future generations to meet their needs is threatened (UNESCO-UNEVOC 2004 ).

The threats stemming from global warming and climate change have been brought into sharp focus by the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development, the Kyoto Protocol, Al Gore’s advocacy ( An Inconvenient Truth ), Stern Review, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005–2014). The effects of global warming are showing up with increasing intensity: destruction of forests and species habitats, acidification of oceans, loss of wetlands, bleaching of coral reefs and rapid and continued loss of biodiversity, to name a few. As climate change accelerates, hundreds of millions of people are likely to be deprived from access to water, and millions more will be displaced as sea levels rise, floods and droughts become more prevalent and crops fail. In some parts of the world, it is predicted that there will be sharp rises in death toll from climate-induced diseases (Commonwealth Foundation 2007 ). Learning how to live and work in ways that are sustainable includes, but necessarily goes beyond, formal programmes for education for sustainable development (ESD): the principles of sustainable development need to be installed in all levels and to cover all types of education.

The challenge to nations, industry and communities is to take decisive and urgent action of key issues relating to sustainable development. Acting on SD is not a mere question of ESD; it is, rather, an issue of political will. As Sen ( 2007 ) and Power ( 2010 ) have noted, the major issues to be faced in meeting the MDGs are ‘unaffordability’ and the lack of ‘political will’. To these, Adams ( 2010 ) adds the need for reforms in governance, finance, market and school.

Governments are likely to act only if there are strong pressures within and from the international community to do so. One of the key tasks of the re-engineering of education systems being called for is that of empowering all, but especially marginalised, groups, with the knowledge, skills and confidence to join the struggle to create a better world; a global community committed to ensuring development is sustainable, and the rights of all to health, education, justice and security are respected (Campbell et al. 2006 ). It will be ‘people power’ that forces governments to introduce the tough measures needed to reduce greenhouse emissions, to eradicate poverty and to provide quality education for all. But to generate that power, all young people and adults (including politicians, the media and corporate leaders) need to understand what it means to be poor, why poverty persists and how global warming will affect them and their families. Moreover, throughout their lives, they will need to learn and how to learn, updating and extending their knowledge and skills so as to better cope with change, generating the capacity and confidence to participate in the struggle to build a better world.

Re-engineering Education and Training

A few tentative steps have been taken by providers of formal education in a few countries to:

Ensure that learning as one moves from one level to the next is seamless .

Improve the articulation between levels and types of education and training.

Revise their qualification frameworks, accreditation, quality assurance, indicator and assessment systems, and establish equivalency frameworks to better recognise TVET, adult and continuing education, within-industry training, apprenticeships and nonformal programmes.

Make more effective use of IT and open learning systems to reach the unreached and to support on-the-job training.

Increase the funding and provide other incentives in support of nonformal education and training (i.e. adult and continuing education, NGO and industry-based training) while maintaining (and if necessary also increasing) support for formal education to achieve national and international goals (e.g. EFA, MDGs, ESD).

Develop an integrated policy framework to drive the reform of the entire formal and nonformal education and training system, its component parts and the pathways between them.

Such steps are important elements in confronting the challenge posed by lifelong learning so that they are consistent with the principles of lifelong learning. In the end, what is needed is to use the principles of lifelong learning as the framework for re-engineering the entire education-training-adult learning system.

Adopting a life span perspective takes us back to the issue of the learning needs to be met at each stage of human development and the changing priorities of the individual and the communities (local, national and global) in which they live and in particular those that assume importance in addressing issues of poverty and sustainable development.

Lifelong Learning: A Developmental Perspective

From a lifelong learning perspective, providing a good beginning for development during the early years of life is of crucial importance. The emerging research field known as ‘foetal origins’ suggests that the 9 months of gestation may constitute one of the most consequential stages in human development. The expansion of early childhood care and development activities, including family and community interventions, especially for poor, disadvantaged and disabled children, has been an integral part of the EFA agenda for the past 20 years. The evidence confirms the important contribution that quality ECCD makes to cognitive and social development for children from all backgrounds, but particularly for the poor and the least advantaged (UNESCO 2010 ).

The developmental tasks for children of primary school age seem at first glance to be fairly straightforward, at least so far as formal education and nonformal learning programmes for out-of-school children are concerned. Obviously, one needs to get the foundations for subsequent learning and development right. In practice, this boils down in primary schools to a focus on basic learning needs, bearing in mind that the learning needs and life circumstances of children do vary and that some children will need much more support and help than others. A key challenge facing primary schools is to determine what is important now, what can be left to other stages in the learning cycle and how best to involve parents and the local community and to make effective use of their resources to supporting learning.

With the onset of puberty , the scope and nature of the developmental tasks facing the young people assume a somewhat different character. Secondary education , the ‘crossroads of life’ should be ‘the time when the most varied talents are revealed and flourish’ (UNESCO 1996 ). Meeting the basic learning needs of adolescents is of particular importance in facilitating the transition from childhood to adult life. As secondary education for all becomes a reality, it becomes increasingly difficult to meet the learning needs of all young people attending high school. Preparing young people for higher education can no longer be the primary purpose of secondary schooling, and thus the emphasis shifts to preparation for adult life and particularly for the world of work: hence, the increasing ‘vocationalisation’ of secondary education (Lauglo and Maclean 2005 ).

Reorienting TVET for sustainable development and poverty alleviation has been a significant part of the agenda of the UNESCO. The central theme of the Second International Conference on Technical and Vocational Education was Lifelong Learning and Training: A Bridge to the Future . Developing this theme, it has been working hard at the task of moving TVET from the narrow task of providing training for industry and occupation-specific skills to the broader task of workforce development and lifelong learning for sustainable development. The Bonn Declaration (UNESCO-UNEVOC 2004 ) affirmed that skills development leading to age-appropriate TVET should be integral to education at all levels. In seeking to reach the unreached, more support needs to be given to the work being done by TVET colleges to develop open systems of learning using the new technologies as well as more traditional modes of distance education (Maclean 2005 ; Ordonez and Maclean 2006 ; Fien et al. 2009 ; Maclean and Fien 2010 ).

Similarly, UNESCO World Conferences on Higher Education in 1998 and 2009 called for the reorientation of higher education in the light of the challenges facing us in the twenty-first century and at the same time a reaffirmation of its commitment to the core values and functions of higher education, in particular insisting that its mission must be to ‘contribute to sustainable development and improvement of society as a whole should be preserved, reinforced and further expanded’ (UNESCO 1998 ). Through their research and teaching, they can help policy makers and those working at the coal face to better understand what needs to be done to alleviate poverty and to promote sustainable development. It is in our higher education institutions that the educators of the future are trained and those already in the workforce need to have their knowledge and skills base constantly upgraded (Karmel and Maclean 2007 ). Moreover, they play (or should play) a significant role in the dialogue and action needed to move from the existing fragmented and at times dysfunctional formal system of education to one that takes the principles of lifelong learning seriously and re-engineers education and training in ways that contribute to the alleviation of poverty and sustainable development.

The contribution of nonformal learning and the re-engineering of adult and continuing education is unquestionably one of the greatest challenges in the quest to ensure all have the opportunity to learn throughout life and to ensure that development is sustainable (Maclean and Singh 2005 ). In the knowledge society, the increasing involvement of employers and community groups in recurrent and adult learning programmes is opening up new pathways and opportunities, but recognition of that learning by formal education institutions is rarely given (Karmel and Maclean 2007 ). Sadly, the dedication and enormous contribution being made by voluntary organisations and nongovernment organisations tend to be ignored by education authorities and, at best, given token support by governments – the investment in adult learning in most countries is less than 1% of GNP (UNESCO-UIE 2010 ). From a lifelong learning perspective, nonformal, adult and continuing education must feature as a significant part of an integrated system and be given the recognition and support they need in the struggle to alleviate poverty and to ensure that development is sustainable.

In many countries, informal learning via the media and the net has assumed an ever more significant role in shaping the knowledge base and values of the masses, at times playing a constructive and enriching role but too often falling short of its potential to facilitate learning throughout life and even at times contributing to the destruction of small cultures and the creation of a culture of consumerism, violence and prejudice. How to enlist the media and how to help all, young and old, to use the net wisely and as part of lifelong education have become a major challenge.

Desirable Future Directions

To achieve the goals of lifelong learning for poverty alleviation and sustainable development, it is suggested that the governments of the Member States of the UN :

Establish a lifelong learning Task Force or Commission responsible for making recommendations to government on policies, strategies and changes that need to be made in order to promote a culture of lifelong learning, to set national targets and to develop and implement integrated action plans and strategies for poverty reduction and sustainable development.

On the basis of the recommendations made by the Task Force, develop a coherent policy and set of strategies for awareness raising and to support the re-engineering of existing systems of formal and nonformal education and involve stakeholders and the media in promoting of lifelong learning for poverty alleviation and education for sustainable development.

Request all authorities within the public and private sectors of the education and training to undertake a review of the extent to which existing policies and practices are consistent with the principles of lifelong learning, to submit their findings to the Task Force and to work with it to identify priories for action.

Provide much greater support for nongovernment and voluntary organisations active in providing nonformal education and training to enable them to better assess and report on view the contribution that their organisation is making to the creation of opportunities to continue to learn throughout life for all and particularly those whose needs have not or not being adequately met by the formal system.

Request employer and community groups and other stakeholder groups to identify skills gaps in the labour market and unmet learning needs of disadvantaged groups in the communities in which they work, giving special attention to the poor and to education for sustainable development for all.

Provide the Task Force with the funds and authority to commission reviews of the research and to undertake additional studies to assess the effectiveness of education and training programmes for children, youth and adults for poverty alleviation and sustainable development and to examine issues of articulation within and between sectors, recognition of nonformal education and training and reorientation of accreditation, qualifications frameworks and quality assurance mechanisms in accordance with the principles of lifelong learning.

Support professional development and training programmes for key educational and training personnel to facilitate their efforts to develop strategies within the framework of lifelong learning for poverty reduction and sustainable development.

Request international organisations (intergovernmental, nongovernment, development banks and agencies) to:

Collaborate in the development of a coherent, integrated UN policy and action plan to provide all with opportunities for learning throughout life for poverty reduction and education for sustainable development, reinforcing and extending their collective and individual efforts to support programmes and activities aimed at achieving the MDGs by 2015.

Generate a shared international agenda, agreed targets and strategic plan of action and joint agreements on roles, responsibilities and funding.

Expand international statistics and develop more robust and policy-relevant indicator systems to assess progress in promoting lifelong learning, the effectiveness of international and national policies and strategies aimed at poverty reduction and sustainable development policies and strategies and the social, economic and environmental benefits from investments made.

Build partnerships with and seek the support of international corporations, media, foundations and nongovernment organisations involving them actively at all stages in the development and implementation of lifelong learning policy and strategies.

Support international, comparative and developmental research on the effectiveness of LL policy and programmes for poverty alleviation and sustainable development.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to acknowledge the assistance of Kenneth King, Mark Mason, Bob Adamson, Lee Moo Sung, Eric Tsang, Peter Kell and Maureen Tam who reviewed and made helpful comments on earlier drafts of this chapter. However, the authors take full responsibility for the final version of the chapter.

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Power, C.N., Maclean, R. (2013). Lifelong Learning: Meaning, Challenges, and Opportunities. In: Maclean, R., Jagannathan, S., Sarvi, J. (eds) Skills Development for Inclusive and Sustainable Growth in Developing Asia-Pacific. Technical and Vocational Education and Training: Issues, Concerns and Prospects, vol 19. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5937-4_2

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Essay on Importance of Learning

Students are often asked to write an essay on Importance of Learning in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

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The Role of Lifelong Learning

In an era marked by rapid technological advancement and societal change, lifelong learning has become increasingly important. It enables us to stay relevant and competitive in the evolving job market, adapt to technological advancements, and navigate societal changes effectively. Lifelong learning fosters resilience, adaptability, and a growth mindset, qualities that are crucial for success in the 21st century.

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• Benefits of Lifelong Learning

Benefits of Lifelong Learning - Essay Example

• Subject: Sociology
• Type: Essay
• Level: Undergraduate
• Pages: 3 (750 words)
• Downloads: 3
• Author: cathyjones

Extract of sample "Benefits of Lifelong Learning"

With the onset of the internet age, some people resorted to self-study and research as a form of life-long learning.                 Life-long learning offers several benefits for individuals in various stages of their lives.  For those who have just recently graduated and have chosen to undergo further formal education, whether, in school or their jobs, life-long learning presents numerous advantages.  Hildebrand asserts that “learning opens up so many doors… why choose to close them?” (Hildebrand, par 9).  According to Hildebrand, it sharpens one’s mind and improves memory.  One’s reasoning and cognitive skills are enhanced as the brain is exercised.  She goes on further to say that lifelong learning sharpens one’s confidence because one can learn something new and share it with others.  Moreover, it also sharpens one’s ability to communicate; thus, improving one’s interpersonal skills (Hildebrand, par 8).  For young professionals, life-long learning will increase their career opportunities, opening up more job options.             For those who are retired, the benefits of life-long learning were outlined by Nordstrom in her book “Learning Later, Living Greater: The Secret for Making the Most of Your After-50 Years” (Nordstrom and Merz).  According to Nordstrom, life-long learning helps to fully develop one’s natural abilities and it opens up the mind through stimulating discussions.  She further stressed that life-long learning produces a curious mind that yearns for more information.  Moreover, Nordstrom stated that wisdom is increased with life-long learning.  She does not agree with the age-old adage, “You can’t teach old dogs new tricks.”  Nordstrom believes that life-long learning helps people to adapt to change, especially those over 50 years of age.  They also find more meaning in their lives because they feel that they can contribute more to society with their newfound knowledge.   For those who are retired, life-long learning is an alternative way of socialization because they can meet new friends which enriches their lives.  Nordstrom summarizes the benefit of life-long learning by stating, “Through academic learning, educational adventure travel, and our renewed sense of volunteerism, we expand our awareness, embrace self-fulfillment, and truly create an exciting multi-dimensional life. It doesn’t get any better than that!” (Nordstrom and Merz).             The relevance and benefits of life-long learning make one committed to making it a part of one’s life.  After graduation, one intends to further pursue formal, non-formal, or informal life-long learning.  One believes that life learning offers a plethora of benefits to both the individual and society.  One is convinced that one should never lose the urge to learn new things.  Completing a college degree is not the end of the learning process.  It may be the end of formal school education but it is not the finish line of learning.  Getting a job after graduation offers even greater opportunities for self-improvement.  Companies often offer training programs to improve the skills of their employees.  Other corporations send their employees to national and international conferences, seminars, or workshops to further educate their workers and increase their proficiency and expertise in a certain field.                    As a fresh graduate committed to life-long learning, one is aware of the benefits that one can achieve with its practice.  Among these are the increase in the number of job options for a graduate and the ability to do one’s job better.  This would mean a more secure future for the graduate and; thus, a better provider for one’s family.  Life-long learning will make the graduate more knowledgeable of the current trends and issues in one’s field of expertise. This will make one easily adapt to any changes which he might encounter in the future.  One will also feel more fulfilled and it will boost one’s ego.  Even at home, with just a laptop on hand, one is determined to continue life-long learning by undertaking valuable research on the net.  There are many ways by which one can enrich one’s knowledge.  Learning is not confined to the four walls of the school, learning is everywhere.  Be it on the job, in a conference or a workshop, or simply exploring a new personal interest, learning will always put one at an advantage.              Life-long learning should not be a burden.  It is something that must be enjoyed, something that will put more meaning to one’s life.  The pursuit of knowledge will always be a rewarding experience both for the young and the old.

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A Changing Landscape for Lifelong Learning in Health Globally

Sharon mitchell.

a Institute of Medical Education (IML), University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland

Julien-Carl Phaneuf

b School of Health Professions Education (SHE), University of Maastricht, Maastricht, The Netherlands

Silvia Matilda Astefanei

c NHS Foundation Trust, Essex Partnership University, Wickford, UK

Sissel Guttormsen

d Small is Mighty (Pty) Ltd, City of Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa

Esther de Groot

e University of Utrecht, the Netherlands

Carolin Sehlbach

On 25 July 2022, the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Special Interest Group of the Association for Medical Education in Europe came together to open up discussions during a live webinar on ‘ Exploring the Evolution of CPD ’. The objective was to bring together global medical educators to consider perspectives of CPD from the role of global lifelong learners, the role of educators and the role of education providers and health regulators. The landscape of CPD is evolving, and the roles of each key player must include specific actions for facilitated change. Delivering competency outcomes-based learning, fit for purpose, to lifelong learners in health will require (1) learner agency, (2) leadership from educators and (3) providers of lifelong learning to come together to improve delivery of CPD that leads to meaningful change in practice care delivery.

Health-care professionals aim to deliver high-quality care to patients. The lifelong-learning landscape in health is changing, driven by the reported shortages of estimated 18 million health workers by 2030 and aligned to sustainable development goals [ 1 ]. Questions surrounding demands on health-care systems and access to trained health-care professionals have prompted discourse on how health-care delivery will change post-pandemic. The mismatch between what is delivered in continuing professional development (CPD) initiatives with what is expected in patient care delivery becomes even more apparent with increasing needs for specific competencies to function within interprofessional health-care teams [ 2 ]. The mismatch between delivery of CPD initiatives and patient care is increased by additional factors. These factors include applying knowledge, based on evolving clinical evidence, providing leadership, facilitating decisions together with patients, families and teams and applying problem solving to complex health system and patient care demands [ 3 ] .

CPD requires practicing health professionals to continue to upskill and maintain the competencies required for professional practice. CPD is part of the continuum of lifelong learning initiated during graduate and postgraduate education and continues throughout a career. Lifelong learning in the health landscape is changing, responding to the more complex needs of patients and health systems. Providing CPD initiatives that are fit-for-purpose aimed at driving positive change in practice performance is challenging. Not all forms of CPD have the desired impact intended. Offering learning opportunities that are interactive, use multiple methods over an extended period of time and focus on competency-based outcomes are more effective [ 4 ]. Reducing emphasis on didactic, knowledge-based CPD is needed to continue advancement of skills and competencies required to change behaviour and improve practice performance. An acceptable, applicable educational design should bring together traditional formal learning design and delivery [ 5 ] with unstructured informal and workplace-based learning [ 6 , 7 ] to maximise learning opportunities.

The Association for Medical Education in Europe (AMEE) CPD Committee is tasked with supporting CPD within AMEE. A Special Interest Group (SIG) has been created as a space for all global parties interested in CPD to connect. Members of the AMEE CPD SIG organised a webinar ‘ Exploring the Evolution of CPD’ in July 2022. We reflect on this recent AMEE CPD webinar to open a dialogue on transforming the learning landscape for healthcare professionals globally. Our group brings together the international community of CPD educators and newly trained medical professionals to reflect upon the challenges of transforming education for trained health professionals. Perspectives of different collaborators with respect to CPD are considered. Learners need to engage in and apply learning to continually improve practice. Educators are responsible for facilitating learning opportunities to support learners to recognise gaps. Education providers , organisational leaders and health regulators are responsible for providing learning opportunities fit for purpose and set guidelines to meet health system needs. Innovative action and interaction between these collaborators will sustain health-care professional’s development with the goal of maintaining and improving the provision of safe and effective care for patients.

A role for Learners

Health professionals are expected to engage in CPD opportunities and lifelong learning. While they navigate busy clinical workloads, they must be agents of their own professional growth and identify opportunities for learning based on their patients’ needs [ 8 ]. Because health professionals must respond to increasingly complex care situations, they have to demonstrate their continuous acquisition of new competencies to be trusted with the care of patients [ 9–11 ]. Using Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) in CPD could allow for this. EPAs are the key tasks of a profession that can be progressively entrusted to learners as they demonstrate increasing readiness to perform tasks without supervision [ 12 ]. Frameworks for EPAs are used to create developmental pathways from undergraduate to postgraduate and clinical practice [ 10–13 ]. Frameworks for EPAs could be applied beyond the transition-to-practice phase of the health professions education continuum to promote lifelong learning. Using EPAs in CPD would prompt health professionals to (1) document their performance in the workplace to continue practicing tasks they have been entrusted with, (2) leave behind the EPAs they outgrow and (3) ask for entrustment for additional EPAs [ 7 ]. Applying frameworks of EPAs to CPD means moving away from reporting participation in learning and assessment activities using credit hours as a metric [ 14 ]. Such a dramatic change in CPD for health professionals would require support from certifying bodies.

Health professionals can already move towards EPA-based CPD by defining the tasks they want peers, colleagues, and patients to trust them with (e.g. case-based discussion with peers and multisource feedback from colleagues and patients). Using EPAs in CPD should empower health professionals to become lifelong learners whose self-reflection and assessment are grounded within the context of their everyday practice.

A role for Educators

While the role of learners as curators of their own knowledge may be required as a first step towards active learning [ 8 ], building professional leadership among trained health professionals will facilitate more learning opportunities within the workplace [ 13 ]. Although teaching requires a particular set of skills, most medical educators receive little to no training on how to instruct medical students or health-care professionals [ 14 ]. Yet, for current health systems to sustain safe and effective care for patients, change is needed, and for change to be implemented, competent educators are essential. Delivery of quality education to trained health professionals is dependent on a specific set of competencies of trained health educators [ 14 ]. Competencies encompass what is known as KSA—knowledge, skills and attitude. Teachers should appreciate that the learning transfer is bilateral, and while learners benefit from the experience of their seniors, the educators also benefit from their students‘ learning [ 15 ]. Qualitative teaching and learning represent an exhaustive modus operandi that goes beyond these pedagogy processes, but encompasses issues such as diversity, mental health, assessment, evaluation and environmental education [ 16 ]. Educators have a role that may support and facilitate a culture for lifelong learning in health and empower health-care professionals as agents of their own learning opportunities, crucial to develop future roles that will meet the demands of tomorrow’s health system needs.

A role for education providers, health regulators, organisational leaders and policymakers of lifelong learning

Published standards on CPD offer education providers with a minimum-expected quality for the implementation of learning programmes. The WFME guide on the Continuing Professional Development of Medical Doctors offers a broad basis from which to build lifelong learning in health founded on common principles [ 17 ]. A recent article outlining consensus standards on equivalency between Continuing Medical Accreditation Systems brings new dimensions from the perspective of standards for the recognition within lifelong learning for health [ 18 ]. Published standards for professional occupations such as family doctors [ 19 ] and pharmacy [ 20 ] can be the springboard from which to achieve quality education and improved outcomes. These published standards are complemented by the activities of the World Health Organization Academy, who aspire to deliver short, competency-based training programmes with the specific intention of upskilling and reskilling trained health professionals globally [ 21 ], along with well-established regional, national and local education providers. There is little known about the acceptability, applicability and extent of implementation of standards by education providers globally.

CPD providers are tasked with the responsibility of delivering quality competency-based training to improve patient outcomes. With the delivery of quality CPD initiatives aligned to internationally agreed standards, health regulators may set expectations to recognise and certify specific tasks or skills. Policymakers must advance regulated recertification practices aligning with evidence-based education. Collated credits resembling tick box exercises do little to improve practice performance. Yet, a vast number of European countries continue to impose re-certification activities in this way [ 22 , 23 ].

The decisions and policy actions of education leaders will positively or negatively affect learning opportunities, particularly engagement in unstructured informal learning grounded in everyday clinical practice. This approach is becoming more widely accepted by collaborators [ 24 , 25 ], with the distinct logic that a focus on learning outcomes will improve competencies required for practice performance.

The current status of health systems world over is critical. Provision of quality CPD to reskill and upskill health professionals to deliver safe and effective care requires proactive planning and involvement of all collaborators. Action driven by the collective responsibility of lifelong learners in health, educators, policymakers, education providers and regulators will facilitate a more cohesive approach to maximise the true potential of CPD for trained health professionals. Complexity in the health-care environment abounds and providing CPD opportunities that are aligned with learners’ needs and healthcare outcomes is a constant challenge. While there is still much to learn on what best practice in CPD is, creating spaces for EPAs, empowering education providers with leadership skills and developing internationally recognised quality standards will go a long way to creating the healthcare vision of the future.

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