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Essay on Lifelong Learning

Students are often asked to write an essay on Lifelong Learning in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Lifelong Learning

What is lifelong learning.

Lifelong learning is the idea of always finding new things to learn, no matter how old you are. It’s like being in school your whole life, but without the tests and homework! It’s about keeping your mind active and always being curious.

Why is Lifelong Learning Important?

Lifelong learning is important because the world is always changing. New ideas and technologies are coming out all the time. If we stop learning, we might miss out on these changes. Lifelong learning helps us stay up-to-date and ready for anything.

Benefits of Lifelong Learning

Lifelong learning can make life more interesting. It can help us make better decisions and solve problems more easily. It can even help us live longer, healthier lives. Plus, it’s fun to learn new things!

How to Practice Lifelong Learning

Practicing lifelong learning can be as simple as reading a book, taking a class, or even just asking questions. It’s about staying curious and open to new ideas. So keep exploring, keep asking, and keep learning!

250 Words Essay on Lifelong Learning

Understanding lifelong learning, why lifelong learning is important.

Lifelong learning is very important for many reasons. First, it helps us to stay updated. The world is always changing, and we need to keep up with it. If we stop learning, we might miss out on new things. Second, it makes us more interesting. People who keep learning are often more fun to talk to. They have lots of new ideas and stories to share. Third, it keeps our minds sharp. Just like our bodies, our minds need exercise too. Learning is a great way to give our minds a workout.

Ways to Practice Lifelong Learning

There are many ways to keep learning. You can read books, take online courses, or join clubs. You can also learn from your friends and family. Everyone has something to teach, and everyone has something to learn.

The Benefits of Lifelong Learning

Lifelong learning has many benefits. It can help you get better at your job, make you smarter, and even make you happier. People who keep learning often feel more confident and satisfied with their lives.

In conclusion, lifelong learning is a journey that never ends. It is a wonderful way to keep growing, stay interesting, and live a happy life. So, let’s promise ourselves to never stop learning, no matter how old we are.

500 Words Essay on Lifelong Learning

Lifelong Learning is a continuous process of gaining new knowledge and skills throughout one’s life. It’s not just about school or college, but also about learning from everyday experiences. It could be learning a new hobby, a new language, or even about a new culture. The main idea is to keep growing and expanding your mind all the time.

Secondly, it helps you adapt to changes. The world is always changing, with new technologies, new ideas, and new ways of doing things. By continuing to learn, you can keep up with these changes and make the most of new opportunities.

Finally, lifelong learning can make life more interesting and enjoyable. It can help you discover new interests, meet new people, and even achieve personal goals.

How to Practice Lifelong Learning?

Firstly, read a lot. Books, newspapers, magazines, and websites can all provide valuable knowledge. Reading not only improves your language skills but also helps you understand the world better.

Secondly, try new things. This could be a new hobby, a new sport, or even a new food. Trying new things can help you discover what you enjoy and what you’re good at.

Thirdly, ask questions. If you don’t understand something, don’t be afraid to ask. Asking questions is a great way to learn.

Lastly, reflect on your experiences. Think about what you’ve done, what you’ve learned, and how you can use this knowledge in the future.

Lifelong learning has many benefits. It can improve your skills and knowledge, making you more valuable in the job market. It can also improve your self-confidence and self-esteem, helping you feel more capable and successful.

Furthermore, lifelong learning can help you connect with others. By learning about different cultures, ideas, and perspectives, you can understand and relate to people better.

In conclusion, lifelong learning is a valuable habit that can enrich your life in many ways. It’s not just about academic achievement, but also about personal growth and fulfillment. So, keep learning, keep growing, and keep enjoying the journey of life.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

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Conception of Lifelong Learning in Society Essay

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Introduction

Lifelong learning concept: key terms, lifelong learning from socio-cultural and technological points of view, neo-liberalism and advanced liberalism concepts: legal and ethical frameworks, education market place: teacher as a professional, reference list.

Lifelong learning may be advocated as a response to economic and technological change in relation to education workplace and the notions of advanced liberalism and a teacher as an accountable professional in an education ‘market place’, it is necessary to define a number of key terms in the essay which have relation to lifelong learning.

This essay will also encompass a social-cultural aspect by means of expanding and identifying the differences between neo-liberalism and advanced liberalism. Lifelong learning has been also advocated through the economical and technological changes that also happen in relation to advanced liberalism and the existed Australian schooling system.

The ways in which diversity, equity and inclusivity are promoted and distinguished will be also evaluated in order to explain the process of facilitation consultative, collaborative, and critical relationships across diverse learning environments, communities and cultures. The discourse and development that is determined by the devolution and understanding of advanced liberalisms in relation to lifelong learning and the teacher as an accountable professional in an educational market place will be discussed as well.

Lifelong education presupposes an idea of constant knowledge exchange due to which people store information and help their generations to make use of the already made achievements properly. This process may be one of the most successful examples of devolution that is defined by Whitty (1998) as a successful passing down through a number of stages.

The first introduction to lifelong learning can be seen through the works of John Dewey who promoted a curriculum focused on lifelong learning. In such learning children are to be prepared for success through personal, intellectual, and social development (Westbrook, 1991). This concept was introduced by the UNESCO in the early 1970s as a means of equalizing earning and responding with the social demands greater opportunities (“Extending learning opportunities: adult education and lifelong learning,” 2001, p. 31).

Crick and Wilson (2005) state continuous learning takes place during one’s lifespan including formal and informal education and self-directed learning. Such knowledge is essential within the liberal doctrine, in which a new relation can be witnessed between the government and knowledge, in which learning is only a part of such knowledge flowing around a diversity of apparatuses (Miller & Rose, 2008, p. 204).

In the context of Australia, such knowledge should aim at maintaining the countries economy competitive in the global economy, where the latter should be achieved through linking the country’s future progress with being the “clever country” (Reich, 2008, p. 204).

The researches of World Bank (2003) admit that many changes in labor market and frequent demands of skilled workers influence the process of lifelong learning and people’s necessity of self-improvement. They admit that “organizational and technological changes may have caused the shift in demand to dominate the shift in supply, leading to a rise in returns to schooling and increased earnings inequality in advanced economies and some middle-income countries” (World Bank, 2003, p. 12).

This is why it is easy to advocate lifelong learning from a perspective that is closely connected to technological changes and new demands. The idea of education marketisation is another powerful example of how changes influence lifelong learning processes. This process implies an idea of adaptation education to the present and to the demands of markets.

From this perspective, education is considered to be a strong instrument that aims at stimulating specific markets. The necessity to connect concepts of lifelong learning and workplace has socio-cultural roots. In the workplace, lifelong learning may be explained as “engagement in study programmes that may continues after compulsory education and post university though continuing professional education” (Sutherland & Crowther, 2007, p. 218).

In their turn, Usher and Edwards (2007) admit that lifelong learning just has to be evaluated as a significant socio-cultural process but not just as a simple policy. Vesa Korhonen (2010) helps to define the role of socialization and learning process: person’s life experience grows up considerably in regard to the changes which happen around. This is why the attention to socio-cultural aspects of our everyday life is considered to be great and significant and makes lifelong learning possible and available for all representatives of humanity.

The concept of lifelong learning can be seen as one of the steps in the transition from learning as a psychological or cognitive in the minds of the learner, toward social and situated account that emphasize the role of culture and social participation (Bathmaker, 2004).

Such process is mainly based on the constructivist theory of learning in which knowledge transforms individuals within a social and cultural context (Delandshere, 2002). With traditional learning being transitioned toward transforming within social and cultural context, the lifelong learning theory more embraced on the view that individuals are placed within an economic environment (Axford & Seddon, 2006, p. 167).

In Australia, these views were advocated across all section of education by pro free-market Liberal-National Party and Liberal-Coalition government’s policies. The most powerful rationality for neo-liberalists is the economic rationality, and neoliberal views remain influential national governments “particularly with the Australian government” (Allport, 2000).

Neoliberal activities can be defined as “free market policies aimed at encouraging private enterprise and consumer choice, and entrepreneurial initiative, undermining the “dead hand” of “incompetent, bureaucratic and parasitic government” (Apple, 2001, p. 17). The strategy of advanced liberalism is defined as a “the broader realm of various assemblages of rationalities, technologies and agencies that constitute the characteristic ways of governing in contemporary liberal democracies” (Reich, 2008, p. 202).

The difference between these strategies was outlined through a distinction by Nikolas Rose who considered advanced liberalism as governmentality, while neo-liberalism as a political ideology (Larner, 2000, p. 14). Due to identification of strategies, educators are able to work within both legal and ethical frameworks in order to protect the ideas of equity and inclusivity.

The influence of advanced liberalism in the field of education can be seen through the introduction of the aspect of accounting and audit that educators interpret as benchmarking, assessments, and tests (King & Kendall, 2004, p.208). Governmentality is a term introduced by Michel Foucault, a French philosopher, in a 1978 lecture at the Collège de France that is explained as “a concern with the art of government … of how to be ruled, how strictly, by whom, to what end, by what methods, etc” (Nicoll, 2008, p. 36).

This notion is considered to be an integral part of lifelong education: the activities of educators aim at explaining the ethical side of this life. Some legal aspects explain how diversity and equity spread, and the strategy of advanced liberalism underlines the necessity to evaluate and to divide people in accordance with their principles and peculiarities.

To remain professional teachers should be concerned with their ongoing professional development, where skills and competencies generated through such self-directed learning should act as an added capital and value for their professionalism (Nicoll, 2008).

In the market economy, teaching should become “a grown-up profession” that includes professional disagreements and conflicts are parts of professional learning. The teacher as an accountable professional in education market place plays an important role in the evaluation of advanced learning and neo-liberalism under some technological changes. Such teachers have to underline an idea of accountability and managerialism. Professional accountability aims at protecting human responsibilities without strict measures.

And managerialism helps to unite the ideas of trust and capital which are important for the social system and for the representatives of neo-liberalism in particular. A school is the place where some morals and living principles are explained and help everyone live a right life and understand an idea of respect to each other. This is why teachers as true professionals in education market place should prove their professionalism by means of improved ethical approaches to lifelong learning.

Lifelong learning has been already successfully advocated as a clear response to numerous economic and technological changes. These changes are closely connected to the education workplace and remain to influential in regard to educators’ activities.

The strategies of neo-liberalism and advanced liberalism help to analyze the relations between different learning environments: it is in human nature to be different and to correspond to different cultures, and the evaluation of socio-cultural aspect introduces a new side of lifelong learning that has to be promoted in order to enable educators work in different spheres.

Allport, C. (2000). Thinking Globally, Acting Locally: lifelong learning and the implications for university staff. [Article]. Journal of Higher Education Policy & Management, 22 (1), 37-46. doi: 10.1080/13600800050030365.

Apple, M. W. (2001). Educating the “right” way : markets, standards, God, and inequality . New York: Routledge Falmer.

Axford, B., & Seddon, T. (2006). Lifelong learning in a market economy: Education, training and the citizen-consumer. [Article]. Australian Journal of Education, 50 (2), 167-184.

Bathmaker, A. M. (2004). Supporting Lifelong Learning, Volume 1: Perspectives on Learning/Supporting Lifelong Learning, Volume 2: Organizing Learning/Supporting Lifelong Learning, Volume 3: Making Policy Work (Book). [Book Review]. Studies in the Education of Adults, 36 (1), 139-143.

Crick, R. D., & Wilson, K. (2005). BEING A LEARNER: A VIRTUE FOR THE 21ST CENTURY. [Article]. British Journal of Educational Studies, 53 (3), 359-374. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8527.2005.00300.x.

Delandshere, G. (2002). Assessment as inquiry. Teachers College Record, 104 (7), 1461-1484.

Extending learning opportunities: adult education and lifelong learning. (2001). [Article]. Education Links, 63 , 30-37.

Hyslop-Margison, E. J., & Sears, A. M. (2006). Neo-liberalism, globalization and human capital learning : reclaiming education for democratic citizenship . Dordrecht: Springer.

King, R., & Kendall, G. (2004). The Liberal State The state, democracy and globalization (pp. 186-215). Hamshire: Palgrave Macmillan.

Korhonen, V. (2010). Cross-Cultural Lifelong Learning . Tampere: University of Tampere.

Larner, W. (2000). Neo-liberalism: Policy, Ideology, Governmentality. Studies in Political Economy 63 , 5-25. Web.

Miller, P., & Rose, N. S. (2008). Governing Advanced Liberal Democracies Governing the Present: Administering Economic, Social and Personal Life (pp. 199-218). Cambridge: Polity Press.

Nicoll, K. (2008). Foucault and lifelong learning : governing the subject . London New York, NY: Routledge.

Reich, A. (2008). Intersecting work and learning: assembling advanced liberal regimes of governing workers in Australia. [Article]. Studies in Continuing Education, 30 (3), 199-213. doi: 10.1080/01580370802439912.

Sutherland, P. & Crowther, J. (2007). Lifelong Learning: Concepts and Contexts. Oxon: Routledge.

Usher, R. & Edwards, R. (2007). Lifelong Learning: Signs, Discourses, Practices. Netherlands: Springer.

Westbrook, R. B. (1991). John Dewey and American democracy . Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press.

Whitty, P. (1998). Devolution and Choice in Education. London: Prince Hall Publishers.

World Bank. (2003). Lifelong Learning in the Global Knowledge Economy: Challenges for Developing Countries. Washington: World Bank Publications.

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What Is Lifelong Learning?

The benefits of lifelong learning, 1. job security, 2. career options, 3. renewed motivation, 4. stronger soft skills, 5. better cognitive health, 6. confidence, 7. networking opportunities, begin the journey of lifelong learning today, additional resources, the importance of lifelong learning.

Ongoing skill development is essential for long-term professional success

These days, the corporate world is evolving faster than ever. Industries shift and expand overnight. Job descriptions change, old roles become irrelevant, and new skills are needed. Workers often struggle to keep up.

Because of this, professionals are increasingly prioritizing lifelong learning . This creates job security, opens new doors, and gives workers the skills they need to thrive in their chosen fields.

The Importance of Lifelong Learning Theme

Lifelong learning means pursuing education beyond the requirements of formal schooling or corporate training. “Lifelong learners” are individuals who never stop honing their skills and expanding their knowledge. They might be interested in pursuing personal or professional development, such as:

Picking up a hobby
Studying a subject
Learning a language
Taking a vocational course
Playing a sport
Joining a club

For the purposes of this post, we’re talking about lifelong learning for workers who want to grow their professional skill sets. However, career-related learning can offer benefits that range far beyond the boundaries of a job.

As industries continue to evolve, many employees feel the pressure to stay ahead. Competition for jobs can be tough, and there are always new faces entering the workforce with fresh skills. If you aren’t keeping up with the changing times, you can bet someone else is. According to a survey from the Pew Research Center, 87% of workers think it’s important to seek training and develop new skills throughout their careers.

Lifelong learning allows you to hone your skill set so you can be an asset to your industry for years to come. Plus, by developing your professional abilities, you can demonstrate your commitment to your industry and career. That will go a long way to earning the trust and respect of any employer.

Lifelong learning isn’t just about keeping your old job. It can also open the door to new roles — or even a new career. For example, if your current job isn’t suiting you, you might consider taking an online course that offers a valuable certification in your preferred field. In some cases, this could make a career transition possible without requiring to go back to school.

Plenty of workers find themselves losing interest in their careers over time. A job becomes routine, mindlessly completing the same boring tasks day after day. What used to be fresh and exciting becomes old hat. Fortunately, lifelong learning can help reignite your passion. Developing new skills may well be the secret to rediscovering what drew you to your career in the first place.

Adult continuing education is useful for more than just what it teaches you. The very act of learning new things helps reinforce important soft skills , such as:

Goal setting
Self-discipline
Critical thinking
Time management
Problem-solving
Adaptability

Strengthening these character traits will inevitably help in reaching your personal and professional goals.

Studies have shown that lifelong learning helps improve the health and function of the brain . The mental benefits of learning can include:

Better cognitive function
Longer attention span
Stronger memory
Improved reasoning skills
Reduced risk of dementia

Again, these benefits are bound to enhance your efforts in every area of life.

Self-improvement is key to building confidence. By mastering new skills, you can unlock your potential and boost your self-esteem . And as you use those skills to advance your career, your sense of purpose will only grow.

Many options for adult continuing education involve working closely with instructors and fellow learners. This allows you to connect with like-minded professionals and grow your personal network. In time, this could create valuable opportunities to take your career in unexpected directions. Even if not, it never hurts to make a new friend in your field.

Lifelong learning can help you:

Protect your job
Advance your career
Motivate yourself
Cultivate healthy habits
Improve your mental health
Build confidence
Expand your personal network

If you’re ready to embrace the benefits of lifelong learning, there are plenty of places to start. CFI gives finance and banking professionals the real-world skills they need to excel in their careers through accredited online courses and in-demand certification programs.

Learn more about how CFI’s accredited courses can take your career to the next level.

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Lifelong Learning in the Educational Setting: A Systematic Literature Review

Regular Article
Open access
Published: 13 May 2023
Volume 33 , pages 407–417, ( 2024 )

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Win Phyu Thwe ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-7461-2892 1 &
Anikó Kálmán 2

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This systematic literature review aimed to provide updated information on lifelong learning in educational research by examining theoretical documents and empirical papers from 2000 to 2022. This review sought to identify concepts, theories, and research trends and methods linked to lifelong learning in educational research in different countries. Our review findings showed that theoretical papers, such as reports, policies, and concepts of lifelong learning, are generally much more extensive than empirical studies. Word cloud analysis revealed that the most prominent concepts were lifelong learning skills, lifelong learning competencies, and the three types of lifelong learning (formal, nonformal, and informal). Following the inductive analysis, this study investigated three common research trends: conceptual framework or policies of lifelong learning, lifelong learning abilities, and influencing factors of lifelong learning and/or lifelong learning abilities. Regarding methodology, this study identified only three studies that used mixed methods, which is insufficient in the field. In addition, heterogeneity was also observed between research instruments in lifelong learning. Different data analysis techniques can be applied in this field, including content analysis, descriptive analysis, and inferential analysis. Finally, the participants involved in the examined studies were students, primary and secondary school teachers, undergraduates, postgraduates, student teachers, European Union Lifelong Learning experts, young adults, teacher educators, administrators, and academic staff.

Lifelong Learning: Researching a Contested Concept in the Twenty-First Century

Advancing Research and Collecting Evidence on Lifelong Learning Globally

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Introduction

Lifelong learning is a broad term whose definitions have common meanings and which has been explained by organizations such as the European Commission, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

The European Commission ( 2001 ) defines lifelong learning as any intentional learning activities conducted throughout a person’s lifetime to improve their knowledge, skills, and competencies from an individual, municipal, societal, and/or career standpoint. From this conventional definition, a more robust definition of lifelong learning emerged—that is, lifelong learning refers to all processes that transform a person’s body, mind, and social experiences intellectually, emotionally, and practically before they are integrated into their life story, resulting in a more experienced individual (Jarvis, 2009 ).

Meanwhile, the UNESCO definition of lifelong learning includes all intentional learning from birth to death that attempts to advance knowledge and skills for anyone who intends to engage in learning activities. Part of the broad definition of lifelong learning refers to both informal learning in settings such as the workplace, at home, or in the community and formal education in institutions such as schools, universities, and alternative education centers (Tuijnman et al., 1996 ). According to the European Lifelong Learning Initiative, lifelong learning is a consistently supportive process that stimulates and empowers individuals in acquiring all the awareness, values, skills, and comprehension they would require throughout their lifetime and apply them with self-belief, innovation, and pleasure in all positions, contexts, and climates (Watson, 2003 ). Therefore, lifelong learning can be generally defined as learning that one seeks throughout their life and that is flexible, varied, and accessible at diverse times and locations.

According to John Dewey, education is the process of giving a person the skills necessary to take charge of their world and fulfill their obligations. The ideas of education and lifelong learning endure over the life of an individual's existence. Lifelong learning transcends the limits of education and goes beyond traditional education (Edwards & Usher, 1998 ). In this regard, it is vital to assess how education settings can support lifelong learning. This literature review is the groundwork for the future implementation of educational institutions as lifelong learning centers.

Importance of a Systematic Literature Review of Lifelong Learning

A review of educational research in lifelong learning is the initial step to understanding relevant concepts and conducting empirical research. Both narrative and systematic reviews help identify research gaps and develop research questions, respectively. Meanwhile, systematic reviews include not only information obtained from the literature but also the adopted approach and where and how the literature was found. The significance of a systematic literature review (Cronin, 2011 ; Mallett et al., 2012 ) can be seen in the criteria used to assess whether to include or exclude a study from the review, reducing article selection bias.

Do et al. ( 2021 ) conducted the first systematic scientific investigation of the literature on lifelong learning although the selected studies focused only on the Southeast Asia context. Because the researchers used bibliometric analysis, it was not possible to study the intricacies of a lifelong learning issue, evaluate the quality of each scientific paper, or accurately highlight its effects on the topic. To overcome these limitations and provide a more general overview of the research topic, another systematic review of lifelong learning literature must be conducted. Therefore, our research will contain policy document, theoretical and empirical papers from 2000 to 2022 to provide updated information on lifelong learning in educational research. This literature review aims to identify concepts and theories, research areas, research trends, and research methods associated with lifelong learning in educational research in different countries. These intentions have guided the following research questions for this literature review:

What concepts and theories have been applied to explain lifelong learning in education research?

What research problems have been examined in lifelong learning in education research?

What research methodologies have been adopted to evaluate lifelong learning in education?

Methodology

Lifelong learning in the educational setting is assessed using a systematic review of literature instead of a narrative review or bibliometric analysis. A systematic literature review is considered as a scientific, unambiguous, and repeatable process for locating, analyzing, and summarizing every available published and registered research article to address a clearly articulated question (Dewey & Drahota, 2016 ). To ensure the effectiveness of the document search strategy, this study used the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA 2020) as suggested by Page et al. ( 2021 ).

This study employed the largest multidisciplinary databases, such as Web of Science (WoS), Scopus, and ProQuest, to search for studies in lifelong learning. It also investigated two institution-based websites focusing on lifelong learning, the UNESCO Institute of Lifelong Learning and the European Commission, and gathered their policy documents, publications, and reports. Throughout the period 2000–2022, all lifelong learning studies were considered to ensure that all up-to-date information is captured. Our keywords were “lifelong learning” and “education,” and we set our filters to include open-access articles and journals related to education, social science, and the English language. Based on the publication of hundreds of articles, we developed our inclusion and exclusion criteria.

Included and Excluded Studies

We selected articles based on the following criteria: published in educational science and social science publications, employed both theoretical and empirical research (qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods), and open access. The decision was made to exclude lifelong learning articles that did not focus on the education field, such as medicine, engineering, and labor studies, and those with unsuitable titles and abstracts. Duplicate articles were removed after the articles that met these criteria were assessed using R Studio software.

The screening stage involved an evaluation of titles and abstracts to determine their suitability for the research question and literature review methodology. Through this method, we discovered irrelevant articles and removed them. The remaining policy documents, theoretical and empirical studies were reviewed and analyzed in the last screening round, producing a total of 55 eligible articles. Figure 1 shows the procedure of finding and selecting relevant literature according to the PRISMA 2020 flow diagram (Page et al., 2021 ).

Selection procedure of studies for analysis according to PRISMA 2020

Data Extraction and Analysis

To answer the research questions, we categorized lifelong learning concepts and theories, research trends, and methods. We extracted the concepts and theories from both policy documents, theoretical and empirical publications and then gathered information on research trends and methods based on empirical studies. We then conceptually coded and categorized the data and used R Studio software to analyze the articles both qualitatively and quantitatively.

Lifelong Learning Concepts and Theories

Our analysis of 55 studies covering the period 2000–2022 showed that lifelong learning was explained using different concepts based on the research area and trends. An overview of concepts related to lifelong learning can be found in Table 1 . Meanwhile, the results of the word cloud analysis in R Studio (Fig. 2 ) revealed that the most prominent concepts were lifelong learning skills, lifelong learning competencies, and the three types of lifelong learning (formal, nonformal, and informal).

Word cloud analysis of lifelong learning concepts

Many publications included in our review lack a clear theory of lifelong learning. Our analysis of the 55 studies, however, revealed an attempt by scholars to apply comprehensive theory (Bagnall, 2017 ), theory of transformative learning (Eschenbacher & Fleming, 2020 ), theories of societal learning (Osborne & Borkowska, 2017 ) to lifelong learning.

Research Areas in Lifelong Learning

We inductively analyzed 21 of the 55 empirical studies in our review to examine the common research problems that the researchers presented and addressed. From this analysis, three common research areas emerged: problems associated with the conceptual framework or policies of lifelong learning, issues surrounding lifelong learning abilities, and challenges linked to factors that influence lifelong learning and/or lifelong learning abilities. Table 2 presents a detailed analysis of these research problems in the 21 studies.

We also found that researchers described lifelong learning abilities using terms such as “lifelong learning skills,” “lifelong learning competencies,” and “lifelong learning tendencies.” Some studies also investigated the impacts of demographic data to address their research problems (e.g., Buza et al., 2010 ; Nacaroglu et al., 2021 ; Sen & Durak, 2022 ; Shin & Jun, 2019 ).

Research Methodologies in Lifelong Learning

Of the 21 studies, 11 conducted quantitative research, seven qualitative researches, and three mixed-method research. Differences were observed in their research instruments, analysis, and participants based on their research design and methods. We will discuss these research methodologies based on the aforementioned three common research problems.

Table 3 summarizes the main research instruments used by lifelong learning studies. The researchers also adopted several other research tools, including the Competences Scale for Educational Technology Standards, the Teaching–Learning Conceptions Scale, the Self-Directed Learning Readiness Scale, the Perceived Self-Regulation Scale, the Dimension Learning Organization Questionnaire, learning agility, knowledge sharing, learning approaches, the General Self-Efficacy Scale, the Openness to Experience Scale, change readiness, the Epistemic Beliefs Inventory, general intelligence, self-assessment of metacognitive knowledge and metacognitive activity, reflexive skills, the questionnaire of implicit theories, a diagnosis of motivational structure, and the teaching and assessment strategies for pedagogical practice instrument, to investigate the relation between lifelong learning abilities and other variables or their impacts.

In some cases, some researchers developed these instruments, while in others, they modified existing tools (e.g., Effective Lifelong Learning Inventory (Crick et al., 2004 ), Lifelong Learning Competencies Scale (Sahin et al., 2010 ), and Lifelong Learning Tendency Scale (Coşkuna & Demirel, 2010 )). These researchers also performed many types of data analysis based on their data collection tools and data distribution methods, including descriptive and diagnostic analyses, hierarchical linear modeling, reliability, principal component analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, structural equation modeling, regression, multivariate regression, correlation, comparative analyses ( t -test or Mann–Whitney U test), and content analysis.

These studies also involved several types of participants, such as students, primary and secondary school teachers, undergraduates, postgraduates, student teachers, EU Lifelong Learning experts, young adults, teacher educators, administrators, and academic staffs, which all represent different contexts. Table 4 shows that Asia, the Middle East, and Europe can be regarded as the general contexts of these studies. Notably, however, fewer studies have been conducted in Asia than in the Middle East and Europe, which may pose a challenge to the generalization of the findings of some studies in these contexts.

The results of our review showed that theoretical papers, such as reports, policy document, and lifelong learning concepts were generally much more extensive than empirical studies. Despite attempts to formulate new lifelong learning theories and apply existing ones, researchers have yet to develop a strong theory of lifelong learning. Consistent with the results of our systematic review is Steffens ( 2015 ) assertion that no single theory of learning can adequately account for all types of lifelong learning.

The prior studies' use of lifelong learning concepts can be the basis for further studies to build comprehensive theoretical frameworks in line with the current situation. This study’s concept analysis identified lifelong learning skills; lifelong learning competencies; and formal, nonformal, and informal learning as the most salient concepts.

Meanwhile, the analysis of each empirical study’s research problems generated three shared research trends in lifelong learning. Additionally, these studies were found to have investigated the relation between lifelong learning abilities and other variables, such as professional competencies, self-efficacy, and teaching–learning approaches. Moreover, they examined the factors affecting lifelong learning, lifelong learning skills, lifelong learning competencies, and lifelong learning tendencies; the hierarchical effects of individual and organizational variables; external barriers; professional learning environment; metacognitions; and personality determinants. Alongside these factors, demographic components such as gender, age, subjects, and educational level can also significantly influence lifelong learning. Furthermore, this review also found research gaps in lifelong learning in educational research, which offers the potential to explore lifelong learning using variables such as new learning communities, advanced teaching–learning techniques, learning styles, learning strategies and motivation in addition to self-directed learning, personal learning environments, and educational technology.

With regard to research methods, this study identified only three studies that used mixed methods, indicating an inadequacy in the field. Hence, all future research of lifelong learning should be conducted using mixed methods. Our examination of instruments revealed different tools that were used to assess the three common research problems. Such an effort may require the application of different data analysis techniques, including content analysis, descriptive analysis, and inferential analysis.

The prior studies, as a result of our review, only interviewed lifelong learning specialists, young adults, and secondary teachers to address their research issues, such as concepts and policies. Indeed, the development of lifelong learning policies or conceptual frameworks would benefit from the involvement of teachers from basic education schools, teacher education institutions, and universities.

Several research problems associated with lifelong learning capabilities involved university students, students and teacher educators. In light of this, it is still important to examine the lifelong learning skills, competencies, and tendencies of all stakeholders in the educational setting. The previous studies analyzed different factors that may shape lifelong learning and/or lifelong learning abilities with all possible participants. Considering the geographical context, more research must be conducted on the three research trends in lifelong learning in Asia as opposed to Europe. This will strengthen the generalizability of findings to specific target groups such as students, teachers, and teacher trainers in the specific area.

Nevertheless, it must be emphasized that our study is not without limitations. Our review may have overlooked several empirical studies that were not in Scopus, WoS, or ProQuest because we selected only open-access articles indexed in these databases. Additional research may have a different effect on the results. Neither the details of the research instruments nor the findings of each study can be examined in detail.

Therefore, we recommend that subsequent systematic reviews and meta-analyses in lifelong learning incorporate articles indexed in other databases. Researchers may also conduct future reviews examining the history and psychometrics of research instruments used in lifelong learning and considers the results of each empirical study. However, a comparison of study findings in the Asian context continues to be a challenge because not enough research has been conducted in all possible lifelong learning research areas. Considering the impact of COVID-19, lifelong learning research in new learning communities, environments, or organizations may be conducted to capture updated information.

This literature review aimed to identify concepts, theories, issues, trends, and research methodologies associated with lifelong learning in educational research. Our findings addressed concepts, lifelong learning policies, lifelong learning competencies, and formal, nonformal, and informal. The studies included in this review highlighted that a strong theory of lifelong learning has yet to be developed and applied. In addition, we deductively examined three common research trends: issues with basic concepts or guiding principles of lifelong learning, problems surrounding lifelong learning capacities, and challenges regarding variables that affect lifelong learning and/or lifelong learning capacities. Regarding methodology, we examined the techniques, tools, data analysis, and participants included in lifelong learning studies. Overall, educational researchers must continue to conduct more mixed methods studies, focusing on the Asian context.

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Personal Essay: The Pursuit of Lifelong Learning

By Dave Hood

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”—Dr.Seuss, “I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!”

Unfortunately, many people stop learning once they graduate from high school, college, or university. They never read a book or learn another useful skill again. I believe that everyone should be lifelong learners. It makes for a more interesting and enjoyable life. Furthermore, it enhances well-being. What is lifelong learning? It is self-motivated, voluntary, and continuous learning throughout one’s life—an ongoing quest for knowledge and skills, whether or not a person is in an educational setting.

How does a person embrace lifelong learning? You don’t achieve it by watching reruns of sitcoms or reality television, such as The Bachelor. Travel can be a good method, providing you don’t see the sights by bus or spend your time in a five-star hotel next to the pool. You learn by immersion in new people, new culture, new places, new experiences, education, new types of work, where you acquire new skills and expand your knowledge and polish your expertise. Instead of becoming like moldy loaf of bread that sits on the counter, you learn. What follows is what I consider easy and powerful methods for lifelong learning.

My Approach to Learning It’s easy to feel overwhelmed with information overload. Every day, newspapers report on the news and magazine publications, such as The Atlantic or The New Yorker, which publish poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction essays. Every business has a web presence, where they promote and sell their products and services. Everyone can use their smartphones to take photos and publish them on the Web for the world to see. I know that countless books are published each year. We are continually being bombarded with new information. For instance, in Canada, 20,000 new books are published every year. It is not humanly possible to stay informed about all the discoveries, new inventions, innovations, new movies, plays, music added to popular culture. So what is a person to do? Rather than learn or read or follow everything in the media or on the Internet, I focus my time and attention on learning things related to my passions and interests.

Learning in an Educational Institution One of the easiest ways to learn is to take courses, or enroll in a diploma, certificate, or degree program. My first serious learning began in 1978, when I enrolled in a liberal arts program at the University of Toronto . I took courses I had never heard of, subjects like anthropology, political science, philosophy, sociology, medieval history. The more I learned in these and other liberal arts courses, the more I became curious, the more questions I had.

Each field of study had its own set of concepts, theories, terminology, and experts. The more I read, studied, and learned about a particular topic, the more I realized how much there was to still to learn. For instance, in history, I could enroll in introductory American, Russian, Chinese, Eastern, British, Canadian, medieval, Renaissance history, and more.

Once I completed a course, I could enroll in more advanced courses, which would dig deeper into the subject. In 1983, I graduated with an Honours B.A, feeling confident and optimistic about the future. I had learned how to learn, met lots of interesting people, and expanded my mind with knowledge, and developed strong writing skills, as well as a motivation for lifelong learning. Though I didn’t qualify for a particular career, I enjoyed the courses in psychology, sociology, history, economics, political science, which helped me to develop liberal-minded thinking.

In 1995, Windows 95, with its Graphical User Interface, and the Internet were born. Knowing little about computers and nothing about the Web, I became motivated to learn how to use the Internet as a tool for conducting research and how to use word processing software as a writing tool, so I took a couple of courses. Enjoying the experience working with digital technologies, I enrolled in a Computer Programming Diploma at Sheridan college in Oakville , Ontario. For the next two years, I learned how to write software programs using the computer languages of C, C++, Visual Basic, and HTML. I also learned how to use Netscape, one of the first Web browsers. I learned to use MS Word, Excel, and Power Point. And I learned to design and create a Website and write technical documentation, including online help, Web content, and user guides. After graduating from the computer program at college, I applied for a job as a Technical Writer, where I worked writing Web content, printed documentation, and online help for the next few years. It was this learning in information technology that opened doors to better employment.

My learning in an educational setting stopped for about 15 years, until the the birth of the digital camera and the digital darkroom. In 2007, I developed a strong interest in creative pursuits and strong desire to express my creative spirit. So I have taken up digital photography, enrolling a Digital Photography courses at Ryerson University in Toronto in the fall of 2011 . I have learned how to see creatively, shoot in Aperture priority, manual mode, and shutter priority with a variety of lens. I have also learning how to use Lightroom and Photoshop, software that allows you to edit digital photographs and apply special effects like those of Instagram. I have learned that photography is a way to make a social commentary, document the human condition, create different types of art, and express my creative vision of the world. You can see my work at http://www.davehoodphotography.org .

Learning by Reading Magazines and Books Reading is an easy way to learn new facts and concepts related to a particular topic, as well as learn to write and develop your vocabulary. It’s also one of the best methods of learning, especially if you are not enrolled in college or university. Read books of interest or books on what you are passionate about . In fact, it is the easiest way to embrace lifelong learning. After graduating, I read several biographies of a historical people and books on the Cold War and political books. But then the Cold War ended, attack politics became the norm, and the economic problems of unemployment, slow growth, poverty were never solved, and so I became disenchanted and bored and moved into reading books on psychology. Some books that stand out are self-help books, like The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People by Steven Covey and How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. However, in the mid 90s, the dawn of the digital age diverted my attention away from reading history and psychology books to reading books and magazines related to information technology, such as Wired magazine.

The more knowledge I soaked up from reading, the more I realized how there are so many things in life’s journey that are captivating and awe-inspiring. They sparked my curiosity to know why. For instance, a few weeks ago, I read Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything” by Joshua Foer. It was a fascinating read, and I learned how to improve my memory by learning a few techniques of mnemonics (memory devices). One particular device “blue my mind”—the memory palace or method of loci. Clearly, my reading had led me to something knew and enchanting, something that could benefit me.

Personal Learning Projects While attending university during the 1980s, I desired to become a writer–but my writing skills weren’t very good. I didn’t know the difference between a phrase or a clause, the active voice or the passive voice, how to structure an essay, different parts of speech, and so forth. After my first year of university, my writing was so poor that I received two grades of D+. These poor marks motivated me to learn how to write, and so I purchased a couple of textbooks and began to study. I taught myself everything there is to know about parts of speech, parts of a sentence, grammar, mechanics, punctuation, different types of paragraphs, various types of sentences, and how to structure different types of essays.

As well, I mastered the advice of Strunk and White’s “Elements of Style,” the classic, short text that provides the essentials of writing style. (Every college and university student should own a copy and internalize the writing advice.)To expand my vocabulary, I began learning a new word each day, words like cornucopia, grandiloquent, serendipity. The following year, my grades improved by 20%. This experience of self-directed learning enabled me to improve my writing skills and increase my confidence. I felt that I could write about anything. I also began to view myself as a writer–an unpublished writer.

And then the Internet opened digital publishing. In 2009, I decided to immerse myself in Creative Writing—poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction. My self-study project began by finding out what where the best books on learning to write poetry, short fiction, and personal essays. I unearthed this information at Poets & Writers website and Amazon.com, and then I purchased more than 40 books on these creative writing topics. For the next five years, I learned how to write free verse poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction in my leisure time. I also created and wrote creative writing articles on a blog called “Find Your Creative Muse. ” Last year, I rewrote the blog articles and published an eBook called “The Art and Craft of Creative Writing” on Amazon.com. Presently, I am working on writing poetry, fiction, personal essays, with the hope of publishing in a literary journal. I have learned that creative writing gives me the freedom to express my creative spirit and authenticity.

What I have Learned from Lifelong Learning It has enabled me to escape the drudgery of daily life. I rarely become bored, because I’m always learning something new. In other words, learning distracts me from my existential existence.

Learning has provided me with lifetime skills in writing, computers, information technology, digital photography, as well as a wide-variety of interests and passions. Unwittingly, this learning also helped me to setup and create a blog on WordPress, which has allowed me to express my passion for writing.

By reading widely and deeply, I have developed my writing skills and acquired a treasure trove of topics to write about and discuss with others.

Rather than learn or read or follow everything, I focus my time and attention on learning about things related to my passions and interests.

The best kind of learning involves combining a skill and knowledge with some creative pursuit, such as writing, painting, photography, playing the piano. The combination of skill and knowledge will allow you to express your creativity, share your thoughts and feelings about your life’s journey, as well as make social commentary about a world that is forever changing. The next best learning is acquiring knowledge and skill for work you love.

Lifelong learning has also improved my well-being . Instead of worrying or focusing on the past, I now focus my time and energy on writing and photography in the present. By doing this, I have added meaning and purpose, as well as injected enjoyment into my life.

I embrace what the philosopher Socrates wrote: “The unexamined life is not worth living.” And so, learning has allowed me to explore and attempt to answer those haunting questions about the mysteries of life. Learning has introduced me to new ideas, concepts, different points of view, different modes of thinking. I perceive the world with an open mindset. I am liberal minded and tolerant of differences.

I have discovered that learning enriches life experiences . For instance, the person who doesn’t understand “art” will look at some abstract painting and say,” That’s stupid.” But the person who has studied the history of art and learned the techniques of painting will be able to analyze, interpret, and appreciate the artwork.

And the more I have learned, the more I have realized how little I know. It was Voltaire who said, “The more I read, the more I acquire, the more certain I am that I know nothing.”

If you are bored with your life or seek to improve your sense of well-being, discover your passion and then immerse yourself in it. Begin by learning.

About Dave Hood

How to Be a Lifelong Learner

People around the world are hungry to learn. Instructor Barbara Oakley discovered this when her online course “ Learning How to Learn ”—filmed in her basement in front of a green screen—attracted more than 1.5 million students.

Part of the goal of her course—and her new book, Mindshift: Break Through Obstacles to Learning and Discover Your Hidden Potential —is to debunk some of the myths that get in the way of learning, like the belief that we’re bad at math or too old to change careers. These are just artificial obstacles, she argues.

“People can often do more, change more, and learn more—often far more—than they’ve ever dreamed possible. Our potential is hidden in plain sight all around us,” Oakley writes.

She should know: Throughout her early schooling, she flunked math and science classes and resisted family pressure to pursue a science degree. Today? She’s a professor of engineering at Oakland University, after many different jobs in between.

Her book aims to help readers discover their hidden potential, by offering them both the tools and the inspiration to transform themselves through learning.

The benefits of lifelong learning

Besides being fun, Oakley explains, continued learning can serve us well in the workforce. Many professionals today are engaging in a practice called “second-skilling”: gaining a second area of expertise, whether it’s related to their work (like a marketer learning programming) or completely different (a fundraiser training to be a yoga instructor).

When we lose our job, or work just starts to feel unsatisfying, having other skills can give us more choice and flexibility. We can quit our job and find a new one, of course, but we can also choose to move horizontally within the same organization, taking on different responsibilities.

Mindshift tells the story of one Dutch university employee who enriched her career thanks to her passion for online video gaming. Though she didn’t necessarily think of that as a “second skill,” it ended up benefitting her (and her employer) greatly: She became community manager of the university’s online courses, devising strategies to keep digital interactions civil just as she had done in the gaming world. This goes to show, Oakley writes, that we can never tell where our expertise will lead us or where it will come in handy.

Keeping our brains active and engaged in new areas also has cognitive benefits down the line. According to one study , people who knit, sew, quilt, do plumbing or carpentry, play games, use computers, or read have greater cognitive abilities as they age. Other research found that the more education you have , or the more cognitively stimulating activity you engage in , the lower your risk of Alzheimer’s.

Learning could even extend your life. People who read books for more than 3.5 hours a week are 23 percent less likely to die over a 12-year period—a good reason to keep cracking books after college!

Learn how to learn

Whether you’re inspired to learn woodworking or web development, Mindshift offers many tips that can make your learning more efficient and enjoyable.

Focus (and don’t focus). In order to absorb information, our brains need periods of intense focus followed by periods of mind-wandering , or “diffuse attention,” Oakley explains. So, learners will actually retain more if they incorporate time for rest and relaxation to allow this processing to happen. Perhaps that’s why aficionados love the Pomodoro technique , which recommends 25-minute bursts of work followed by five-minute breaks.

We should also experiment with different levels of background noise to achieve optimal focus, Oakley advises. Quiet promotes deeper focus, while minor distractions or background noise—like what you’d find at a cafe—may encourage more diffuse attention and creative insight . (While your favorite music could help you get in the zone, music that’s loud, lyrical , or displeasing might be a distraction.)

Practice efficiently. Neuroscience research is now exploring what learning looks like in the brain—and it’s bad news for those of us who loved to cram in college. Apparently the brain can only build so many neurons each night , so regular, repeated practice is crucial.

Oakley recommends learning in “chunks”—bite-sized bits of information or skills, such as a passage in a song, one karate move, or the code for a particular technical command. Practicing these regularly allows them to become second nature, freeing up space in our conscious mind and working memory so we can continue building new knowledge. (If this doesn’t happen, you may have to select a smaller chunk.)

It also helps to practice in a variety of ways, at a variety of times. To understand information more deeply, Oakley recommends actively engaging with it by teaching ourselves aloud or creating mindmaps —web-like drawings connecting different concepts and ideas. We can also try practicing in our downtime (in line at Starbucks or in the car commuting, for example), and quickly reviewing the day’s lessons before going to sleep.

Exercise. One of the most surprising—and easiest—ways to supercharge our learning is to exercise. Physical activity can actually help us grow new brain cells and neurotransmitters ; it’s also been shown to improve our long-term memory and reverse age-related declines in brain function. In fact, walking for just 11 minutes a day is enough to reap some benefits.

While clearly informed by neuroscience, Mindshift focuses more on telling stories than explaining research—which makes it a fast read. After hearing so many tales of curiosity and transformation, you yourself may be inspired to pick up that random hobby you’ve fantasized about, or take one of many college-level courses now available online for free (like our very own Science of Happiness course ). Me? The one I signed up for starts next week.

About the Author

Kira M. Newman

Kira M. Newman is the managing editor of Greater Good . Her work has been published in outlets including the Washington Post , Mindful magazine, Social Media Monthly , and Tech.co, and she is the co-editor of The Gratitude Project . Follow her on Twitter!

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May 27, 2022

The Power of Lifelong Learning: What is it and Why is it Important?

By B&SC Blog Team

When did you last enjoy the satisfaction of learning something new? If this isn’t a daily or weekly phenomenon, you’re missing out-and you might be compromising your career. Thankfully, it is possible to integrate learning into your day-to-day life, as we see below.

What Is Lifelong Learning?

Lifelong learning involves ongoing academic pursuits that continue long after young adulthood. Under this approach, learning is entirely voluntary. This obviously differs from high school, where learning-or at least attendance-is required. But it also stands separate from the stereotypical view of college in which students focus exclusively on school in their late teens and early 20s before leaving it behind for good.

Under a lifelong model, learning cannot and should not conclude after graduating with a bachelor’s or master’s degree, nor should it occur exclusively with the intention of landing a specific type of job. Lifelong learning means that academic discovery is the goal in and of itself.

Why Is Lifelong Learning Important?

Take a close look at the average lifespan and the ‘typical’ academic trajectory, and you’ll see a sharp divide. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports a life expectancy of 78.7 years for U.S. residents, but the majority of students still attend college in their late teens and early 20s. If they follow the ‘expected’ path, they could spend five or even six decades of their life without any concerted effort at obtaining further education. During that time, the skills and knowledge gained previously may be forgotten or outdated.

The need for lifelong learning may seem obvious from a professional standpoint, but it also holds personal implications. Ongoing mental stimulation is important for cognitive and emotional health. This is true at all ages but is especially evident among seniors. Research suggests that, as we age, a commitment to learning can limit the potential for memory loss and may even help to prevent concerns such as dementia.

What Are the Benefits of Lifelong Learning?

A wide array of benefits can accompany lifelong learning. This pursuit is beneficial for not only your professional development, but your personal development and emotional wellbeing. Top advantages include:

1. Finding New Areas of Passion

Lifelong learners are inquisitive, curious, and open to new ideas. As you take classes or explore new materials, you may be exposed to concepts that you might otherwise have never considered. Take this curiosity and uncover a new area of interest that ignites the passion for life you crave.

2. New Skill Development

A diverse skill set is imperative, especially as you attempt to transition to a new career path or secure a promotion. As a lifelong learner, you can gain a variety of useful abilities, such as mastery of new technology or clinical skills. You can also continue to develop soft skills such as verbal communication or problem-solving. These stand out on a resume and also make you more effective in everything from day-to-day work tasks to your favorite hobbies.

3. Keeping Up with the Latest Trends and Research

Research breakthroughs have shifted our understanding of virtually every field, thereby impacting how we operate across numerous sectors. This is exciting as it promotes a much-needed spirit of innovation as well as greater productivity.

Unfortunately, the fast pace of research means that it’s easy to fall behind. If you’re committed to continuous learning, however, you will be exposed to information about the latest developments. No matter how long you’ve been in the workforce, you can feel confident in knowing that you’re up to date. This, combined with years of experience, will make you a compelling employee as you continue to climb the career ladder.

4. Improving Cognitive Health

As mentioned previously, a growing body of research suggests that lifelong learning can be helpful for mitigating a variety of concerns in your personal life that often arrive with age. A report from the journal Neurology reveals that intellectual activity across the lifespan can lead to major delays in symptoms for conditions such as Alzheimer’s.

Upon reviewing this study and recommending it for publication, Dr. David Knopman explained, “If two people had the same amount of Alzheimer’s pathology, and one…engaged in more cognitively stimulating activities, and one…didn’t participate in as many mentally stimulating activities, then the symptoms [of Alzheimer’s] would appear earlier in the person with less cognitively stimulating activity.”

5. Enjoying the Personal Satisfaction of Learning Something New

There’s no feeling quite like true mental stimulation. Novel stimuli, in particular, light up the brain’s reward centers, leading to the swift release of the feel-good neurotransmitter dopamine. After years in the workforce, however, many of us forget the sheer joy of academic discovery. When we commit to lifelong learning, we enjoy more of the special moments when it all clicks-and we are flooded with a sense of understanding and appreciation.

Examples of Lifelong Learning

While lifelong learning has always been attainable, it’s even more accessible in today’s digital world. Finding the time and motivation can be tough, but the materials and resources themselves are wonderfully abundant. The following are just a few of the many opportunities that allow you to pursue your lifelong learning goals:

1. Academic Journals

These days, the pace of advancement is staggering in nearly every field. Typically, the most important developments are outlined in academic journals, which offer a close look at the latest studies as well as a glimpse at the future. Restriction to some academic journals may be limited, but many are available within college libraries or with open access aggregators such as COnnectng REpositories (CORE) .

Blogs cover the gamut from entertaining to educational. They are published by individuals who are eager to share their thoughts. Many are also produced by businesses, non-profit organizations, and colleges. Not only are the blog posts themselves packed with information, but they often include links to online resources or lists of books and journals worth referencing.

3. Podcasts

When life gets busy, it can feel tempting to leave learning for later. Thankfully, many easy-to-access opportunities allow you to learn on the go. Podcasts, for example, provide intriguing information in a digestible format. They span every topic imaginable, with many produced by academic and professional leaders who are eager to share their expertise with the public. Many are short enough to enjoy during your daily commute or while running errands, but in-depth episodes and series are also in strong supply.

4. Documentaries

Known as an educational tool, documentaries provide a uniquely engaging means of diving into material that might otherwise not feel particularly compelling or relatable. These should be viewed with caution, however, as many include a clear angle, and some are far more reliable than others. When in doubt, look for documentaries recommended by college instructors, librarians, or other respected individuals who know which resources are the most reliable. You’ll find many excellent documentaries at your local library, but you can also stream them on services such as Netflix, Hulu, and even YouTube.

5. Online Courses

Books, journals, and podcasts can be helpful, but they may not always provide the sense of direction that aspiring learners need. These resources may be more effective if integrated into a comprehensive system, such as an online course. The simple act of enrolling in higher education provides a burst of motivation, while a detailed curriculum offers structure and accountability. Most important, however, are the connections formed with instructors and fellow students who bring context to cement newfound knowledge as well as support when the going gets tough.

Start Your Journey Today

Are you committed to lifelong learning? Look to Bryant & Stratton for support as you embark on this exciting journey. Contact us today to learn more about our accredited online programs.

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Lifelong Learning in the Educational Setting: A Systematic Literature Review

Win phyu thwe.

1 Doctoral School of Education, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary

Anikó Kálmán

2 Department of Technical Education, Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences, Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME), Műegyetem rkp.3, H-1111, Budapest, Hungary

Introduction

Importance of a Systematic Literature Review of Lifelong Learning

What concepts and theories have been applied to explain lifelong learning in education research?
What research problems have been examined in lifelong learning in education research?
What research methodologies have been adopted to evaluate lifelong learning in education?

Methodology

Included and Excluded Studies

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Selection procedure of studies for analysis according to PRISMA 2020

Data Extraction and Analysis

Lifelong Learning Concepts and Theories

Our analysis of 55 studies covering the period 2000–2022 showed that lifelong learning was explained using different concepts based on the research area and trends. An overview of concepts related to lifelong learning can be found in Table Table1. 1 . Meanwhile, the results of the word cloud analysis in R Studio (Fig. 2 ) revealed that the most prominent concepts were lifelong learning skills, lifelong learning competencies, and the three types of lifelong learning (formal, nonformal, and informal).

Analysis of concepts related with lifelong learning

Concepts	Authors
Adult education	Ivanova ( ); Mandal ( ); Tsatsaroni & Evans ( )
Assessment	Green ( ); Matsumoto-Royo et al. ( )
Attitudes toward learning and individual lifelong learning behavior	Lavrijsen & Nicaise ( )
Beliefs	Bath & Smith ( )
biopolitical shift of lifelong learning	Beighton ( )
Communication skills and predisposition	Deveci ( )
Coping strategies	Muller & Beiten ( )
COVID-19	Deveci ( ); Eschenbacher & Fleming ( )
Educational technology	Sen & Durak ( )
European qualification framework	Elken ( )
Finance	Oosterbeek & Patrinos ( )
Humanism	Black ( ); Osborne & Borkowska ( )
Integrated framework of lifelong learning	James ( ); Panitsides ( )
Intercultural universities	Tyson & Vega ( )
Knowledge-constitutive practices	Nicoll & Fejes ( )
Learning achievements	Omirbayev et al. ( )
Learning strategies	Cort ( ); Muller & Beiten ( )
Life-deep learning, ethical principles, learning society, and learning communities	Osborne & Borkowska ( )
Lifelong learners	Adams ( ); Bagnall ( ); Bath & Smith ( )
Lifelong learning competencies	Council of the European Union ( ); Grokholskyi et al. ( ); Kwan et al. ( ); Omirbayev et al. ( ); Shin & Jun ( )
Lifelong learning experience	Shin & Jun ( )
Lifelong learning policies	Rambla et al. ( ); Tuparevska et al. ( , ); Valiente et al. ( , )
Lifelong learning skills	Adams ( ); Bath & Smith ( ); Deveci ( ); Karataş et al. ( ); Moore & Shaffer ( ); Omirbayev et al. ( )
Lifelong learning tendencies	(Matsumoto-Royo et al. ( ); Nacaroglu et al. ( ); Sen & Durak ( )
Metacognitions	Grokholskyi et al. ( ); Matsumoto-Royo et al. ( )
Open universities	Zuhairi et al. ( )
Peer-assisted learning	Kuit & Fildes ( )
Perception	Adams ( ); Buza et al. ( ); Cefalo & Kazepov ( )
Personal learning environment	Yen et al. ( )
Personality determinants	Grokholskyi et al. ( )
Preschool education	Karalis ( )
Professional development	Theodosopoulou ( ); Zuhairi et al. ( )
Quality, equity, and inclusion	Sunthonkanokpong & Murphy ( )
Regulation and governance, institutional structures, and curricula	Green ( )
Rhizome	Usher ( )
Self-directed learning	Karataş et al. ( ); Kuit & Fildes ( ); Nacaroglu et al. ( )
Self-efficacy	Sen & Durak ( )
Social exclusion	Tuparevska et al. ( , )
Teacher competencies	Theodosopoulou ( )
Teacher education	Simmons & Walker ( ); Sunthonkanokpong & Murphy ( )
Teaching–learning approaches	Karataş et al. ( )
Techno-solutionism and instrumentalism	Black ( )
Three types of lifelong learning (formal, nonformal, and informal)	do Nascimento et al. ( ); UIL ( ); Walters et al. ( ); Yang et al. ( ); Yen et al. ( ); Yorozu ( )
Workplace learning	Maxwell ( )

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Word cloud analysis of lifelong learning concepts

Research Areas in Lifelong Learning

We inductively analyzed 21 of the 55 empirical studies in our review to examine the common research problems that the researchers presented and addressed. From this analysis, three common research areas emerged: problems associated with the conceptual framework or policies of lifelong learning, issues surrounding lifelong learning abilities, and challenges linked to factors that influence lifelong learning and/or lifelong learning abilities. Table Table2 2 presents a detailed analysis of these research problems in the 21 studies.

Analysis of research areas

Research areas		Authors
Concepts used in policies of lifelong learning	A conceptual framework for lifelong learners who leave school	Adams ( )
	The notion of social isolation in lifelong learning policies developed by the European Union (EU)	Tuparevska et al. ( )
	Vulnerability in lifelong learning policies developed by the EU	Tuparevska et al. ( )
	The relations between lifelong learning policies and the definition of young adults in terms of social vulnerability	Rambla et al. ( )
Lifelong learning abilities	Lifelong learning skills during the course	Moore & Shaffer ( )
	Lifelong learning skills in biology	Kuit & Fildes ( )
	Lifelong learning tendencies, technical self-efficacy, and professional competence	Sen & Durak ( )
	The mediating function of preparedness for self-directed learning in the correlation between lifelong learning skills and preservice teachers’ teaching–learning style	Karataş et al. ( )
	Different forms of teacher training in lifelong learning	Simmons & Walker ( )
	Relation between lifelong learning tendencies and self-regulatory skills	Nacaroglu et al. ( )
Factors that influence lifelong learning and/or lifelong learning abilities	Multi-layered influence of individual and organizational factors on lifelong learning competencies	Shin & Jun ( )
	Characteristics and traits that may indicate a person’s tendency for lifelong learning	Bath & Smith ( )
	Importance of external barriers to explain inequalities in lifelong learning participation	Lavrijsen & Nicaise ( )
	Personal learning environment (PLE) management’s forecast of PLE application in fostering lifelong learning	Yen et al. ( )
	Interpersonal communication in the learning and teaching environment as a key indicator of current and future engagement in lifelong learning	Deveci ( )
	Role of personality traits and metacognitions in the acquisition of lifelong learning competency	Grokholskyi et al. ( )
	Impact of the pandemic on lifelong learning skills	Deveci ( )
	Assessment processes that foster the improvement of metacognition abilities and encourage lifelong learning	Matsumoto-Royo et al. ( )
	Challenges to improve lifelong learning in open universities	Zuhairi et al. ( )
	Learning strategies of lifelong learners	Muller & Beiten ( )
	How education can be organized to ensure quality and lifelong learning	Buza et al. ( )

Research Methodologies in Lifelong Learning

Table Table3 3 summarizes the main research instruments used by lifelong learning studies. The researchers also adopted several other research tools, including the Competences Scale for Educational Technology Standards, the Teaching–Learning Conceptions Scale, the Self-Directed Learning Readiness Scale, the Perceived Self-Regulation Scale, the Dimension Learning Organization Questionnaire, learning agility, knowledge sharing, learning approaches, the General Self-Efficacy Scale, the Openness to Experience Scale, change readiness, the Epistemic Beliefs Inventory, general intelligence, self-assessment of metacognitive knowledge and metacognitive activity, reflexive skills, the questionnaire of implicit theories, a diagnosis of motivational structure, and the teaching and assessment strategies for pedagogical practice instrument, to investigate the relation between lifelong learning abilities and other variables or their impacts.

Analysis of research instruments based on their research problems

Research problems	Research instruments	Authors
Conceptual framework or policies of lifelong learning	Interview	Adams ( )
	Interviews, documents	Tuparevska et al. ( )
	Interviews, policy documents	Tuparevska et al. ( )
	Interview	Rambla et al. ( )
Lifelong learning abilities	Effective Lifelong Learning Inventory	Moore & Shaffer ( )
	Student surveys	Kuit & Fildes )
	Lifelong learning tendencies scales	(Sen & Durak ( )
	Lifelong Learning Tendency Scale	Karataş et al. ( )
	Interview	Simmons & Walker ( )
	Lifelong learning scale, semi-structured interviews	Nacaroglu et al. ( )
	Lifelong learning competencies scales	Shin & Jun ( )
Factors that influence lifelong learning and/or lifelong learning abilities	Lifelong learning scale	Bath & Smith ( )
	Data from the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies	Lavrijsen & Nicaise ( )
	Personal environment learning	Yen et al. ( )
	Predispositions for Lifelong Learning	Deveci ( )
	Questionnaire form on the individual experience of LLL, development of LLL competency (scores of two semesters)	Grokholskyi et al. ( )
	Lifelong learning skills	Deveci ( )
	“Metacognition and Lifelong Learning in the Teaching and Assessment of Future Teachers” questionnaire, interview	Matsumoto-Royo et al. ( )
	Interviews, focus group discussion	Zuhairi et al. ( )
	Learning styles instrument, coping strategies scale	Muller & Beiten ( )
	Lifelong learning conception, the relation between teaching and lifelong learning, interview	Buza et al. ( )

These studies also involved several types of participants, such as students, primary and secondary school teachers, undergraduates, postgraduates, student teachers, EU Lifelong Learning experts, young adults, teacher educators, administrators, and academic staffs, which all represent different contexts. Table Table4 4 shows that Asia, the Middle East, and Europe can be regarded as the general contexts of these studies. Notably, however, fewer studies have been conducted in Asia than in the Middle East and Europe, which may pose a challenge to the generalization of the findings of some studies in these contexts.

Analysis of participants based on research problems

Research problems	Participants	Context	Authors
Conceptual framework or policies of lifelong learning	Secondary school teachers	Australia	Adams ( )
	EU LL experts	Europe	Tuparevska et al. ( )
	EU LL experts	Europe	Tuparevska et al. ( )
	Young adults, experts	Spain, Austria	Rambla et al. ( )
Lifelong learning abilities	Undergraduate students	United States	Moore & Shaffer ( )
	Undergraduate students	Australia	Kuit & Fildes ( )
	Student teachers	Turkey	Sen & Durak ( )
	Student teachers	Turkey	Karataş et al. ( )
	Teacher educators	England	Simmons & Walker ( )
	Students	Turkey	(Nacaroglu et al. )
Factors that influence lifelong learning and/or lifelong learning abilities	Primary teachers	Korea	Shin & Jun ( )
	University students	Australia	Bath & Smith ( )
	Students	Europe	Lavrijsen & Nicaise ( )
	Master students	United States	Yen et al. ( )
	Students and teachers	United Arab Emirates	Deveci ( )
	Students	Ukraine	Grokholskyi et al. ( )
	Students	United Arab Emirates	Deveci ( )
	Student teachers	United States	Matsumoto-Royo et al. ( )
	Administrators, academic staff, students	Taiwan, Indonesia	Zuhairi et al. ( )
	Students	Denmark, Finland, Germany	Muller & Beiten ( )
	Postgraduate students and teachers in teacher education	Albania	Buza et al. ( )

Acknowledgements

Open access funding provided by University of Szeged.

Declarations

There are no competing interests to declare.

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

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Win Phyu Thwe, Email: moc.liamg@ewhtuyhpnniw .

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His Trilogy Explored the Nazi Era. Now He Looks at the People Behind It.

In “Hitler’s People,” the renowned historian Richard J. Evans takes a biographical approach to the Third Reich.

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This black-and-white image shows Adolf Hitler and Rudolf Hess standing next to a Nazi flag, surrounded by men giving the Nazi salute. The foreground shows a blurred line of helmeted Nazi soldiers.

By Jennifer Szalai

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HITLER’S PEOPLE: The Faces of the Third Reich, by Richard J. Evans

“Who Goes Nazi?” is an old essay by Dorothy Thompson that has been making the rounds over the last several years. Writing for Harper’s Magazine in 1941, Thompson suggested playing a “macabre parlor game” to figure out who would sign on to fascism “in a showdown.” (This was before the Wannsee Conference of January 1942, where Hitler’s underlings planned the “final solution.”) Decades later, Thompson’s proposal resonated with Americans who were seeking any glimmer of insight into how far-right extremism — once the marginal purview of dedicated fanatics — had gathered startling levels of popular support.

For Thompson (one of the first American journalists to be kicked out of Germany, in 1934), the crucial factor distinguishing potential fascists from those who would “never go Nazi” was not “race, color, creed or social condition.” Rather, she argued, it was “something in them.”

Such a fixation on individual character would probably irritate the eminent historian Richard J. Evans, but the question he poses in his kaleidoscopic new book, “Hitler’s People,” isn’t so different from the one that preoccupied Thompson. “Who were the Nazis?” he asks in the first sentence of his preface. Were they criminals? Psychopaths? Ordinary Germans? How did seemingly respectable citizens go from rejecting the democracy of the Weimar Republic to countenancing genocide?

Evans, whose trilogy on the Third Reich has been justifiably lauded for its elegance and its scope, previously shied away from a biographical approach to his subject. For a half-century after World War II, focusing on individual personalities was deemed “unfashionable,” he writes, an unseemly reprise of Nazi Germany’s cult of personality, which pinned so much on Hitler that it risked letting “the great mass of Germans” off the hook. But the availability of new documents, as well as the “emergence in our own time of a class of unscrupulous populist politicians,” prompted Evans to revisit a history he already knew well.

The result is a fascinating exploration of individual agency that never loses sight of the larger context. “Hitler’s People” is divided into four parts, beginning with a long section on Hitler himself, before turning to his immediate circle (the “Paladins”), the “enablers and executors” they relied on (the “Enforcers”) and, finally, the “lower-level perpetrators,” or “Instruments,” who served the regime.

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