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The Importance of Lifelong Learning has been Increasing

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Haydar Ates at University of Turkish Aeronautical Association
Haydar Ates
  • University of Turkish Aeronautical Association
Kadir Alsal
Kadir Alsal
Kadir Alsal
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Abstract

Lifelong learning is the lifewide, voluntary and self-motivated pursuit of knowledge for not only personal but professional reasons as well. It does not only enhance social inclusion, active citizenship and individual development, but also increases competitiveness and employability. The importance of Lifelong Learning has been increasing for some important reasons. These are increasing of life expectancy, increasing the "old-age dependency" ratio, to desire for increasing the life quality, and trying to keep themselves in good physical and mental condition by humans. Due to these reasons, the importance of Lifelong Learning has been increasing.
Available via license: CC BY-NC-ND 3.0
Content may be subject to copyright.
Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 46 ( 2012 ) 4092 – 4096
1877-0428 © 2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer review under responsibility of Prof. Dr. Hüseyin Uzunboylu
doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.06.205
WCES 2012
The importance of lifelong learning has been increasing
Haydar Ates
*
*, Kadir Alsal*
*Hacettepe University, Faculty of Education, Department of Educational Sciences, Beytepe/Ankara, 06800, Turkey
Abstract
Lifelong learning is the lifewide, voluntary and self-motivated pursuit of knowledge for not only personal but professional
reasons as well. It does not only enhance social inclusion, active citizenship and individual development, but also increases
competitiveness and employability. The importance of Lifelong Learning has been increasing for some important reasons. These
are increasing of life expectancy, -asing the life quality, and trying to
keep themselves in good physical and mental condition b y humans. Due to these reasons, the importance of Lifelong Learning
has been increasing.
1. Introduction
next year, raise corn, if you
Mankind has spent great effort to survive on earth since the beginning of life. He transfered his culture to next
generations via informal education (Inside the family, master-apprentice relations etc.) in early ages, but after
industrial revolution, he has transfered it via formal education in schools and later on via informal means, such as
certificate programmes and courses after graduation.
Society structure has been changing in the 21th century due to technological revolution which has been lasted for
two centuries. Especially, the revolutions, in last 50 years, facilitated m (Demirel
M., 2009).
started with the use of nuclear weapons through t
started with mankind stepping on the Moon. Through the development of information technologies and the
internet which started as a military project, Information Age was reached. Today, the most valuable source is
The changes in social structure in relation with technological improvement showed us that classical education
methods are not good enough anymore. Especially, the societies can adapt to globalization, the world without
The societies, mentioned above, not only maintain classical education methods but named graduation dates as
sis on the beginning of main fight. People study to improve themselves and try to
double their capability in every four year to adapt themselves to the information age (Johnson, 2009).
The structure of job has been changing during the passing process from
e-mail: ateshaydar@hacettepe.edu.tr, ates.haydar@yahoo.com
Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license.
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Haydar Ates and Kadir Alsal / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 46 ( 2012 ) 4092 – 4096
fast changing, having differences, and flexible organization have become more important in information society.
Some researchers say that industrial society created industrial agriculture. The functions of Industrial society have
The qualifications of workers have been improved due to Information Technologies. High skill workers have
Beside this, the technologies and products can become old fashion in a short time. The firms have been forced to
create differences and innovate themselves to compete in global world (Bozkurt, 2005).
Alfred North Whitehead said (1931) that people cannot use what they learned in early age forever. This
explanation may be considered as the first awareness of Lifelong Learning in society.
Especially, the main purpose of education is transferring global values to individuals. The education system in
more (Drucker, 1996).
The Lifelong Learning recognises that learning is not confined to childhood or the classroom, but takes place
throughout life and in a variety of situations. During the last fifty years, constant scientific and technological
innovation and changes have had a profound effect on learning needs and styles.
The meaning of Lifelong Le without constraining it to specific
time periods, years, certain organizations or institutions (Colakoglu, 2002).
We may explain the importance of Lifelong
The first one is related to the increase of life expectancy. We may see this on the figure 2.1 (OECD, 2010)
below.
www.sourceoecd.org/education/9789264075269
According to this data, life expectancy has been increasing up to 80-90 years old or more and the percentage of
young generations has been decreasing day by day. The only way of keeping the quantity and quality of active
labourship is to establish Lifelong Learning system today.
4094 Haydar Ates and Kadir Alsal / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 46 ( 2012 ) 4092 – 4096
In the same context, retirement age has been increasing in all countries. In the future, retirement age may be
increased up to 75-80 years old. If this happens, it will be impossible to work with the knowledge acquired from
formal education period. Everyone will improve him/herself in his/her area and has to be specialist in other areas as
well, to work as active workers for 50 or 55 years. This will become more important in this incredible fast changing
world to provide secure future. Otherwise, it will be impossible to have confidence for the future life, especially for
the retirement period.
The second reason is, as seen on the figures 2.1 and 2.2 (OECD, 2010), the ratio of old generation is getting
higher and the ratio of young generation is getting lower.
We can see on -age dependency -60 years old) has been
increasing in all countries.
www.sourceoecd.org/education/9789264075269
Because of the decrease on the ratio of young generations, their labourship will become very valuable. To
complete some of the labourship of young generations, we will need to prepare some older generations. It is not
possible to complete active working period, to maintain personnel capacity, and be specialist in one major field via
basic formal education. Everyone must improve him/herself in more than one field. This means, we will need some
more education for old generations to equip them some more skills and information. Lifelong Learning plays a great
role in saving people from poverty by, for example, providing them with the right skills for the labour market.
The third reason is increasing life quality. One needs to learn and effectively use of technological development
to increase the qual shopping,
communication via internet, driving new technology cars, life may become very difficult.
Lifelong learning is a process in which individuals retain their development of knowledge, skills, and interests in
their lives and opportunities of learning (Richardson, 1978).
The fourth and last reason is a person desiring him/herself in good physical and mental condition.
mental health well along with their physical health like a model /
sportsman condition in good state. One of the ways to be fit is feeling in secure for
the future. Older people should take education and apply that in their life in order not to be unemployed and sustain
healthy life. This will also reduce the government expenses for the social security system and gives a chance to use
this money for other social systems, such as education, health, security, and others.
We should think about the role of Lifelong Learning in the overall goal of improving societal and individual
well-being, to take-up of adult learning opportunities which are closely related to initial levels of educational
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Haydar Ates and Kadir Alsal / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 46 ( 2012 ) 4092 – 4096
attainment, and reducing inequalities. We should think about making tertiary and adult education more equal. These
efforts may give us a chance to invest money for economical purposes and some projects related to the improvement
of welfare and health conditions of the society. In this way, many older people will be mentally and physically
active for much longer. This will reduce the high cost health expenses of the countries as seen on the figure 2.3
(OECD, 2010) below.
www.sourceoecd.org/education/978926407526
2. Conclusion
As a conclusion, Lifelong Learning is based on some basic elements. These are continuity, creativity, and
learning how to learn by themselves (Demirel O. 2005). We need some basic skills for Lifelong Learning. These are
managing him/herself, communication, managing the people and him/herself, and adaptation capability to the
changes and new things (Hart, 2006).
Lifelong Learning is the level that people have reached today through the experiences in the field of education. It
ools and never
ends until death.
conditions for being the leader of the changes. We must take care of not only economic outcomes of Lifelong
The Lifelong Learning system, which has a cradle until death philosophy, provides us competition power to
maintain our positions in society and in the world. Lifelong Learning has been considered as the real life like
Atatu It has been the hope and one of the important
parts of the education and the economic
4096 Haydar Ates and Kadir Alsal / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 46 ( 2012 ) 4092 – 4096
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... Another relatively broad description used in the literature is that lifelong learning includes both formal and informal education that may help the individual to acquire knowledge that was lacking from previous formal education (Hus, 2011). Moreover, and of relevance to the current study, lifelong learning can be considered as the voluntary and self-motivated pursuit of knowledge, and as a type of learning that can be executed for both personal and professional reasons (Ates & Alsal, 2012). When considering such aspects of engagement in lifelong learning activities, and noting that to a large extent learning is driven by the interest and motivation of the individual, it seems plausible that engagement in learning may be differently influenced by personality characteristics or traits as compared to when engagement in activities is not fully driven by the individual's own interest or motivation. ...
... As already noted, the fact that activities are undertaken voluntarily by the individual has been deemed important in relation to the motivation to engage in lifelong learning (Ates & Alsal, 2012). The activities included in this present study may support the individual to gain knowledge lacking from previous formal education (Hus, 2011). ...
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... Against this background, informal education could be utilised as a strategy for skills development in the automotive retail sector. Ates and Alsal (2012) highlight that the best way to keep the quantity and quality of an active labour force, is to establish life-long learning systems starting from primary level, that has a potential to improve strategic skills development initiatives for the automotive retail industry, which ultimately increases the quantity and quality of critical technical skills in the labour market. However, to achieve this, there is a need for government intervention, such as ensuring the modification of merSETA policies (Petersen et al., 2016) that will be in line with strategic automotive skills development initiatives, whereby policy makers ensure that automotive retailers collaborate with schools starting from primary level. ...
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Yasamboyu Ogrenmede Motivasyonun Onemi. Milli Egitim Dergisi
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