The strategic role of lifelong learning
Lifelong learning, or lifelong learning, is a process of self-direction and self-education that characterizes a person’s entire life span. It aims to enable each individual to respond effectively and effectively to new needs, changes and challenges that will come to him or her during life.
The most significant feature of this process is its “personal” and “personalized” approach. “Personal” because the individual himself manages his own LLL for the enhancement of knowledge and skills that enable him to participate in the labor market, promoting self-organization and inclusion.
“Personalized” because training must develop as a tailor-made process, attentive to the different life stages and needs that characterize the individual.
In Europe in concept of Lifelong Learning takes hold in the mid-1990s, resulting in the overcoming of the division between formal, informal and nonformal education.
In 2000, with the Lisbon Conference, it was confirmed that successful knowledge-based social transition must be accompanied by an orientation toward lifelong education and training. Within the published document, “A Memorandum on Lifelong Learning,” it is affirmed that the notion of lifelong education and training is no longer solely an aspect of general and vocational education and training, but the “informing principle” of supply and demand in any context related to the learning process.
In 2002, education and training become the indispensable means for the promotion of such factors as social cohesion, personal and professional fulfillment, active citizenship and ultimately employability.
The key to success, in fostering this process, lies in consciously and responsibly involving all participating actors starting with the individual and ending with European institutions, social partners and the business world.
With this in mind, it is incumbent to analyze the framework for sustainable development defined through the 2030 Agenda. Within it, among the 17 goals specified, the fourth refers to “inclusive and equitable quality education and the promotion of lifelong learning opportunities for all.”
Specifically, section 4.4 calls for: substantially increasing the number of youth and adults with appropriate skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employmentdecent work and entrepreneurship.
Analyzing the context within which we live, it is necessary to specify how LLL is a process that should not be underestimated, especially with a continuously aging population and longer working lives; upgrading and retraining people should be the focus of individual and collective concerns.
In fact, as noted by a number of studies conducted, the rate of participation in lifelong learning in Italy is lower than the EU average (8 percent versus 10 percent), the tertiary education rate in the 30-34 age group is one of the lowest in the EU (26.3 percent in 2016) and remains far behind the European average (39 percent).
Moreover, in the activity of promoting lifelong learning, a significant task could be played by the new technologies, which are increasingly pervasive and within everyone’s reach; by fostering actions and policies in support of the “digital culture” it would be possible, even in a small percentage, to bridge the strong gap that characterizes our country.
As mentioned earlier, LLL helps achieve the goal of responding in an agile and effective way to the needs that emerge within a volatile market environment. In business organization it is critically important to change the approach to learning, not making it solely something that can only take place in a training course; rather, to incentivize each person to grasp learning within any activity and confrontation held during a workday. Getting out of one’s comfort zone helps to enhance the effectiveness of behaviors to aim for continuous improvement. This is a key mechanism for achieving and increasing organizational empowerment and personal well-being.
Developing a growth mindset, diversifying experiences and skills, putting oneself out there, and finding one’s Ikigai (a Japanese expression translated as reason for being) are some of thebest practices that help the individual enter a continuous improvement mindset, leading him or her to take daily action for the enhancement of personal development.
We at Ambire Benefit Society adopt the LLL approach in our training courses in line with the new challenges and opportunities related to the trasformation and advancement of the labor market.
We support organizations and individuals in enhancing Reskilling and Upskilling processes, aware that the strategic competencies to be increased are soft skills through experiential methodologies and a process of co-construction of meanings that empower the person with an impact not only in work but also in private life.
