Lifelong learning: VET in the learning age - The challenge of lifelong learning for all, Volume 1

This study of the implications of lifelong learning for vocational education and training (VET) was commissioned by the National Centre for Vocational Education and Training, and was undertaken by Global Learning Services during 1998.

The study found that

• major changes in the socio-economic environment of VET made it essential that the sector develop and implement coherent policies and strategies to advance lifelong learning opportunities for all
• this will require strategic partnerships at all levels to encourage and support learning in a wide range of contexts
• all stakeholders have a vital interest in such partnerships for economic, social, equity, and personal fulfilment reasons
• Australia lags behind other Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries, including Britain, in responding to the challenge of lifelong learning in the new era
• maintaining employability in a context of exponential change is a key challenge
• contextual changes threaten the notion of a democratic, inclusive society, and require strategic responses
• using modern information and communication technologies wisely for learning purposes is a key challenge
• new policies and strategies will be required, including strategies such as the Learning City which build strategic alliances and partnerships

Responding to the critical challenge of lifelong learning will require an evolutionary approach with priorities carefully selected to gain maximum leverage. Initial priority will need to be given to coordinated demand side policies, which will promote a demand for learning on a whole-of-life basis among the significant proportion of the Australian population not participating in learning activities after school.

Tensions—between market forces and planning, competition and collaboration, market driven training and equity, the needs of industry and individuals, and between specific vocational competencies from the recent past and generic core competencies for the world of the future—remain unresolved, and need to be addressed in the transition to a just learning society.

Overall, achieving a learning culture in Australia will require a learning revolution in Australian society with concerted action involving all stakeholders.

The challenge of a new era

The challenge of lifelong learning derives from the characteristics of the emerging new era confronting Australian society.

This is an era of exponential change and radical discontinuity which has been termed an era of 'punctuated equilibrium.' Traditional policies and responses are no longer relevant, and new strategies are required.

The report considers the impact of globalisation, new information and communication technologies, major changes in the workplace and in the organisation of work, the shift from an industrial and service economy to a knowledge-based economy, and shifts in social attitudes and values which, in their cumulative impact, have produced a context of radical discontinuity.

The exponential pace of change is producing a world of 'blur,'in which traditional boundaries are disappearing. This has profound implications for the work of vocational education and training.

The implications of the emerging knowledge-based economy have not been sufficiently considered in Australia. Broad policies and strategies are needed that address the critical relationships between learning in the workplace, the generation and use of new knowledge, innovation, and economic outcomes. The report considers strategies, such as the learning organisation, which address these issues.

The concept and its implications

The broad definition of lifelong learning adopted for this project was confirmed in consultations undertaken across Australia.

This definition is:

Lifelong learning is a continuously supportive process which stimulates and empowers individuals to acquire all the knowledge, values, skills, and understanding they will require throughout their lifetimes and to applying them with confidence, creativity and enjoyment in all roles, circumstances and environments.

This broad definition of lifelong learning points to the wide range of economic, social, psychological, and community roles that the concept involves.

The contemporary concept of lifelong learning involves both formal and informal learning, and occurs in the workplace, home and many community contexts, as well as in education institutions.

For this reason broad strategies are required that associate all stakeholders for concerted action.

Our central purpose in lifelong learning must be to secure a socially cohesive and economically prosperous nation recognising that these aspirations are mutually reinforcing in that personal fulfilment, employability, and competitiveness are all part of the same piece.

International trends

An overview of international trends, prepared for this study by Dr George Papadopoulos, a former OECD Deputy Director with education responsibilities, confirmed the main findings of the study.

Key findings from this study include the following:

• International agencies such as the OECD, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), the Council of Europe, and the European Union have all given top priority to lifelong learning.
• Lifelong learning is now the master concept for the OECD's work on education and training.
• While there is widespread acceptance of lifelong learning as a panacea for a diverse range of economic, social, cultural and political problems, there has been limited progress in giving effect to the concept.
• The strength of a range of barriers and vested interests is tending to lead to ad hoc approaches, rather than comprehensive, holistic policies and strategies.
• However, the British government has sought a strategic comprehensive approach in a Green Paper 'The Learning Age' that was released in February 1998. This includes innovative strategies such as University for Industry (UfI), and a system of individual learning accounts to advance lifelong learning.
• The concept of lifelong learning has evolved over the past twenty years in line with key contextual changes. The main driving force behind the current advocacy are the economic-cum-technological imperatives and the needs arising from increasingly knowledge and information based economies. However, the policies of the European Union (EU) have shifted over this decade from this economic focus to a broader recognition of the role of lifelong learning in supporting social, employment, and economic objectives of EU policies.

The overview of international trends shows that Australia lags behind leading European countries in responding to the challenge of lifelong learning.

Case studies

Five case studies undertaken for this study—in Albury-Wodonga, Ballarat, Devonport, Newcastle, and Canberra—also confirmed the conclusions emerging from the overview of international trends.

They reveal significant barriers that impede the progress of lifelong learning with insufficient strategic partnership development. The main barriers include the negative attitudes of many people towards learning, as well as cultural, funding, and administrative barriers that impede co-operation and partnership for learning. Tensions arising from conflicts of values need to be addressed.

However, there are various indications of change in the case studies. Both Wodonga and Ballarat are looking to develop as Learning Cities, and Wodonga in late 1998 declared itself Australia's first Learning City. Adult and community education has been strengthened in each of the cities studied.

National policy for lifelong learning

There is no national policy for lifelong learning, and separate national goals exist for each of the sectors of education and training. The absence of a shared national vision for lifelong learning in Australia is a barrier to concerted partnership action towards this objective.

National policy in the VET sector up to now has had a strong training focus, and lifelong learning objectives have been incidental.

However, there is a national policy for adult and community education (ACE) which is centred on lifelong learning and the contribution of the sector to the development of Australia as a Learning Society.

These different perspectives, and the absence of master concepts to concert the work of the various education sectors, have led to a broad spectrum of conceptual, funding, and practical issues at the VET/ACE interface. Key issues relate to national and State/Territory roles in funding programs on the basis of a perceived or declared vocational orientation.

The study points to the need for a shared national vision for lifelong learning, to guide partnership action towards the development of Australia as a Learning Society.

A razor's edge of opportunity and threat

The study concludes that lifelong learning in the emerging conditions of the 21st century poses a razor's edge of opportunity and threat that will require vision, holistic policies and strategies, strategic partnership action involving all stakeholders, and the progressive development of a learning culture in industry and in society.

Such action is essential to avoid the danger of a 'two-thirds' society, and to foster Australian industry that is innovative and competitive in world markets. Common interest requires partnership action.

The responses

The report identifies six key responses to the challenge of lifelong learning for all.

These responses are:

• promoting understanding and demand for lifelong learning
• building strategic partnerships
• achieving equity in a Learning Society
• using technology wisely
• responding to a knowledge-based economy
• orienting VET institutions to lifelong learning objectives

Recommendations are made for action in each of these areas to advance lifelong learning in Australia.

Implications for VET

The study concludes that the challenge of lifelong learning has profound implications for vocational education and training, and will lead to a new phase of VET development in Australia that will deepen and enrich the contribution of VET to Australian society. This will build upon the achievements of training reform, and extend the role of VET in partnership action, in supporting lifelong learning in many contexts.

Priorities are identified for action by the Australian National Training Authority. These include:

• assessing the implication of a knowledge-based economy for vocational education and training
• reviewing whether the agreed national set of generic key competencies should be extended to include learning to learn and possibly other generic competencies needed in the Learning Age
• reviewing the implications of lifelong learning for funding policies
• supporting partnership action for learning, including the small business sector
• encouraging VET institutions to develop as learning organisations

VET—because of its 'frontier' role at the intersection of the formal education system, industry, adult and community education, and the community—can play a key role in encouraging and supporting partnership action. There is great opportunity for innovative responses.

Australia as a learning society

The overall conclusion of this study is that it is essential for concerted action to be taken to develop Australia as a learning society. Active leadership and partnership among all stakeholders will be required if the necessary learning revolution in Australian society is to be achieved. There is a vital national interest for this to happen, to ensure a competitive economy, maintain employability, build community, enhance personal fulfilment, and generally to advance a democratic inclusive society in the emerging conditions of the 21st century.