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EDUCATIONAL REVOLUTION
Y. Attou
M. Bouche
Notwithstanding that EU conception is accepted unanimously, but in practice the lifelong learning idea is intricate and misunderstood, sometimes it's considered as return to school and can remind about unpleasant situations. Authors ponder over the ways of continuing education development in Europe and in the world generally.
Key words: lifelong learning, educational revolution, civil society.
The need to learn throughout one’s whole life is an idea that is now universally recognized. But what exactly are we talking about? In fact, it is all about considering education as a continuous process going on from early childhood to the end of life. It embraces all the possibilities of acquiring knowledge: family education, formal education from kindergarten to university, non-formal education, informal education, vocational training, public education, self-learning, training in the workplace, learning while carrying out civil activities, and free time universities. According to the European Community, this kind of education is defined as “learning activities undertaken at any stage of life, with the aim of improving knowledge, skills and competences within personal, civic and social development and / or those related to work”. But, despite the fact that it is unanimously adopted, the idea of lifelong education remains confusing and misunderstood. It is sometimes viewed as a return to school, and may bring about unpleasant memories. In the context of a break in professional activities, it is a sort of a “lifebuoy” or “SOS training”. Lifelong education is mistakenly regarded as advanced training for adults, or even as a second chance to address gaps. Let us try to make it clear.
A time-honored idea. This is a long-lasting process according to Confucius: The idea of learning throughout our lives is as old as civilization itself. Confucius, a Chinese philosopher (551- 479 BC) recommended: “Continuously revise what you already know. Relentlessly learn new things. This way you will become a master”. Up to the 19th century, philosophers, scientists, religious leaders, and participants in economic and social life, had been trying to prove the need for lifelong education. Those included, among others - Luther, Rabelais, Comenius, Grundtvig and Condorcet. It should be noted that in the 7th century, the hadith of the Prophet, who was the Koran’s comment said: « Seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave ». In the context of industrial society, we face a need to develop lifelong learning. Also, in 1809, a man called N. Mangold (USA) invented a machine to teach reading, called «Mode of Teaching Reading», which was patented by them. This was the first ever patent for a training program. The postwar period was marked by the introduction in 1948 in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 26) of the following human right: “Everyone has the right to education". In 1964, in his Human Capital Theories, Gary Becker, an American economist, argued that “from the point of view of an individual, education is an investment”. This theory will continue having an impact on economic and political leaders, as it shows that there is a connection between the level of education and productivity. In
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1967, the International Conference “Global Crisis of Education”, which was held in Williamsburg, Virginia (USA), made things surprisingly clear. Since the 90s lifelong learning has started being the focus of numerous reports, especially after the speech of Jacques Delors: “Education: there is a hidden treasure inside” (1996 -UNESCO), in which he said: “Lifelong learning is the key to entering the 21st century”. Finally, the 2000s made “lifelong learning” an integral part of the society of knowledge.
What are the changes? Three major trends in the society strongly affect the entire sphere of education and training, whether it is basic education or advanced training, formal, non-formal or informal education, global, local, or national:
(1) Globalization. Globalization of economics changes society in all its structures. Until now, education and training have not directly been affected, since governments have always been competent in this area. However, under the influence of globalization and IT system development, the global market for lifelong learning is becoming a reality, as the supply of educational services is crossborder, and incorporates any “involved” individuals. In addition, major multinational companies create within their own structures “corporate universities”, which are meant for training their own employees, thereby hindering academic training.
World demographics are directly affected, given that by 2050, the world’s population is expected to have grown to up to 10 billion people. The overall decline of state intervention into the educational sector reflects the reality: governments are no longer able to meet the high demand for education. Besides, the outflow of rural populations is increasing, so cities now should create educational services, which at the same time empties agricultural districts and deprives them of such services.
Migration entails the emergence of numerous segments of the population, characterized by diverse expectations. Educational and training systems, built on the basis of unified programs and teaching methods, have to be adapted to these new students by personalizing the transfer of knowledge. Apart from this, immigrants are constantly faced with the risk of instability and discrimination, which requires a great effort in society, within the sphere of education.
Sustainable development is necessary for all people and for all segments of the population. This issue is going to be part of lifelong learning at any time and in any place. An industrialized society needs highly skilled professionals. Society must now create “eco-citizens”, sharing civic values and new behaviors in a society of sustainable consumption.
Income inequality between countries has an impact on lifelong learning, too. Access to education and training, as a rule, depends on the level of development of a country or a region. Taking into consideration that education contributes to the economic and social development of the least developed countries, study guides are becoming particularly important. However, this does not mean that they compensate for the delay in development.
(2) IT systems development. Computer technology is growing exponentially, whereas the educational sector is not developing at the same rate. In the digital era new students are born, while parents and teachers are often not adapted to these changes. The world level of computerization in families will soon be a reality just
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like television and the mobile phone, which provides an opportunity for lifelong learning.
Use of computers is more widely spread in families, schools and universities. The educational technology allows us to adapt the rate of education to the needs of each student, and makes it more interactive and personalized. Educational and training systems do not take advantage of this opportunity. Some students can use this better than others.
The Internet provides the possibility by a single click, to access huge databases. Search engines allow navigating by keywords and hyperlinks for surfing huge libraries and encyclopedias. However, a lack of mediation raises the question of critical analysis performed by students. In addition, joint logic, which is based on the content created by students themselves, violates the traditional architecture of education and its centralized organization.
Portable gadgets (cell phones, mobile devices, smart phones) give quick access to the Internet anywhere and anytime. This new practice undermines the traditional concept of curriculum and assessment. It raises the main question of lifelong learning - physical presence during the transfer of knowledge. Experts predict a rapid development of distance learning from home or on the move, in addition to a decrease in full-time types of education, where your presence is obligatory.
(3) Development of the employment sector. Greater flexibility of the labor market requires us to be prepared for situations of uncertainty and change. Thus, the system of education and training must adapt by developing methods of transfer of knowledge, at the same time maintaining expertise in a particular area. In addition, short-term workers are the most vulnerable group, and become top priority participants in social and professional integration schemes.
The economics of the sphere of knowledge requires such skills as creativity, team work, the ability to take decisions and achieve synthesis, based on a huge amount of data. Knowledge becomes a value for commercial and social structures. Lifelong learning must be adapted, and sometimes re-engage students in the process, in accordance with this new logic. Providing career security becomes a necessity, given the alternation of periods of activity and unemployment. Lifelong learning plays an important role in ensuring the confidence in professional and personal activities. This refers to the transition from only guaranteeing workplaces, to maintaining and developing employment skills, and the internal and external mobility of people throughout their lives.
What is the new educational process like? In the context of globalization and the rapid development of the Internet, we are witnessing the appearance of “The global network for lifelong learning”, which allows many people on the planet to gain access to databases anywhere and anytime. Moreover, unification of all local schools, high schools, universities and research centers creates a “global space of common shared intellect”. Gradually, systems appear in the fields of cross-border education and training meant for the majority of the world’s citizens, anywhere and equally, regardless of their social level, occupation, place of residence and age. They are managed by institutions of secondary and higher education, supported by new players from the sphere of telecommunications,
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computing, and communications, as well as civil figures and those coming from various religious groups.
Lifelong education is not only meant for students, but refers to 7 billion people on the planet, who are learners too, including 770 million who are still illiterate. The same logic applies to local and regional levels, which explains the appearance of “educational cities” and “educational regions” where the educational process covers the entire population. Next to or in tandem with traditional public education, we are seeing the appearance of education which is both local and global in its computerized segment. This raises the question of the phenomenon of “glocalization” (a term coined by confluence of “global” and “local”), introduced by the British sociologist Roland Robertson in the 1990s. In turn, Koichiro Matsuura, the former Director General of the UNESCO, said in closing the First World Forum on lifelong learning and training (UNESCO, October 29th, 2008): “We must make a Copernican revolution: knowledge no longer revolves around society, but society is revolves around knowledge”.
Every revolution irreversibly establishes a new order. Moreover, we are faced with the question, what form will this new educational order take? We do not know its exact form yet, but we can already see some elements of this new configuration: the “global village” will have its village school. It will be a “global network of lifelong learning”, one of whose classes will be the Internet. New training systems will be hybrids and will consist of classes in the presence of a teacher, “e-mail learning” stages, e-learning, online assessment. Self-education will take its place in this complex. The students will be those ten billion people of the future of the “learning planet”. Most of them will get connected via their home computer equipment or via computer equipment located in public places. Digital libraries are already open 24 hours a day. Lectures given by professors will be available for downloading. As Bill Gates, CEO and President of Microsoft, once said: “In five years, the Internet will become a new learning tool. You will be able to find the best world conferences on a free of charge basis on the Internet. It will be better than any university”.
Thus, the new architecture of lifelong learning changes the structure of the traditional systems of primary education and continuous education for adults. It is both local and transnational, and is built without any regulation. This is a huge project calculated over a few decades. Even more so as the “learning planet” has 70 million people not involved at all in the system of education of children.
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