Lifewide Education Exchange

02/02/2022

FRIENDLY INVITATION TO JOIN OUR NEXT INQUIRY

This spring we want to build on our recent ‘lifewide learning for sustainable futures inquiry’ by focusing on health – our own health and the health of the planet and other living things. We also want to explore how our imaginations and creativity feature in our attempts to create more sustainable, regenerative futures.

Beginning in early March and spanning 3 months we are encouraging participants to undertake their own, small scale, action learning project that: 1) contribute to a healthier, more sustainable, regenerative future, culture and/or environment in respect of any of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, 2) utilise individuals’ imaginations and draws on their creativity and 3) contribute to individuals’ health and wellbeing.
I attach a document that outlines the approach we will take and hope very much that you will be able to join us. Further information will be posted on our project webpage. https://www.lifewideeducation.uk/healthy-futures.html

To join our inquiry please email me

Warm regards

Norman [email protected]

06/10/2021

Lifewide Learning for Sustainable Futures:
An Open, Experiential & Experimental Inquiry
October 18 to November 22, 2021

With ever increasing interest and concern for our moral and practical obligation to secure the future of mankind and the planet, Lifewide Education is facilitating an on-line asynchronous discussion on the LinkedIn Lifewide Learning Research and Development Group forum. Starting on October 18th we will explore lifewide learning in the context of personal actions and experiments that are aimed at creating more sustainable regenerative futures, using the UN Sustainable Development Goals as a framework for thinking and action. Further information, including a background paper and Guide is available at:
https://www.lifewideeducation.uk/sustainable-futures

I would like to extend a friendly open invitation to join our discussion. If you would like to participate and you are you willing to share your perspectives through a weekly story, please email me ([email protected]) and I will invite you into the group.

Warm regards
Norman Jackson (facilitator)
Founder Lifewide Education

09/09/2021

Is ‘Sustainability’ the New Mega Context for Personal Creativity?

We are joining Creative Academic during the UN’s Global Sustainable Development Goals week to focus attention on the ways in which our imagination and little-c creativity enable us to invent our own solutions or adopt new behaviours or practices that shift us towards a more sustainable regenerative future. This is a theme that we have not explored before and we hope that it will appeal to you. As always, we want to encourage diverse views and perspectives. You can join our facebook discussion by clicking on the link. https://www.facebook.com/groups/creativeHE

Imagination & Creativity for Sustainable Regenerative Cultures & Futures. Facilitated by Norman Jackson, Paul Kleiman & Johanna Payton. A contribution to the UN’s Global Goals Week 17-26 September 2021

02/08/2021

The idea that lifelong learning can be harnessed in the service of sustaining our presence in this fragile world is emerging in the thinking of the world’s global strategic planner. The wicked problem of our survival is framed by the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which offers 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Education has its own SDG 'Ensure inclusive and equitable quality and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all'. This SDG gives education a new role – to educate the world in ways that will encourage behaviours that will support sustainable development.

The UNESCO Futures of Education Initiative aims to rethink education, knowledge production and learning from a future-oriented perspective. The first report of this initiative (1) presents a future-focused vision that demands a major shift towards a culture of lifelong learning by 2050. It argues that the unprecedented challenges humanity faces, require societies to embrace and support learning throughout life and people who identify themselves as learners throughout their lives.

For this ambition to be realised there would need to be significant changes in culture and practice at a global scale. It requires a culture that transcends all other cultures, that values learning in every aspect of life. It’s a vision of a culture that reaches beyond the idea of “promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all” to the belief that “the whole of life is learning therefore education can have no ending” (2).

Lifewide Education has contributed a White Paper to the Futures of Education initiative https://www.lifewideeducation.uk/white-paper.html and we are facilitating an open inquiry in October/November 2021 to explore how we might personalise and apply the Sustainable Development Goals in our own lives. https://www.lifewideeducation.uk/sustainable-futures.html

Sources
1 UNESCO (2020b) Embracing a culture of lifelong learning: Contribution to the Futures of Education Initiative Report : A transdisciplinary expert consultation UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning: Paris Available at: https://www.sdg4education2030.org/embracing-culture-lifelong-learning-uil-september-2020
2 Lindeman C (1926) The Meaning of Adult Education New York: New Republic. Republished in a new edition in 1989 by The Oklahoma Research Centre for Continuing Professional and Higher Education. Available at:
https://openlibrary.org/books/OL14361073M/The_meaning_of_adult_education

Humans have always engaged in lifelong learning but it has meant different things at different points in our history and this will always be the case. The contemporary world is complex,...

14/12/2020

SEASONAL GREETINGS

Dear members of the Lifewide Education Community

As Christmas and the New Year approach it’s customary to look back on the past year. 2020 has been a challenging year for all of us and Covid has done a fair job of disrupting many people’s lives. We do hope that you have not suffered and hopefully, with the vaccine on the way, we can look forwards to a brighter future.

We have much to celebrate. Looking back over the year we :

1. Supported a growing and thriving community of nearly 800 subscribers. We have established two discussion forums on Facebook - Lifewide Education Exchange https://www.facebook.com/LifewideEducation/ & Linked in – Lifewide Learning & Education Exchange https://www.linkedin.com/groups/4667550/

2 Continued to develop and share new ideas. This year we focused on the role of imagination in lifewide learning and produced one significant issue of Lifewide Magazine on this theme. I do commend it as a Christmas read if you haven’t yet seen it. https://www.lifewideeducation.uk/lifewide-learning1.html . Our magazine page has now been accessed over 25,000 times and our new Executive Editor Kieran Matthews will help us maintain the standard of our publication.

3 Added new resources to our Hub including a downloadable pdf of our book Learning for a Complex World: a lifewide concept of learning, education and development. https://www.lifewideeducation.uk/books.html

4 In the last few months we have undertaken a strategic review and produced a new vision statement setting out our purpose and role. We welcome your views on how we are imagining our future. Both documents are available at: https://www.lifewideeducation.uk/2030-vision--plan.html

Looking to the future We are looking forwards to the year ahead. 2021 is our 10th anniversary year and we are planning a number of projects including new books, online webinars and an action learning project and we hope very much that you will find something of interest in these activities which we will publish in January. https://www.lifewideeducation.uk/2021-activities.html

During the coming year we also want to expand our core team of supporters and advisors to better reflect the diverse communities we serve and contribute to our emerging thinking and programme. We have already welcomed Doug Cole, Rob Ward, Kieran Matthews and Barry Carney to the team, and would very much like to welcome others. So if you would like to join us please let me know (Norman Jackson [email protected]) – a simple ‘expression of interest’ will be enough to get the process started!

During the coming year we want to expand our core team of supporters and advisors to better reflect the diverse communities we serve. If you would like to join us please let me know (Norman Jackson [email protected])

A great big thank you. Without you our efforts would be meaningless. Our team of supporters would like to thank you for being part of our wonderful community. To all of you celebrating Christmas, other festivals or just having a well-earned break, we send you our warmest greetings and wish you much health, happiness, fulfilment in the coming year. May your lifewide learning and achievements flourish.

Lifewide Education Supporters & Advisors
Doug Cole, Rob Ward, Jenny Willis, Barry Carney, Kieran Matthews, Ron Barnett and Norman Jackson

09/10/2020

Lifewide Learning in Lifelong Learning Policy

I have been trying to map the way lifewide learning has featured in LLL policy documents. The first mention I have found is in an EU Commission ‘Memorandum on Lifelong Learning’ (2000 p8-9)

https://lnkd.in/dPy_jsS

"The term ‘lifelong’ learning draws attention to time: learning throughout life, either continuously or periodically. The newly-coined term ‘lifewide’ learning enriches the picture by drawing attention to the spread of learning, which can take place across the full range of our lives at any one stage in our lives. The ‘lifewide’ dimension brings the complementarity of formal, non-formal and informal learning into sharper focus. It reminds us that useful and enjoyable learning can and does take place in the family, in leisure time, in community life and in daily worklife. Lifewide learning also makes us realise that teaching and learning are themselves roles and activities that can be changed and exchanged in different times and places." These ideas surface again in a foresight study commissioned by the EU in 2011 (see below).

Is anyone aware of lifewide learning featuring in UK LLL policy documents?

17/08/2020

The Work of Imagination – Lifewide Education Magazine #23

Imagination is essential for human flourishing. So why, if the work of imagination is so profound, do we barely talk about it in education, especially at the higher levels? In the August 2020 Issue of Lifewide Magazine we curate articles from over 30 contributors to explore the role and value of imagination in learning, education, work and their own lives. Our aim is to raise awareness of the important work of imagination and to encourage all those who support students and their learning to do more to facilitate and value its use and development.

Would you like to share your experience and practice? If you would like to contribute to this curated collection and you have an interesting example of how you have used you imagination and reflected on your experience, or you have tried to encourage others to use their imaginations, please send your article to the Commissioning Editor [email protected] and we will include it in a magazine supplement.

The Magazine is free to download at: https://www.lifewideeducation.uk/magazine.html

Opportunities to discuss ideas in the magazine
Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/groups/lifewidelearning/
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/groups/4667550/

10/06/2020

THE WORK OF IMAGINATION: LIFEWIDE EDUCATION'S CALL FOR ACTION
We believe that imagination is essential for human flourishing at any level of society. We also believe that not enough attention is given to the explicit encouragement and development of imagination in higher education.

In the August 2020 Issue of Lifewide Magazine we are exploring the role and value of imagination in learning, education, work and any other aspects of life. We invite anyone who is interested in joining our exploration to contribute a short (up to 1500 words) illustrated article on any of the themes below. We would need your article no later than July 14th 2020.

If you are interested in submitting an article please send me a short summary of what you would like to write about Professor Norman Jackson [email protected]
THEMES
1. A day in the life of my imagination
2. My life and my imagination
3. Imagination and transforming something at work
4. Encouraging others to use their imagination
5. Combining and integating imaginations

To find out more visit the home page:
https://www.lifewideeducation.uk/

31/01/2020

𝗟𝗢𝗢𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗗𝗦 𝗧𝗢 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗡𝗘𝗫𝗧 𝗗𝗘𝗖𝗔𝗗𝗘
Lifewide Education has survived its first decade indeed it has done much more than survive thanks to our intrepid band of volunteers we have much to celebrate. But as we enter a new decade it is right to review our work so in the next few months we will look again at our approach and what we have to offer for the decade ahead. We welcome feedback on our work and the value to you of the resources and services we freely offer. If you would like to share your opinions and suggestions on how we might improve what we have to offer please email at [email protected].

THREE PERSPECTIVES ON LIFEWIDE
I offer three perspectives that we will be mindful of as we undertake our review.

𝗟𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝟭𝟮 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀
The origins of Lifewide Education lie in the work of the Surrey Centre for Professional Training and Education at the University of Surrey, one of the Centre’s for Excellence in Teaching and Learning funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England. Between 2008-11 SCEPTrE developed and applied the idea of lifewide learning and education[1]. This work provides a substantial practical evidence-base on which to develop the concepts.

Inspired by the experience of SCEPTrE’s work and the immortal words of adult educator Eduard Lindeman 'the whole of life is learning therefore education can have no ending'[2], Lifewide Education was founded by the Director as a community interest company in 2011. With the help of numerous volunteers and no external funding we have: 1) established a reputation as an honest advocate and champion for lifewide learning and education, 2) attracted and served a global community of interest with nearly 600 subscribers to our mail list 3) created a HUB hosting a range of free open access resources 4) conducted numerous intellectual explorations of ideas relating to lifewide learning and education and published these through an open access magazine which has been accessed over 20,000 times 5) brought together practitioners in UK universities who are responsible for skills awards to share their practices through a conference and e-book[3] and 6) developed an entirely new way of thinking about learning and practice through the concept of ecologies for learning and practice publishing two books [4,5] in the process and gaining international recognition through Harvard University’s Learning Innovations Laboratory (LILA) inquiry into learning ecologies (October 2019)[6] At a policy research level, Lifewide Education contributed a vision paper[7] and participated in an EU Foresight Study Workshop ‘Open Education 2030’ aimed at developing a vision of adult learning and education in 2030.

Lifewide learning focuses attention on the holistic development of people - The focus of lifewide learning is on the way individuals develop themselves as whole people through all the affordances (opportunities) they can find or can create within their own lives. Lifewide education refers to the approaches adopted by educational institutions in order to embrace the holistic whole-of life development of individuals. It is as much concerned with the development of attitudes, values, character and creativity as it is with the intellectual development of individuals that is often the traditional focus of secondary and tertiary education.

In UK, the concept and practice of lifewide learning was grown in higher education where they can be related to other policy- driven and practice-based movements for example those relating to – personal development planning (PDP) and e-porfolios, employability, leadership, citizenship, volunteering and social inclusion to name a few. The extent to which Lifewide Education as an organisation has been able to connect to such practitioner movements is questionable.

𝗟𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝟭𝟬 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀
In an attempt to look over the horizon at what learning will be like in the future, the EU commissioned the Joint Research Centre IPTS to undertake a Foresight study in 2009 which was published in 2011[8]. The study aimed to identify, understand and visualise major changes to learning in the future. The process developed a descriptive vision of the future, based on existing trends and drivers, and a normative vision outlining how future learning opportunities should be developed to contribute to social cohesion, socio-economic inclusion and economic growth. Figure 1 summarises the most important components of this vision which might be summarised in these words.

The overall vision is that personalisation, collaboration and informalisation (informal learning) will be at the core of learning in the future. These terms are not new in education and training but they will become the central guiding principle for organising learning and teaching. The central learning paradigm is thus characterised by lifelong and lifewide learning and shaped by the ubiquity of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). At the same time, due to fast advances in technology and structural changes to European labour markets related to demographic change, globalisation and immigration, generic and transversal skills are becoming more important. These skills should help citizens to become lifelong learners who flexibly respond to change, are able to pro-actively develop their competences and thrive in collaborative learning and working environments.[8] (see attached figure).
​
​The explicit role played by lifewide learning in this vision of near future learning is connected to the ideas of learning anywhere/anytime, informal learning and the capabilities to plan, manage and self-regulate own learning and development. These capacities will be key to being an effective learner in this vision of future learning as it unfolds in the decade to come. But lifewide learning is also connected to the ideas that learning is both personal and individual, yet also social and collaborative. As Jackson shows lifewide learning provides a conceptual framework that enables the learner to view themselves 'as the designer of an integrated, meaningful life experience. An experience that incorporates formal education as one component of a much richer set of experiences that embrace all the forms of learning and achievement that are necessary to sustain a meaningful life'.9 p115

𝗟𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝟱𝟬 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗻𝗼𝘄
The children, adolescents and young adults of today who are participating in education (and the other parts of their life) will be the workers and citizens of societies 50 years from now. They will live in a world that is unimaginably different and we argue that the way we educate today will lay the foundations for survival and flourishing in the distant future. In this context lifewide takes on new meaning and relevance. In all societies education is used instrumentally to prepare people for work – to equip them with knowledge and skills so that they are employable both generally and more specifically. But the emphasis is on the short term – entry into the work force. What societies need to be doing now is paying attention to the more distant future – that is the real challenge for tertiary education and why the idea of lifewide learning with its concern for the development of the inner character core of people is so much more relevance now than it did a decade ago. For we have entered the machine age - the age when human beings will compete with machines which will progressively out-perform us; an age where humans as biological machines may well transition to becoming humans that are partly genetically engineered and partly mechanically and electronically engineered.

While nothing is certain about the future there are lots of pointers that indicate that the role currently performed by work will significantly change. Economist, Danial Susskind’s new book ‘A world Without Work’5 paints a vivid picture of a future containing far fewer opportunities for work than the present. In such a social environment people will a) have to be financially supported by their Governments through some sort of universal wage and b) have to be able to find purposes and meaning in their lives that are not related to work (the activity through which most adults in their day to day life currently find purpose and meaning). We argue that the development of an appreciation of how life provides such affordances through a lifewide approach to education would help build a foundation of awareness that will help people sustain themselves in their distant future.

Although we cannot tell how long it will take to arrive at a world with less work for human beings to do, there are clear signs that we are on our way there. The problems of inequality, power and meaning are not lurking in the distance, hidden out of sight in the remote future. They have already begun to unfold, to trouble and test our inherited institutions and traditional ways of life. It is up to us now to respond10 p238

Nothing is certain about the future – even the short-term future and certainly there will be many challenges in the decade ahead. Sustaining our enterprise with very little resource and voluntary support will always be a challenge but we are bolstered by the belief that our mission to support and advance the principle that 'the whole of life is learning therefore education can have no ending'2, is a worthwhile cause.

OPEN INVITATION if you would like to join our team of volunteers or you would like to offer your opinions and suggestions on how we can improve what we do please email me – Norman Jackson (Director Lifewide Education) [email protected]

Sources
1 Jackson, N. J. (Ed) Learning for a Complex World: A lifewide concept of learning, education and personal development. Authorhouse
2 Lindeman, E. C. (1926a) The Meaning of Adult Education, New York: New Republic. Republished in a new edition in 1989 by The Oklahoma Research Center for Continuing Professional and Higher Education
3 Jackson, N.J and Willis, J. (Eds) Lifewide Learning and Education in Universities and Colleges. Lifewide Education available at: http://www.learninglives.co.uk/e-book.htm
4 Jackson, N.J. (2016 & 2019) Exploring Learning Ecologies ChalkMountain: LULU
5 Barnett, R. and Jackson, N.J. (Eds) Ecologies for Learning and Practice: Emerging ideas, sightings and possibilities. Routledge
6 https://learningecologies.weebly.com/
7 Jackson, N.J. (2013) EU Lifewide Development Award Vision Paper. Contribution to EU Foresight Study Open Education 2030 available at https://blogs.ec.europa.eu/openeducation2030/category/vision-papers/lifelong-learning/
8 Redecker, C., Leis, M., Leendertse, M., Punie, Y., Gijsbers, G., Kirschner, P. Stoyanov, S. and Hoogveld, B. (2011) The Future of Learning: Preparing for Change. European Commission Joint Research Centre Institute for Prospective Technological Studies EUR 24960 EN Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union http://ipts.jrc.ec.europa.eu/publications/pub.cfm?id=4719
9 Jackson, N.J. (2011) An Imaginative Lifewide Curriculum, in Jackson, N. J. (ed) Learning for a Complex World: A lifewide concept of learning, education and personal development. Authorhouse 100-121.
10 Susskind D, (2020) A World Without Work Allen Lane