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THE ATTITUDE TO LIFELONG EDUCATION OF GENERATIONS “X” AND “Y”
О. I. Scherbakova
The modern educational system is conditioned by the transition of Russia and the world to an information-based, post-industrial society, where people are focused not on simple acquisition of already available knowledge, but on the possible potential of lifelong development of professional and personal qualities throughout the life cycle.
Lifelong education involves diversity and flexibility of the forms of training, its humanization, democratization and individualization. An important feature of lifelong education is its focus on the future. An information-based society gives a person new perception of human knowledge, ways of acquiring knowledge, methods of presenting information, the need for forecasting, programming, design and modelling the researched situation (an object, a process, a phenomenon) in the conditions of a rapidly changing unstable external environment.
The traditional educational system is focused on students getting knowledge and skills, so knowledge becomes a goal, and erudition becomes an ideal result. The system of lifelong education is focused on the formation of an individual learning algorithm, whereas the goal is transformation of such information and development of stable research skills for dealing with the information, where innovation is a result.
Professionals of different generations have their own peculiarities, and you need to work with them, based on their specific characteristics, and the difference in their values. Thus, we belive that the generation born between 1943- and 1963 has such core values as an interest in personal growth, teamwork, and team spirit. Personal growth is understood by such employees as an increasing ability to achieve results as a team. At the present time, practically all representatives of this generation have reached the retirement age, however, some of them are still working. Good health and endurance are the specific features of the representatives of this generation.
The generation of people born from 1963 to 1983 has the following features: willingness to change, resistency to lack of understanding and appreciation of their choice, global awareness, informal points of view, reliance on themselves. This generation of workers can be called “the generation of lonely people focused on persistent work and invididual success.” Among their features, we can mention movement in one direction, the habit of building their career in one place, the habit of gaining experience throughout years, and availability of profile education.
The generation born from 1983 to 2003 has its own understanding of success and determination. This generation is not inclined to start their career from the bottom and slowly grow up, waiting for years for promotion and benefit increases. This generation is focused on immediate incentive. These people have to live in an information-based society, and, therefore, to feel the incredible flow of the communicative environment, as well as to experience the instability of the professional environment. Therefore, this generation tends not to be professionals, or specialists in one area of activity, because life is constantly changing. Among
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the features of this generation are an unprecedented level of technical literacy, an increase in the amount of work, and the wish to receive new knowledge. This generation will become the main labor force in the labor market over time, and it will be the foundation for supplying employees of the service area and mid-tier managers.
In our work we investigated the attitude of representatives of “X” and “Y” generations to lifelong education. To do this, a survey was conducted by questioning 40 people. In the first group we received answers fromrespondents aged 20 to 35, and in the second one - answers of respondents aged above 50. Table 1 shows the attitude of representatives of “X” and “Y” generations to lifelong education.
Table 1
Attitude to lifelong education of different age groups
Attitude to lifelong education Positive Neutral Nagative
Number of people (%) from 20 to 35 70% 15% 15%
Number of peope (%) above 50 years old 40% 20% 40%
Respondents of the first group believe that lifelong education is a positive phenomenon at 70%, while 15% take a neutral position, and 15% of the respondents demonstrate a negative attitude. As for the second age group, 40% of the respondents believe that lifelong education is a positive phenomenon, and the same percentage believes that it is a negative phenomenon, whereas 20% take the neutral position.
Let us consider in more detail the answers of the groups. Analysis of the responses in the age 20 - 35 group showed the following: the majority of positive responses was conditioned by the importance of self-development, the need to develop, by the fact that “the world is not standing still, and you should keep up with it.” There were also the following answers: “Learning is light, whereas lack of learning is darkness,” “education is good,” “I want my children to learn.” The respondents noted that, if they do not have opportunities to learn at the moment, they want their children to learn. One of the respondents expressed the opinion that he was ready to learn, but “not in the format that now exists in the educational system, because it is a conveyor belt.” The respondents mentioned such an important factor of learning as career development, which is only possible with lifelong education, and they mentioned that “it is better to study than to work.” Negative responses were received from the respondents who believed that work and family were the most important things for them. Furthermore, one of the respondents believed that training was a long process, which was necessarily connected with separation from work. Many peopled note that it is difficult to study, because one needs to work, and after work you feel exhausted, and it is not possible to do anything else. Furthermore, one more reason for a negative attitude was mentioned: “a man wants to live to satisty his/her own needs”. The opinion of
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women is of particular interest: two respondents think that women live for the sake of their familites, in order to educate their children, and they do not need to study.
The results of a questionnaire among respondents over 50 years showed that those who wanted to improve their work and improve their career development defended the idea of lifelong education. For some of them, training seems no longer possible, but they want their children to learn: “I have no time, every day I experience the same routine: work - home - work, but I tell my girls that they need to study, because it will liberate them from the need to work from morning till night.” This respondent thinks that education is directly related to an “easy” job, to the possibility of making a good career and receiving a well-paid job. One of the respondents believes that education is and continues to be continuous, because at first, you study yourself, then with your children, and then with your grandchildren. Education is also important for some pensioners, because you need to constantly develop, and everyone should learn. Some people, despite their age, want to find a better paying job, to win a competition, etc. Respondents are willing to learn, but they highlight the “quality of education” as one of the most important components of training. Counter arguments include lack of time, and the wish to “live”. Furthermore, one of the respondents thinks that education is not necessary for the purpose of normal development, and “a goal and the right connections” are of particular importace. There is also an opinion that education is only in demand by young people, and that pensioners don’t need it. Some people believe that lifelong education is directly related to an “absence from work”, thus it badly affected professional development and the work itself, because somebody else has to do the job. Also the respondents told that “courses do not give any lessons,” that education was “only was an obstacle for work”, and that “new knowledge may be received only be reading books”, that “it was necessary to study at the university”, and that “courses are just a holiday”.
Thus, lifelong education is mainly supported by respondents aged 20 to 35, while respondents over 50 are either neutral, or (mostly), demonstrate a negative attitude. The survey results show the following: the “Y” generation acccepts the idea of lifelong education more positively than the “X” generation. This suggests the question of whether today’s education is an education of high quality, whether the received knowledge is deep enough, and whether the skills of the modern generation are well developed.
Currently, there are two opposing attitudes to lifelong learning: its complete rejection and calling it another utopia, on the one hand, and the definition of lifelong education as a main, and, perhaps, the only productive pedagogical idea of the present stage of international development, on the other...
Translated from Russian by Znanije Central Translations Bureau
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