A Lifewide-Ecological Concept of Lifelong Learning:
Requisite for a More Sustainable Future?
Norman Jackson
We are living at a time when the future for humanity, and many other living things, looks uncertain and bleak. We need to change in so many ways if our planet and the life it sustains is to continue as we know it. As Barnet points out, ‘if learning [has] a purpose then surely it must be to learn how to live on this tiny planet.’(1) This has always been the case but there is an urgency like never before as we recognise the depth and scale of change needed to create a future that is more sustainable than the one we are currently heading for. If this is the overarching imperative for humanity’s lifelong learning and future survival, what concepts of lifelong learning do we need to enable us to learn to live in ways that will help sustain the planet and its life supporting systems?
Adopting the premise that lifelong learning is the integration of learning through living(2) and the whole of life affords us the opportunity to learn, act and form (3,4), my narrative emphasises the daily lifewide dimension of lifelong learning (5) and argues that learning and practice are ecological in nature (5). Embracing such a proposition could help develop an ecological mindset that motivates individual and societal action towards achieving the goal of a more sustainable future founded on ecological principles - what Lent calls an Ecological Civilisation(6).
References
1 Barnett, R. (2022) The End of Learning: Living a Life in a World in Motion. In K. Evans et al. (eds.), Third International Handbook of Lifelong Learning, Springer International Handbooks of Education, Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-67930-9_1-1
2 Carlsen, A. (2014) Lifelong Learning UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning Technical Note. Available at:
https://uil.unesco.org/fileadmin/keydocuments/LifelongLearning/en/UNESCOTechNotesLLL.pdf
3 Dewey, J. (1916), (2007 edition) Democracy and Education, Teddington: Echo Library
4 Lindeman, C. (1926). The Meaning of Adult Education. New York: New Republic (1989 edn) Oklahoma Research Center for Continuing Professional and Higher Education.
5 Jackson, N. J. (2011) The lifelong and lifewide dimensions of living, learning and developing. In N J Jackson (Ed) Learning for a Complex World: A Lifewide Concept of Learning, Education and Personal Development. Bloomington: Authorhouse. p.1-21 Availabe at: https://www.lifewideeducation.uk/learning-for-a-complex-world.html
6 Jackson, N.J. (2022) Steps To An Ecology of Lifelong-Lifewide Learning for Sustainable, Regenerative Futures In K. Evans, Lee, W.O. Markowitsch, J. & Zukas M. (Eds) Third International Handbook of Lifelong Learning Springer Available at https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-3-030-67930-9_15-
7 Lent, J. (2021). What Does An Ecological Civilization Look Like? YES Magazine Spring 2021 Available at: https://www.yesmagazine.org/issue/ecological-civilization/2021/02/16/what-does-ecological-civilization-look-like
Requisite for a More Sustainable Future?
Norman Jackson
We are living at a time when the future for humanity, and many other living things, looks uncertain and bleak. We need to change in so many ways if our planet and the life it sustains is to continue as we know it. As Barnet points out, ‘if learning [has] a purpose then surely it must be to learn how to live on this tiny planet.’(1) This has always been the case but there is an urgency like never before as we recognise the depth and scale of change needed to create a future that is more sustainable than the one we are currently heading for. If this is the overarching imperative for humanity’s lifelong learning and future survival, what concepts of lifelong learning do we need to enable us to learn to live in ways that will help sustain the planet and its life supporting systems?
Adopting the premise that lifelong learning is the integration of learning through living(2) and the whole of life affords us the opportunity to learn, act and form (3,4), my narrative emphasises the daily lifewide dimension of lifelong learning (5) and argues that learning and practice are ecological in nature (5). Embracing such a proposition could help develop an ecological mindset that motivates individual and societal action towards achieving the goal of a more sustainable future founded on ecological principles - what Lent calls an Ecological Civilisation(6).
References
1 Barnett, R. (2022) The End of Learning: Living a Life in a World in Motion. In K. Evans et al. (eds.), Third International Handbook of Lifelong Learning, Springer International Handbooks of Education, Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-67930-9_1-1
2 Carlsen, A. (2014) Lifelong Learning UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning Technical Note. Available at:
https://uil.unesco.org/fileadmin/keydocuments/LifelongLearning/en/UNESCOTechNotesLLL.pdf
3 Dewey, J. (1916), (2007 edition) Democracy and Education, Teddington: Echo Library
4 Lindeman, C. (1926). The Meaning of Adult Education. New York: New Republic (1989 edn) Oklahoma Research Center for Continuing Professional and Higher Education.
5 Jackson, N. J. (2011) The lifelong and lifewide dimensions of living, learning and developing. In N J Jackson (Ed) Learning for a Complex World: A Lifewide Concept of Learning, Education and Personal Development. Bloomington: Authorhouse. p.1-21 Availabe at: https://www.lifewideeducation.uk/learning-for-a-complex-world.html
6 Jackson, N.J. (2022) Steps To An Ecology of Lifelong-Lifewide Learning for Sustainable, Regenerative Futures In K. Evans, Lee, W.O. Markowitsch, J. & Zukas M. (Eds) Third International Handbook of Lifelong Learning Springer Available at https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-3-030-67930-9_15-
7 Lent, J. (2021). What Does An Ecological Civilization Look Like? YES Magazine Spring 2021 Available at: https://www.yesmagazine.org/issue/ecological-civilization/2021/02/16/what-does-ecological-civilization-look-like
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