EcCoWell 2 Briefing Paper 7: Rethinking Lifelong Learning within Current Contexts of Time and Space

Please find attached the 7^th Briefing Paper in the EcCoWell 2 series, by Tom Schuller, Idowu Biao, and Mike Osborne, entitled, Rethinking Lifelong Learning within Current Contexts of Time and Space. The objective of this piece is to open up some fresh lines of thinking about lifelong learning by looking in a very broad way at the dimensions of time and place, in a global context.

The authors pose a number of important questions and invite your comments. Subscribers can log in to the PASCAL/LCN website and use the blog space to open up debate. We welcome your thoughts.

Peter Kearns

EcCoWell Co-Co-ordinator

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Intergenerational Learning

by Jac Torres Gomez - Sep 30 2020 - 23:53

I love the idea that relationships between generations are changing from times past, and the role that lifelong learning can contribute to making these relationships more profound and harmonious. Intergenerational learning is magical and goes two ways. Take for example what we can learn from children about climate change and the Friday's for the Future movement that is creating policy change. Then on the other end of this, what we can learn from older generations about living simply, frugaly and being grateful for what life can teach us.

Fresh lines of thinking

by Peter Kearns - Oct 6 2020 - 08:37

The paper by Schuller, Biao, and Osborne opens up fresh lines of thinking about lifelong learning across a broad set of dimensions relevant to the challenges confronting us in a period of dislocation and turbulence as we look to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

While these questions need to be addressed in a range of contexts over time, the practical issue for participants in the PASCAL EcCoWell 2 Community Recovery program is how these important questions can be addressed in a committed learning city or neighbourhood looking to recover from the pandemic in the best possible way.

Looking across the six dimensions of the proposed framework, I am struck by how much can be progressed in local learning neighbourhoods. In the aftermath of the impact of the pandemic, personal relationships, social cohesion, citizenship, maintaining employability, health and well-being will all be important in recovery. The increased significance of informal learning and technology-assisted learning point to ways of progressing these objectives in local neighbourhoods with a range of partners, including active civil society participation. In the era of ageing populations with increasing automation and digitisation, local neighbourhoods will become increasingly important in supporting people in adjusting to these conditions and maintaining well-being.

The objective in the proposed framework that does not easily fit into such a local community led recovery, is global interdependence. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has shown how fundamental global interdependence is in 2ist century conditions. When we add climate change, implementing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and a spectrum of economic aspects, it is clear that this dimension of building a sustainable civilisation must receive attention in local communities as elsewhere.

I wonder then, if a positive response to the dimensions of rethinking lifelong learning might be to develop networks of Global Learning Neighbourhoods that combine local and global objectives in synergistic ways. There is a broad spectrum of institutions supporting learning in local communities such as Kominkan in Japan, Volkhochschulen in Germany, Folk High Schools in Scandinavian countries, Neighbourhood Houses in Australia and elsewhere, the numerous U3A institutions around the world, as well as community colleges that could progress such an agenda with the active support of civil society and universities.

In shaping responses to this paper, I welcome responses to two questions.

Do you favour the development of Global Learning neighbourhoods for the reasons outlined above?
Which of the questions in the Rethinking Lifelong Learning Paper is most relevant to the future development of your city or neighbourhood in recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic and preparing for a better sustainable future?

Responses to two questions

by Jac Torres Gomez - Oct 12 2020 - 01:03

From Diane Tabbagh:

Yes Peter, yes I think global neighbourhoods would be useful for sharing information and partnering (which we have demonstrated in our Global Learning Festival can enhance outcomes).

In terms of which of these questions resonate with me, the following do:

Relating to global interdependence:

What new training and recruitment will be needed to enable these new forms of online learning to be properly accessible and pedagogically effective?

Relating to citizenship:

What are civic duties and entitlements? How are people prepared for them, as native citizens or migrants? How have these changed over time, for instance in the notions of democracy that are deployed (cf. above on historical understanding)?
How much is citizenship about factual knowledge, and how much about values and behaviour?

Relating to health:

What approaches that integrate policy in health and in learning are likely to be most effective? What approaches can cities take in addressing health issues, and put greater emphasis on mental health? Are there new arguments that will convince policymakers that investment in older learners is worthwhile?
What is known about learning programmes that effectively promote independence in later life? What approaches might the lifelong learning community make in response to the learning needs of older adults and the disabled, so that they can be assisted to participate in producing within and for society? How can the learning needs of the disabled be brought to greater prominence in learning city developments?

Thanks, Diane.