Lifelong learning

Background
"Learning is the key to prosperity - for each of us as individuals as well as for the nation as a whole." (The Learning Age, Department for Education and Employment, 1998)

Current Government policy on lifelong learning encourages people to value the acquisition of knowledge and skills, while nurturing creativity, imagination and an enquiring mind. A number of influential reports in the late 1990s contributed to its development. These include recommending greater financial support for further education (the Kennedy Report); the promotion of a new learning lifelong learning culture (the Fryer report); and financial support for disadvantaged students (the Dearing report).

While lifelong learning is still a widely-supported concept, Government concerns about a lack of rigour in terms of the standards to be set, and the open-ended costs of the expansion of further education, have resulted in a greater emphasis on the national skills agenda and the drive to increase the numbers of adults with nationally recognised qualifications, including those in literacy and numeracy.

Key Government initiatives that support those who want to go on learning include:

• Skills for Life, the national strategy to improve adult literacy and numeracy skills
• Empowering the Learning Community, a report which sets out the role of libraries and education to support lifelong learning
• Learning and Skills Councils and Learning Partnerships to fund and support post-16 learning
• learndirect and UK online centres, which provide access to the Internet including online learning programmes - for beginners and confident learners
• Neighbourhood Learning in Deprived Communities, a fund to support community-based learning
• Union Learning Fund to support unions in their role of encouraging learning in the workplace
• Jobcentre Plus and New Deal, which help those who need extra help in finding work
• Family learning courses, which help parents help their children to enjoy learning - and they also learn themselves
• Children's Centres, which aim to be one-stop shops providing family services
• Information, Advice and Guidance for adults in England - for more information visit www.lifelonglearning.co.uk/iag/index.htm

Links:

• For more information on the Government in England's approach to lifelong learning visit www.lifelonglearning.co.uk
• For information on Adult Learners' Week, run by the National Institute for Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) visit www.niace.org.uk/ALW

Research on lifelong learning

Low achievers: lifelong learners
Richard Proctor and Craig Bartle, Department of Information Studies, University of Sheffield, February 2002, ISBN 0 903522373, £20

This research, conducted on behalf of Re:source (now the Museums, Libraries and Archives council), aimed to investigate the impact of the public library service on adults who left school without any formal qualifications. It found that although many low achieving adult learners are using the public library service heavily, they are doing so predominantly for leisure and are not as aware of the potential of the public library as a learning environment as other users. They were also less likely to use IT, and therefore were not accessing the library services provided electronically. 

The researchers conclude that public libraries need to focus IT initiatives and training for library users on areas of educational disadvantage where the majority of users may be educationally disadvantaged. Staff need to be trained in providing support and guidance on educational opportunities and it is here that partnerships with education providers prove valuable. 

Contact the Department for Information Studies at the University of Sheffield on 0114 222 2630, email dis@shef.ac.uk