Arinto, P. and Bandalaria, M. (2009). Lifelong Learning. EDDE 211 Course Manual.

University of the Philippines Open University.

Module 2
Contexts and Models of Lifelong Learning

Objectives

After working on this module, you should be able to:

1. Describe the economic, social, and political contexts of the
discourse on lifelong learning in the 21st century; and
2. Discuss and analyze the various models of lifelong learning.

1.0 Contexts of Lifelong Learning

Policy and education discourses on lifelong learning are driven by a

number of economic, social, political, and cultural developments which
are briefly described below.

1.1 Lifelong Learning and the Global Knowledge Economy

Activity 2-1

Read “The Knowledge Economy and the Changing Needs of the Labor
Market” (pp. 1-19) in the World Bank report titled Lifelong Learning in the
Global Knowledge Economy: Challenges for Developing Countries which
is available at
http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EDUCATION/Resources/278200-
1099079877269/547664-1099079984605/lifelonglearning_GKE.pdf

The recent attention paid to lifelong learning by policymakers around the

world stems in no small measure from the emergence since the 1990s of
a new world economic order characterized by globalization and new
knowledge-based modes of production. The World Bank report (see
Activity 2-1) calls this new order the ‘knowledge economy’. As the name
implies, its main feature is the value it places on knowledge creation,
acquisition, transmission, and use by individuals, organizations, and
enterprises to create value. The following features characterize the
knowledge economy:

 Knowledge is being developed and applied in new ways to

create value, improve efficiency, and increase productivity.

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 Arinto, P. and Bandalaria, M. (2009). Lifelong Learning. EDDE 211 Course Manual.
University of the Philippines Open University.

  Product cycles are shorter, and the need for innovation is greater.
 Trade is increasing worldwide, putting pressure on producers
 to compete in global markets.
 The service sector, comprised of small and medium-sized,
enterprises, is growing rapidly as an important engine for economic
growth and employment.

According to Haddad and Draxler (2002, p. 6), the rise of the

knowledge economy is changing “the rules of the game for economic
success” as follows:

 Countries and firms will have to develop and mature technologically

and managerially, and place greater emphasis on productivity,
 quality, and flexibility in production.
 As their tasks change rapidly and new knowledge-intensive jobs
replace existing jobs, workers can no longer rely on the knowledge
and skills they acquired in school prior to employment, and they will
 need flexible training and continuing education.
 Knowledge work requires a solid scientific and technological
foundation and higher-order cognitive and social skills, such as
problem solving, flexibility, agility, resourcefulness, collaboration and
teamwork, “how to learn,” and entrepreneurship.

In short, lifelong learning is essential for workers and industries to

compete in the global knowledge economy.

1.2 Lifelong Learning and Social Cohesion

Governments and societies, and the international community as a

whole, are confronted not only with challenges in the economic sphere
but also with political and social issues such as conflict and war, social
inequality, and environmental degradation. According to Haddad and
Draxler (2002, p. 4),

There is a growing consciousness all over the world about

such issues as democracy, citizen empowerment, freedom of
communication, culture, civic participation, gender equity,
human rights, civil justice, peace, and general quality of life.

A major challenge in the face of existing and potential strife,

exploitation, and human rights violations is to instill in the
minds of citizens at all levels the principles of tolerance,
democracy, human rights, responsibility, accountability, and
peace—among countries, within countries, and among

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University of the Philippines Open University.

people. “Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the

minds of men that the defenses of peace must be
constructed” (Preamble to UNESCO’s constitution).
Meanwhile, and despite advances in health and medicine,
massive human suffering continues due to ravaging
diseases, bad health conditions, lack of understanding of
health issues, and limited use of health services. The
General Assembly of the United Nations, in 2001, singled
out HIV/AIDS for urgent and concerted action.

The challenges of social development, conflict resolution,

peace, and better quality of life are not only formidable,
but they belong to a category with which we do not have
much experience. Unlike economic development, physical
construction, and technological advancement, these
challenges are not straightforward. Many of their elements
are contextual, fluid, and controversial. It is in the interest
of everybody (governments, businesses, communities,
etc.) to draw on the best minds, approaches, and
technologies, to face this challenge and create stable
societies that are essential for political sustainability,
social development, and economic prosperity.

Lifelong learning is seen as an important response to these challenges.

As the Delors Report (1996, p. 21) puts it,

Not only must it [lifelong education] adapt to changes in the

nature of work, but it must also constitute a continuous
process of forming whole beings—their knowledge and
aptitudes, as well as the critical faculty and ability to act. It
should enable people to develop awareness of themselves
and their environment and encourage them to play their
social role and work in the community.

Underpinning this assertion is the hypothesis, according to

Medel-Añonuevo et al. (2001, p. 7), that lifelong learning is a
panacea or cure-all:

Lifelong Learning can easily be offered as an appropriate

remedy for practically every thinkable crisis people are
faced with on both the macro and the micro level, be it
poverty (by helping improve economic conditions through
programmes that introduce saving and lending systems
such as those in Bangladesh), war (through peace
education such as in Kosovo, Sierra Leone and Colombia)
or sickness (through health education ranging from safe
water provision to safe sexual behaviour).

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 Arinto, P. and Bandalaria, M. (2009). Lifelong Learning. EDDE 211 Course Manual.
University of the Philippines Open University.

1.3 Lifelong Learning and Demographic Change

Demographic change is also an important factor in the renewed

emphasis on lifelong learning (Knapper and Cropley, 2000). McNair
(2009, pp. 6-7) lists the following demographic trends:

 The population is growing but ageing: as a result of rising life

 expectancy, improvements in health, and through immigration.
 Life patterns are becoming more complex, and less
predictable: with more job changes for many, more geographical
mobility, more frequent relationship break-ups, second and lone
 parent families, and more multi-generation families.
 There are fewer young adults: the numbers of young people
entering the labor market are shrinking, and they are taking longer
 to establish themselves in long-term careers and adult identities.
 There are far more people in the ‘third age’ [age 50-75]:
with most people spending a much larger share of their lives
in potentially healthy and active retirement, which lasts for
 much longer.
 There are more people in the ‘fourth age’ [75+], with more
people (mainly in the final years of their lives) dependent on others
 for some aspects of daily life.
 There is greater ethnic and cultural diversity, with more
people from minority ethnic backgrounds, more widely dispersed
across the country.

While some of these trends may be more clearly observable in some

countries than others (i.e. in developed more than in developing
countries), evidence of each may be found in all countries (including
the Philippines).

According to McNair (2009, p. 8), these demographic trends pose risks

due to economic tensions arising from the decrease in economically
active individuals and from the uneven distribution of wealth; cultural
tensions resulting from migration; and personal well-being and health
tensions for older people and caregivers for example. Lifelong learning
can help mitigate these risks. McNair (2009, pp.9-10) recommends
lifelong learning opportunities for the following:

 labor market entry, to reflect the need for entry at less

 predictable ages from 16 to 70+;
 mid life review: to help people adjust to the later stages
of employed life, and plan for the transition to ‘retirement’;

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 Arinto, P. and Bandalaria, M. (2009). Lifelong Learning. EDDE 211 Course Manual.
University of the Philippines Open University.

 the growing ‘third age’ – to support people in establishing

identity and finding constructive roles for the much longer period
 they will spend in active retired life;
 the growing ‘fourth age’ – to maintain identity, health, social
 engagement and well-being during the final stages of life;
 citizenship, migration and mobility – to enable people, in an
unstable society, to establish themselves in new locations, and
to develop a sense of identity in new relationships and places.

Activity 2-2

Read McNair monograph titled “Demographic Change and Lifelong

Learning”, which can be downloaded for free from
http://shop.niace.org.uk/media/catalog/product/f/i/file_3.pdf
Although McNair’s analysis focuses on the United Kingdom, the
monograph models a nuanced approach to a theme (ageing, social
mobility, and lifelong learning) that, in a globalized world, is increasingly
relevant to many societies, including our own.

2.0 Models of Lifelong Learning

The preceding section describes the complex of factors that together

constitute the context and rationale for what Watson and Taylor (1998, p.
21) have described as the “radical revision and extension of
post-compulsory education” towards ‘education throughout and
beyond “working life”.’

However, depending on the analytic perspective taken, each of these

factors receives different levels of emphasis. This in turn accounts for
the existence of different models of lifelong learning.

McIntosh (2005, p. 4) enumerates the models of lifelong learning

as follows:

1. The functionalist model, focusing on “human capital”

formation, keeping learners abreast of technical developments,
and teaching essential skills for vocation
2. The critical literacy model, promoted by writers such as Paulo
Freire and focusing on empowerment and consciousness-raising
and the development of a challenging, questioning attitude towards
assumptions and concepts that one might previously have taken for
granted

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Arinto, P. and Bandalaria, M. (2009). Lifelong Learning. EDDE 211 Course Manual.
University of the Philippines Open University.

3. The social justice model, sharing some elements with the

critical literacy model and including such areas as gender,
human rights, peace studies, neo-colonialism and programs
focusing on ethnic minorities and socially marginalized groups
4. The reflective learning model, focusing on the development of
meta-level skills whereby the individual can critically assess different
theories, discourses and knowledge paradigms. This model could be
characterized as “learning how to think”.
5. The compensatory model, in which the educational content is
intended to remedy some deficiency in the learners. An example
would be remedial writing courses for students who enter higher
education with inadequate composition skills.
6. The humanistic model, exemplified by the Folk High School
movement of N.F.S. Grundtvig, in which the aim is essentially
to broaden learners’ horizons and enrich their minds.

The functionalist model dominates much of the policy discourse both at the
international level (e.g. at the level of the EU and OECD) and the national
level (national governments are concerned with improving economic
competitiveness). This model is also the object of critique of those who
advocate a more holistic approach to lifelong learning policy and practice.
Field (2006), for example, decries what he calls the ‘narrow vocationalism’
resulting from public policy that “tends to be driven, globally, by largely
economic concerns: competitiveness, rather than citizenship, is the primary
focus for policy” (p. 11). Sutherland and Crowther (2006) criticize “narrow
forms of instrumental learning for job flexibility” (p. 4).

Field’s remark highlights the conflict between the human capital

perspective and the human development perspective in policymaking.
In the case of lifelong learning policy, the competing perspectives are:
learning for human capital formation to enable economic prosperity;
and learning for full human development to foster and develop a
democratic, informed, and participative society.

From one point of view, the distinction sounds arbitrary and reductive
given that economic development is an element or component of
human development. But each perspective implies a different lifelong
learning model the implementation of which requires the allocation of
resources in a context of competing needs.

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Arinto, P. and Bandalaria, M. (2009). Lifelong Learning. EDDE 211 Course Manual.
University of the Philippines Open University.

Activity 2-3

The World Bank report that you read in Activity 2-1 articulates a
functionalist model of lifelong learning provision. Compare the perspective
that underpins the World Bank report with the perspective espoused by
Suzy Halimi’s “Lifelong Learning for Equity and Social Cohesion: A New
Challenge for Higher Education”, which is available online at
http://oasis.col.org/bitstream/handle/11599/70/PSeries_LLLDHE.pdf?seque
nce=1#page=21

Several policy considerations are listed at the end of Halimi’s article.

1. Which of these already exist in some form or degree in
the Philippines?
2. Which would present the greatest challenge if it were to be
adopted or adapted in the Philippines? Why?

You might be asked to share your reflections in the online

discussion forum for Module 2.

Required Readings

The World Bank. (2003). The knowledge economy and the changing
needs of the labour market. In Lifelong Learning in the Global Knowledge
Economy: Challenges for Developing Countries. Pp. 1-19. Available at
http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EDUCATION/Resources/278200-
1099079877269/547664-1099079984605/lifelonglearning_GKE.pdf
Last accessed 05 January 2018.

Halimi, S. (2005). Chapter 2 – Lifelong learning for equity and social

cohesion: a new challenge for higher education. In McIntosh, C. (ed.).
Lifelong Learning and Distance Higher Education. Commonwealth of
Learning and UNESCO. Pp. 11-22. Available at
http://oasis.col.org/bitstream/handle/11599/70/PSeries_LLLDHE.pdf?seque
nce=1#page=21
Last accessed 05 January 2018.

Recommended Reading

McNair, S. (2009). Demographic Change and Lifelong Learning. National

Institute of Adult Continuing Education (England and Wales). Available
online at http://shop.niace.org.uk/media/catalog/product/f/i/file_3.pdf
Last accessed 05 January 2018.

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University of the Philippines Open University.

References

Delors, J. et al. (1996). Learning: The Treasure Within [Highlights].

Report to UNESCO of the International Commission on Education for
the 21st Century. UNESCO Publishing. Available online at
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0010/001095/109590Eo.pdf
Last accessed 05 January 2018.

Field, J. (2006). Lifelong Learning and The New Educational Order.

Staffordshire: Trentham Books Limited.

Haddad, W. and Draxler, A. (2002). The dynamics of technologies for

education. In Haddad, W. and Draxler, A. (eds.) Technologies for
Education: Potentials, Parameters, and Prospects. UNESCO,Paris and
Academy for Educational Development, Washington, DC. Available at
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0011/001191/119129e.pdf
Last accessed 05 January 2018.

McIntosh, C. (2005). Chapter 1 - Introduction. In McIntosh, C. (ed.).

Lifelong Learning and Distance Higher Education. Commonwealth of
Learning and UNESCO. Pp. 1-10. Available at
http://oasis.col.org/bitstream/handle/11599/70/PSeries_LLLDHE.pdf?seque
nce=1 Last accessed 05 January 2018.

Rubenson, K. (2002). Lifelong Learning for All: Challenges and Limitations

of Public Policy. Available at
http://casae-
aceea.ca/~casae/sites/casae/archives/cnf2002/2002_Papers/rubenson2002w.pd
f Last accessed 05 January 2018.

Sutherland, P. and Crowther, J. (eds.) (2006). Lifelong Learning: Concepts

and Contexts. London: Routledge.

The World Bank. (2003). Lifelong Learning in the Global Knowledge

Economy: Challenges for Developing Countries. Available at
http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EDUCATION/Resources/278200-
1099079877269/547664-1099079984605/lifelonglearning_GKE.pdf.
Last accessed 05 January 2018.

Watson, D. and Taylor, R. (1998). Lifelong Learning and the University.

A Post-Dearing Agenda. London: Falmer Press.

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