NN39, October 2007
Best Practice in Education and Training: Hype or Hope?
Best Practice In Lifelong Learning: Hunting The Jackalope? [1]
By Joel Lentzner, University of Leiden
KeywordsLifelong Learning, Best practice
Summary
This article argues that Lifelong Learning is not necessarily best practice in education.
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In the search for ?Best Practice? in Lifelong Learning, the first task is to identify exactly what LLL means. In addition to the vast differences in methodology throughout the world, there also exists a broad spectrum of theoretical interpretations. From adult education to continuing education to non-formal education to education for all, LLL indeed seems to be interwoven with many popular buzzwords within certain levels of educational policy discourse. There is one common denominator, however, which seems to permeate all definitions regardless of cultural or historical variations: that LLL is a realigning of priorities with more emphasis placed on educational opportunities being available throughout one?s lifetime, rather than an emphasis on educating youth. LLL is the first major educational ideology to promote a shifting away from the traditional practice of focusing educational resources primarily on young people. Since the efficacy and rationale for this drastic change is rooted in the quest for efficient ways of (re)training the workforce, we must ask...is the trade-off efficient? Does deferring education from adolescence to adulthood create more value than a complete education in youth, or, is there an opportunity cost incurred by foregoing formal schooling during late adolescence? Given that so many supranational entities such as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and UNESCO are heavily promoting LLL, it is imperative that these issues are confronted.
Child development theory provides a good framework to examine these issues. Jean Piaget is credited with identifying the four stages of child development, which are broadly categorized as: sensorimotor (SM), pre-operational (PO), concrete operational (CO), and formal operational (FO). The stages progress in the same order for everyone, yet some stages may last longer for some than others. In essence, we all begin understanding the world first through our senses (SM), and as we grow older we develop the ability to use speech to represent needs and ideas (PO). As we mature, we start to solve problems using logic, often utilizing complex classification systems and hierarchies (CO). By adolescence most people have entered the stage of development typified by thinking about thinking, or the ability to engage in abstract thought (FO). So, is it more efficient to foster the FO stage with formal schooling or practical work experience? While this author does not claim to have the answer, it does seem logical to explore this question further from a child development perspective.
Piaget believes that ?...some people, for instance those in manual professions, specialized labourers of various sorts, may reach the formal operational level in their particular professional domain, but not right across the board? (Evans, 1973). Although Piaget does not extrapolate further about the relationship of FO thinking to job selection, it is interesting to ponder that if such a relationship does exist, which came first, the chicken or the egg? Do students only reach FO thinking in their particular occupational domain because they have been slotted into that milieu by the education system? Or, is it that schools are efficiently matching student ability and interests with a corresponding occupation? If so, what is the margin for error? It is obvious that much more work needs to be done before the ramifications of deferring education to adulthood are fully understood or justified. Until then, best practice in LLL is just a jackalope, since LLL itself is not necessarily best practice in education.
Notes
[1] A creature appearing as a large jackrabbit with antelope-like horns; not unlike the Loch Ness Monster or Big Foot, it is best observed in its natural habitat...on postcard racks in roadside gift-shops.
References
Evans, R. (1973). Jean Piaget: The Man and His Ideas. New York, E. P. Dutton.
Further reading
Bruner, J. (1966). Toward a Theory of Instruction. Cambridge, Harvard University Press. (especially chapter 2)
Cornford, I. (2000). Learning-to-Learn Skills for Lifelong Learning: Some Implications for Curriculum Development and Teacher Education. Paper presented at the AARE Annual Conference, December, 7. http://www.aare.edu.au/00pap/cor00382.htm
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