Lifelong learning

EDITORIAL:`Even in grade school, people must not just acquire knowledge but acquire knowledge about how to acquire knowledge. You can’t just learn – you have to learn how to learn,´writes Professor Lars Qvortrup.

VOX POP: What are the first three words that spring to mind when you hear ‘lifelong learning’? Read what the experts say.

VOX POP: Read what experts from all over the world say about the most defining issue for lifelong learning – and how lifelong learning can change a country.

LIFELONG LEARNING IN CHINA: According to Vice Minister of Education Zhang Xinsheng, lifelong learning initiatives can bridge the gap between formal and informal training and serve as a ‘highway intersection’ in a society.

ASIA-EUROPE MEETING (ASEM): If the funding for lifelong learning were to disappear, the financial crisis could worsen significantly, says Director Arne Carlsen.

LEARNING CAPITALISM: Learning has been commoditised in many parts of the world, and the growing learning market challenges public education in many ways, says Professor SoongHee Han.

SOCIAL OUTCOMES OF LEARNING: Recent research by the OECD has shown that education has beneficial effects on health and civic engagement, but researchers warn politicians against jumping to the conclusion that more schooling is necessarily better.

– But they are not necessarily better educated, says Professor Richard Teese.

SKILLS CRISIS: We already have more than enough skills and education than most of us need in our jobs. The assumption that we are in a skills crisis is nothing but a myth, says Professor D.W. Livingstone.

SKILLS CRISIS: New findings from two researchers challenge many of the assumptions underpinning the definition of a ‘skills crisis’ in the UK.

Ten of the world’s leading educational institutes from six continents are united in one think tank.