INCULTURATION OF LIFELONG LEARNING

PREPARED BY:

HAJAH ZELIHA

AZIE AZMAN

INTRODUCTION

What is Lifelong Learning?

A simple definition of lifelong learning is that it is “development after formal education: the continuing development of knowledge and skills that people experience after formal education and throughout their lives” (Encarta, 2008). Lifelong learning builds on prior learning as it expands knowledge and skills in depth and breadth (London, in press). Learning is “the way in which individuals or groups acquire, interpret, reorganize, change or assimilate a related cluster of information, skills, and feelings. It is also primary to the way in which people construct meaning in their personal and shared organizational lives” (Marsick, 1987, p. 4, as quoted in Matthews, 1999, p. 19).

Most people associate learning with formal education at school, college, university etc. We are all told, from an early age, that we should ‘get a good education’. Generally speaking it is true that a formal education and the resulting qualifications are important. Education may maximize our potential to find better, more satisfying jobs, earn more and, perhaps, become more successful in our chosen career. However, ‘schooling’ is only one type of learning. There are many other opportunities to further your knowledge and develop the skills you need throughout life. Knowledge can be acquired and skill-sets developed anywhere – learning is unavoidable and happens all the time. However, lifelong learning is about creating and maintaining a positive attitude to learning both for personal and professional development.

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. Lifelong learners are motivated to learn and develop because they want to: it is a deliberate and voluntary act. Lifelong learning can enhance our understanding of the world around us, provide us with more and better opportunities and improve our quality of life.

MAIN CONTENTS

The Importance of Lifelong Learning

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

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.

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.

Improvement in other personal and professional skills

While we are busy learning a new skill or acquiring new knowledge, we are 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.

Improved self-confidence

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

1. - - 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.

Types of Lifelong Learning

While there is a wide range of reasons to engage in lifelong learning, there are also many types. These fall along a spectrum of informal to formal learning opportunities.

Formal. Formal lifelong learning often takes place as part of a scheduled and monitored sequence of learning such as college courses. This type of learning is not done on demand and usually follows a set schedule with a cohort of learners.
Self-directed. When students have control over the path and pace of learning it may be known as self-directed. Examples of this in lifelong learning may include online courses that can be taken on demand when your schedule permits. This may also include YouTube workshops that are sequenced but self-paced.
Professional. One of the most common types of lifelong learning happens at work through professional development, job training or skill acquisition, and it is usually tied to career passion. Learning on the job, both formally and informally, is a primary way of lifelong learning. Some companies like Google and Microsoft allow employees to spend up to 20% of their week on projects and interests that are not directly related to their current role. This type of learning ties together professional and personal lifelong learning.
Personal. This type of lifelong learning is usually done outside of the workplace, and is often tied to a passion or interest. Individuals may pursue this learning informally or formally.
Indirectly. Some lifelong learning happens without you even planning or knowing about it. Through conversations, unexpected lessons learned, relationships or travel, the world around you may expose you to new ideas and learning than you had even planned for.
Informal. At the opposite end of the spectrum from formal learning is informal learning. Individuals may choose to learn through reading, watching YouTube, from a peer, or by trial and error. The ways to learn informally today are endless.

Organizational lifelong learning

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.

How to adopt lifelong learning in your life?

Recognize your own personal interests and goals

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

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

Once you have 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 PHD is a dream goal. Both of these are different levels of interest that entail different ways of learning.

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.

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.

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.

Benefits of Lifelong Learning

It Can Help Your Brain Stay Healthy

Continuing to learn does good things for our brains. Recent research has found that learning keeps brain cells working at optimum levels, which can limit cognitive and memory decline as we age.† The best part is, the learning can come in any form. As long as we’re acquiring new knowledge, we’re keeping our brain healthier.

It Can Help You Stay Connected

From participating in continued education at colleges and universities to attending art classes at the rec center to studying and debating important issues in online groups, many forms of adult education allow you to meet new people and connect with the ideas of today. If you want to keep making friends and avoid becoming out of touch with the modern world, one of the best choices you can make is to continue learning.

It Can Help You Stay Fulfilled

Many people participate in lifelong learning because they enjoy it. And that’s no surprise, given that research has shown that lifelong learning can lead to an enriching life of self-fulfillment. When we take the time to learn new things, we open our minds and gain wisdom that can help us make the world a better place through social change and other life-affirming endeavors.

It Can Help You Be Happier

Lifelong learning doesn’t just increase the likelihood we’ll feel fulfilled, it can improve our emotional balance and help us avoid depression. For older adults, this is particularly beneficial, as depression often comes with aging. While there is no cure for getting older, lifelong learning can help us stay happier as we progress through the stages of life.

It’s Easier Than Ever to Engage in Lifelong Learning

The rise of online education has made lifelong learning a real possibility for everyone, no matter where or how you live. That’s because online learning lets you learn from home. Plus, you can take online classes at whatever time of day works best for you, keeping you in control of your schedule.

CONCLUSION

LIFELONG learning is the process of gaining new knowledge and skills throughout one’s life. In some situations, lifelong learning is about acquiring new skills/knowledge for the sake of pure interest. More often than not, lifelong learning in today’s context is closely associated to one’s professional development, which includes learning new skills and/or upgrading qualifications for the betterment of career prospects.

The rapid development of technology has completely reshaped how work is done. There is also a growing need for cross-disciplinary skills and knowledge. In order to remain competitive, one has to constantly upgrade. Some individuals are offered the opportunity to upgrade their studies with financial and time-off support from their employers.

The Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted previous norms in teaching and learning. Even so, most institutions of higher learning still conform to synchronous learning, be it face-to-face, online, or mixed mode. To effectively encourage a culture of lifelong learning, more flexible options must be made available, especially to lifelong learners who are working adults.

Creating a Lifelong Learning System in Malaysia is a National Agenda. It is clearly stated in the New Economic Model that continual training and re-skilling of workers to take on higher- value jobs through lifelong learning are an integral part of expanding the national talent base, particularly, those in the lower segment of the working population.

A way forward in this crucial agenda is to adopt lifelong learning as a mainstream initiative, in tandem with the school system and tertiary education, to enhance the skills, competencies and academic qualifications of the existing working population. Inculturation of lifelong learning seeks to influence individuals to embrace and adopt lifelong learning as a way of life.

REFERENCES

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