6. SESSION 1: LIFELONG LEARNING APPROACH

Opening Remarks by the session chair

Prof. Dr. Halis Yunus ERSÖZ, Ministry of National Education of Turkey, Deputy Undersecretary

Prof. Dr. Halis Yunus Ersöz opened the session by asking the question, How do we think of lifelong learning? He commented that Turkish people tend to be unwilling to make changes in their lives, but that change is getting harder to avoid He noted that ordinary people in USA may change their occupations four times and to change their jobs eleven times during their working life. In Turkey, he said, we need to provide the flexibility to deal with increased change of this kind in the formal education system.

To increase the participation rate of adults in lifelong learning from a current rate of 2.9 percent to a target of 8 percent, Turkey also needs to change the perception of people about lifelong learning. There was also a need to improve the registration system because the present system did not capture all the lifelong learning taking place and many people were unaware that they were involved in lifelong learning.

As an indication of political commitment, a General Directorate for lifelong learning had been set up in place of the previous General Directorate for non-formal education and apprenticeships In addition, the number of staff in the DGLLL has been increased The DGLLL will take on a number of important responsibilities: it will put more emphasis put on distance learning and the campaign on "schools can be living places" has been launched for the same purpose Lifelong learning guidance and counselling services are being improved and a system for the recognition of prior learning will be implemented. With all those initiatives, the Ministry is trying to encourage "blended learning"

In Turkey, the average length of remaining in the education system is 6.5 years while the EU's average is 12 or 13 years. This figure has to reach the EU average, and to achieve this lifelong learning provision will have to be expanded throughout the country along with the implementation of a 12-year uninterrupted formal education period.

In all these ways, the Ministry is determined to diversify opportunities for learners in Turkey and increase participation in learning.

Lifelong Learning – an ETF Perspective

Lida KITA, ETF Specialist in VET and Social Inclusion, Italy

The European Training Foundation (ETF) is an agency of the European Union. Its vision is to make vocational education and training in the partner countries a driver for lifelong learning and sustainable development, with a special focus on competitiveness and social cohesion and its mission is to help transition and developing countries to harness the potential of their human capital through the reform of education, training and labour market systems in the context of the EU’s external relations policy.

The EU strategy is to create “a smart, sustainable and inclusive Europe” and it has set targets for 2020 There are Integrated Guidelines for economic and employment policies, including: increasing labour market participation and reducing structural unemployment; improving workforce skills, job quality and lifelong learning; improving the performance of education and training systems; and promoting social inclusion and reducing poverty.

There are new financing instruments 2014-2020: “Education Europe” is an integrated programme of €15.2 billion for education, training and youth with focus on skills and mobility; and the €1.6 billion ‘Creative Europe’ fund is another In addition, the funds for candidate countries are still in place.

Turkey needs to address a number of areas where it performs poorly in relation to neighbouring countries – eg the percentage of people with no more than basic education, school attendance, young people’s performance in science, reading and mathematics, and participation in higher education.

The Western Balkan countries and Turkey are on record as being committed to legal reform and putting VET and adult learning strategies in place. However, these actions tend to be focused on systems issues and are not clearly enough related to information on the demand for learning or on the skill needs of enterprises and individuals. Better data is needed to make reform effective. The data needs to capture – and not hide – regional and other differences and these need to be taken account of in the planning process, which should target risk groups such as the low skilled, migrants, the long-term unemployed, and older people

In addition, the legislative frameworks and strategies and the existing councils and agencies tend deal with very specific aspects of education or training – and this reflects a fragmented rather than comprehensive, overarching approach to education and training development A lifelong learning strategy cannot just be about putting the different subsector strategies together – it must be more comprehensive and inclusive In the view of the ETF, the European Commission’s Communication from 2001 on “Making a European Area of Lifelong Learning a Reality” provides a good definition of what makes up a lifelong learning system.

They way forward on lifelong learning must involve improvement of policy areas, such as the governance of the adult learning sector, and a smart use of public money, for example on second chance learning and basic skills for adults. Large numbers of adults will only participate in learning if they have access to high quality learning opportunities at any time and the possibility of gaining quality assured qualifications at all levels. Use of the web will be important in this, but remember that the web is only useful if you have access to computers and the skills needed to use them.

The focus needs to be on learning outcomes and increasing the scope for learners to take responsibility for their own learning and progression. It is also important to give the message that learning is a lifelong pursuit which can bring lifelong benefits

These are not just Ministry issues – other stakeholders need to be involved For example, there should be more learning in the workplace. Overall, the responsibility for resourcing lifelong learning must be shared between public and private stakeholders and this means multilevel involvement of social partners, civil society organisations and private training providers

Lifelong Learning in Knowledge Economies and Societies

Andy GREEN, Director of the ESRC Centre for Learning and Life Chances in Knowledge Economies and Societies (London University Institute of Education), UK

After welcoming the participants of the Conference, Professor Green outlined a number of current issues of importance for education and educational policies. First were the recent trends in the global economy that are reducing the growth in GDP and bringing about staggering increases (30 percent to 40 percent) in youth unemployment around the world

Second was the rise of the knowledge economy Third were the increasing polarisation of skills (between highly skills and relatively unskilled individuals) and the increasing level of financial and social inequalities Other issues are intensification of global economic competition, the global auction for high skills and the rise of low wage-high skilled jobs.

Mr. Green pointed out that the challenge of today's economies is to attract more people to vocational education and training (VET) instead of higher education. The first challenge for VET systems was to keep up with increasing demand for skills and qualifications while the second was to ensure the attractiveness and quality of VET. He offered a typology of VET systems under five headings which was useful in considering these issues: integrated schoolbased systems; differentiated school-based systems; dual apprenticeship systems; mixed, market-oriented systems and hybrid systems.

He commented on mixed, market systems of VET (United Kingdom, United States) that are successful in producing high skills elites for knowledge-economy through its modular structure that allow high degree of flexibility to respond changing needs of employers and individuals. Weaknesses of these systems are underinvestment in skills, overproduction of graduates and increasing polarisation of skills and incomes.

He said dual apprenticeship systems of VET (Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland) are successful in producing high quality occupational routes and high output of intermediate skills, reducing polarization, allowing smooth transitions to work and reducing youth unemployment. However, dual apprenticeship systems are less responsive to the needs of labour market and of individuals. Other weaknesses of the dual systems are its dependence on specific institutional structures that are fading away. Dual systems are also costly and identified with high drop-out rates.

Integrated school-based systems (Norway, Sweden); on the other hand, can supply broadbased knowledge and skills suitable for changes nature of work and as a basis for future training; provide flexible programme choice and good progression routes for students; reduce academic/vocational divides and skills polarisation and they can be used for citizenformation. Weaknesses of the systems are high costs, high drop-out rates and less assured transition to work.

He also showed evaluations of the five systems of VET in terms of their effect on income inequality. Mixed, market systems produce a polarisation of skills acquisition which in turn produces greater income inequality and has a negative impact on social cohesion. Differentiated school-based systems are also linked with skills and wage inequality where wage bargaining is decentralised. Dual systems, on the other hand, reduce skills and wage differentials, particularly when linked with centralised bargaining.

Hybrid systems combine apprenticeship and formal education. School-based apprentice routes with individualisation of programmes in Denmark have provided an effective back-up in the face of inadequate supply of traditional apprenticeship arrangements and have helped to reduce youth unemployment, although low esteem for VET still remains a problem. Dual Qualification Apprenticeships in Austria and Switzerland provides better progression routes for apprentices and have helped maintain esteem, slow down academic drift, and maintain apprentice numbers. There have also been successful short technological degree programmes (IUT in France) which have addressed some of the issues. Hybrid systems such as these may be the best way forward.

Lifelong Learning Approach – International Comparisons

Joern SKOVSGAARD, Senior Advisor, Ministry of Education, Denmark

Mr Skovsgaard made it clear that he was speaking as a policy maker, and not a researcher Policy makers aim for research-based policy, but policy-making is always ahead of the research, so the link between policy and research is not straightforward The work he was reporting on was a collaborative project between Denmark, Nordic countries and Asian countries, including South Korea and Singapore, to develop a common conceptual framework for lifelong learning and learn from each other through that process. He commented on the importance of ensuring that what is seen as “best practice” will fit local culture and needs and that “best practice” deals with emerging as well as current issues and approaches.

Three reasons for pursuing lifelong learning had been agreed: increasing employability and improving human capital; promoting active citizenship and social cohesion; and pursuing personal fulfilment and cultural diversity. Of these, the third had initially been of less interest to the Asian countries which had argued for a strong focus on employability. However, it had been agreed that this could lead to an approach to learning which was insufficiently flexible Danish citizens change jobs at least five times in their working life and the country needs a flexible educational system to prepare for this Individuals need to be able to act autonomously, to adapt their skills to the context, and to work effectively in heterogeneous groups. These competences require skill in communication, the ability to analyse work requirements, and personal competences. In Denmark, it is believed that lifelong learning goes beyond the interest of individuals, companies and organisations - it also makes a contribution to social and economic progress.

The model which emerged from the international cooperation included the need for an approach to teaching and learning which is rooted in the cultural and economic context, is designed to enhance social capital, and is integrated into mainstream education. If it is to be affordable, it also has to be based on new approaches to financing.

Modern knowledge-based societies normally evolve from an agricultural basis, through industrial and service-based economies. This progression can also be seen as movement from local survival to global concerns and influences. Singapore appeared to be skipping the service-based stage and moving straight from an industrial society to one based on knowledge-based competences with a global value.

The system in Denmark incorporates a number of systemic components for fostering lifelong learning. These start from primary school, where children have individual development plans from 7th form and access to counsellors throughout their time in school education An independent guidance and counselling system is available to individuals from their secondary school onwards. Lifelong learning is seen as an indispensable factor in creating and sustainable labour market along with the fostering of corporate social responsibility These come together in schemes like Flexicurity, Flexication and Flexijobs which use training and assessment against competence standards to create opportunities for vulnerable groups

The aim is to create a continuing balance of jobs lost and jobs created so that redundant staff can be relocated or given the chance to upgrade their skills and this is happening in reality. Preventing unemployment during the current financial crisis through focusing on lifelong learning is seen as both and economic and a social good, preventing exclusion, disparity of incomes and increased social tension The process will close down traditional job roles but open new ones and recovery will be propelled by innovation in production, capitalising on new technologies and design and introducing new efficient logistics.

Developing and maintaining this system in a country demands consensus, trust and joint action from governments, employers and trade unions and the population must be motivated to adapt to flexible schemes for work, training and re-education. There must be a whole-government approach adopting comprehensive policies which bring together areas and domains that traditionally relate to different ministries. In addition, all this must be developed and implemented in an open and transparent way, in cooperation with the stakeholders.

An efficient lifelong learning system must address individual, local, regional and national needs. It must provide general courses as well as technical/ vocational courses and it must range from basic skills to courses giving access to tertiary education and advanced courses at tertiary level It must be delivered in new, inclusive learning environments and the instructors must be prepared to meet the special challenges of teaching adults Tri-partite governance structures of the new institutional framework will help to ensure quality, relevance and synergy.

The challenge is in creating a sense of ownership and responsibility at all levels from the initial steps and continuing throughout the process. Business and industry must acknowledge that they have corporate social responsibilities and that education and training are part of that Trade unions must support and contribute to the motivation of members for education and training. In addition, Governments must encourage the social partners to reach agreements which foster lifelong learning and provide additional funds to back these agreements.

Further Education – A Public Responsibility

Prof. Dr. Rita SÜSSMUTH, President of Association of Adult Education Centres, Germany

Prof. Dr. Süssmuth started her speech by thanking the organisers of the Conference on behalf of German Adult Education Association. She said that at national, European and global level, “life-long learning” is now a leading issue on the education policy agenda. Continuous learning is a guarantee of a successful career and a requirement for full participation in society and there is an increasing need for people to engage in further education.

It is one of the fundamental beliefs of German adult education that the satisfaction of personal educational needs should be given equal priority with vocational needs Education, including further education, is a human right that should not be reduced solely to economic ends. German adult education centres see education as a public responsibility and, taking this as a starting point, they offer a range of courses of different kinds.

The first category is literacy and basic education and classes which enable mature students to obtain school-leaving qualifications. German language teaching with 1.8 million participants a year is another important category. Adult education centres also offer health education for individuals to maintain their mental, physical and social well-being. Cultural education courses attract over a million people each year in adult education centres. Civic education courses are a key component of every programme.

Enabling people to acquire professional qualifications is one of the core functions of adult education centres. Teaching people how to deal competently with information technology is a focal point of the current offer along with specialist commercial, business management and technical courses. However, the particular strength of adult education centres is proving to be in areas where they have the freedom and opportunity to tackle regional and local needs. Examples of this are, for instance, tailor-made courses for the unemployed, support with the professional reintegration of women or further education and training courses for companies and public authorities. The broad range of courses available allows everybody, whether the educationally disadvantaged, members of the middle class, male or female, young or old, to experience education.

She continued by saying that a basic requirement for this is the possibility to offer flexible and demand-based education where it is needed and to choose event formats that satisfy the needs of participants. This can only be done in a decentralised system with a high degree of self-accountability on the part of the individual institution. Like Turkish Public Education Centres, adult education centres are everywhere. They are supported by public funding.

Professor Süssmuth reminded participants in the Conference that Turkey is a central partner for adult education and German adult education centres. More than a million and a half people of Turkish descent live in Germany, and their importance to the economy and the culture of Germany cannot be overestimated The two countries have established close cooperation, and TELC GmbH's operation in Turkey, providing examinations and certificates in ten languages, is one of the successful examples for this cooperation.

Ms. Süssmuth concluded her address by saying that it remains a constant challenge to create the necessary legislative, institutional and personnel framework for adult education. Striking a balance between the state funding and regulation and the necessary freedom in the system is one of the most central tasks. It is important, however, because adult education is a key asset in modern societies. It is indispensable for social inclusion of people, their economic competitiveness and their well-being.

Questions From Delegates

Question 1

How do disadvantaged people benefit from lifelong learning? Are there tangible examples of this?

Question 2

The participation rate in lifelong learning is the highest in Denmark How is this figure achieved? Is there a widespread public education centre network? What is the frequency of participation for people aged over 24.

Question 3

What is the reason for providing a great many lifelong learning programs? Is it the need of changing society? If 70.000 people holding PhDs are unemployed in country X, is it fair to say that degree does not necessarily mean competence? How flexible does the education have to be to allow, for example, a lawyer to study engineering? Is it logical to determine education needs from the registers of unemployment people?

Question 4

Would be possible to collect all education providers in the same data-base?

Question 5

How does Europe provide training for teachers?

Answers

Rita Süssmuth (responding to questions 1 and 3)

Until recent years Germany had special schools for disadvantaged children but after adopting the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the country has moved to mixed schools. Handling the education of disabled children is not an easy task so teacher and children have to learn how to do it.

Even though there has been an economic crisis, industry is still important in Germany and we need both vocational schools and universities as routes into work. However, universities need to give more emphasis to practical learning and preparing students for the workplace.

Joern Skovsgaard (responding to questions 1, 2 and 3)

Denmark has mixed schools for disadvantaged children. These children have equal access to education like any other children.

In employment, the government provides subsidies to employer to hire persons from disadvantaged groups. Disabled and handicapped should have at least part-time employment opportunities.

Denmark’s high participation rate for lifelong learning is the result of hard work over at least a hundred years. It started with education for farmers and their families. There are now many vocational education and training centres for adults in Denmark and they are free of charge. In Korea education is expensive and there are around 70,000 unemployed PhDs. Policy makers have to solve this problem.

Lida KITA (responding to question 3)

Learning from each other is very important and useful. If we know what is going on behind the scenes, we can solve our problems more easily. Adult education is extremely important, but so is pre-school education: both should be subsidised. Good preschool education has the greater effect on equalising of the results of education and reducing the number of underachieving individuals The majority of people who participate in adult education tend to come from high and middle income families and this does not create more equal income distribution.

Flexible delivery, especially e-learning, has enormous potential to make lifelong learning a reality. The US adopts this approach.

Andy Green

The research evidence on educational inequality is clear.

It shows that pre-school education is very important, but that in most countries participation in pre-school education is skewed to the affluent in the society. So subsidising pre-school education to increase the rate and spread of participation can have a big effect towards reducing educational inequality.

Another important finding is that there are fewer drop-outs in education systems which are broadly comprehensive and socially mixed.

Paradoxically, provision of adult learning can increase inequalities by supporting those who already have good education and good incomes. This has been the case in England. There is some evidence that this effect can be countered by programmes targeted at those who are less well educated and less affluent. Flexible access to learning is important here and the use of e-learning can attract large number sof those in the target groups. This has been shown by work undertaken by Stamford University in the USA.

Mr Green also drew that conclusion that no country needs more than 40-50% of its population to have a higher education qualification. Where there is higher participation in higher education, there are also many unemployed and under-employed graduates.