Life Long Learning - Assignment Example

TAKE HOME EXAM ON LEARNING AND CHANGE Student’s Name Professor Course Date Answer 1 Life Long Learning is one of the several policy areas where there is a new balance of responsibilities between the state, employers, and the individual. It is an inherently difficult realm for the government, and the reason general policy does not lead to innovative measures. It is bundled with deep-rooted concerns and challenges in modern economic tendencies, cultural pattern, and social processes (Field 2006). Answer 2 Rogers (2006) calls for a social transformation approach in lifelong learning founded on a diversity paradigm instead of a disadvantaged or deficit paradigm within its existing conceptualization, particularly in the learning and identity, reflective practitioner and learning society/organization fields. This can help people to get local solutions for their individual problems- they can come up with individual communities building on what is already in existence and consider what exists somewhere else to facilitate or support local communities to restructure themselves. Answer 3 The four key stages in educational life course are –up to 25, 25-50, 50-75 and 75+. People in the –up to 25 stage should have claims to learning and development as young people. In the second stage (25-50), the aim of learning should be to sustain productivity and prosperity and to build personal identify and strong family lives. In the third stage, education and training opportunities should be significantly enhanced whereas stage 4 calls for a more appropriate approach to the curriculum offered in later life (Schuller & Watson 2009). Answer 4 Field of practice Production Recontextualisation Reproduction Form of regulation Distributive rules Recontextualising rules Evaluative rules Kinds of symbolic structure Calculus Curriculum Didactic teaching Principal types Algebra, analytic geometry High school mathematics syllabus Problem solving Typical sites Senior schooling Curriculum policy, textbooks and learning aids Classrooms and Examinations (Christie & Martin 2007) Answer 5 According to Houghton and Sheehan (2000), learning entails both education and learning-by-doing, learning-by-using and learning-by-interacting. Learning occurs through formal education where knowledge and skills are imparted on individuals. Learning-by-doing is learning which occurs from doing a certain activity or thing repeatedly. Learning-by-using is learning which occurs from using a machine or some materials. Lastly, learning-by-interacting occurs when an individual interacts with other people. Answer 6 An individual learning to get along better with their kids or spouse can be found in quadrant 4- there is much emphasis on the education of young persons in the non-formal setting. This learning usually takes place in a non-formal setting- at home. Such learning does not take place in a formal setting, like in a school or workplace it takes place at home (Boshier 1998). Answer 7 The two socio-political goals of the program at Sojo and Rivera are for students to learn both mathematics and about the world and secondly to develop deep socio-political awareness of their immediate and broader context and acquire a sense of agency, this means they regard themselves as capable of changing the world. For children to develop the socio-political awareness as well as a deeper understanding of injustice there is need for mathematical maturity and sophistication (Gustein n.d). Answer 8 Learning does not take place in a vacuum. The sociocultural context determines what is learned through changing demographics, globalization, and technology. These three forces affect all the endeavours of the society. Changing demographics shape learning provision in the modern society. The societal composition is a critical aspect in provision of learning opportunities for all citizens. What individuals want or need to learn, the opportunities available and the manner in which learning occurs are predominantly determined by the societal context (Merriam & Cafarella 2006). Answer 9 According to Finger and Asun (2000), adult education is becoming instrumentalised and privatized. It is becoming instrumentalised, as it has become simply one of the many offerings in the societal cultural market and thus it is increasingly being subjected to competition, conditions of demand and supply conditions and commercialization. It is becoming privatized as learners are increasing assessing the meaning of education and learning from the perspective of its contribution to individual competitiveness and self-actualization. Answer 10 The health knowledge that Sophie gained can best be described as knowledge relativism. Sophie needed to attend very differently to what could or what could not count as knowledge or ‘within the true’. Her previously knowledge that it was easy to breastfeed did not count as true because practically she found it to be hard and had to result to bottle-feeding. This forced her to draw on informal knowledge that she had gained through her personal experiences shaped by the cultural and psychosocial frames and relationships in which she lived (Fowler & Lee 2007). Answer 11 Murray (2010) viewed the role of education as a means of social justice as it supports the transition to a knowledge economy and high-performance work systems. Education is a social policy, which provides useful tradeoffs between adequate social protection and greater flexibility at work. Education partners with other social programmes such as vocational training and access to healthcare and this are a fundamental component for balancing the economic and the social. Answer 12 Theoretical knowledge is a socially powerful knowledge as it is importance for democracy -provides a means for the society to use while conducting ‘conversations’ regarding itself and the way that it should be. Most jobs also require theoretical ideas, which are shared by community specialists from different disciplines: workers needs to be able to draw on theoretical knowledge in diverse ways and in diverse contexts as their works become increasingly difficult and complex (Wheelahan 2009). Answer 13 The key point behind the thinking of the article by Nussbaum (2009) is that education has been stripped off its humanistic aspects. The humanistic deficiencies are magnified by education, which is based mainly on profitability in the global market. This is generating forces that lead to dehumanization and violence instead of forces, which lead to culture of respect and modern society. Human beings also need to see each other as equals. Answer 14 Trust is maintained through rethinking the very idea of professionalism and its practice in teaching. This professionalism should be based on participative and democratic principles. Activist professionals can counteract the inclination towards a regulated teaching and state controlled profession and can offer opportunities for broader interest groups to engage with education practices and debate. In doing, professionalism is in the best interests of the students and the state (Groundwater-Smith & Sachs 2002). PART B In the contemporary society, new learning is calling for new kinds of learning outcomes. According to Kalantzis and Cope (2008), it is an open call to read the transformations taking place in the world, to imagine the equivalent transformations that may need to go into education, and to plan ways in which educators may lead the transformation instead of falling victims to changes they have limited or no control over. New learning might affect the education context when it comes to the use of ICT. Various learning institutions are currently increasingly adopting new technologies to inform and educate. E learning is increasingly transforming teaching and learning and in the future, it will even have greater impact especially with the modern global changes. Currently, e learning has caused people who manage and staff the institutions of education to feel the need for change. This is evident in increasing number of distance learners- the new media has blurred the boundaries, which existed in the traditional classroom, and learning institutions. The online context in which education is occurring is also being increasingly re-shaped by globalization. All schools and colleges in the future will be required to recognize the ICT transformative power. Since knowledge is information, teaching and learning will be trying to keep up with the new changes. In the future of education, this will require the creation of education systems, which are in numerous respects very different from those, which are currently being used. The teachers will be required to have new skills and sensibilities. ICT will necessitate institution of strategies to meet the needs of communities of learners living in social conditions, which are changing considerably. The impact of e learning is also being progressively more considered a source for most competitive advantage for most organizations, particularly geographically disparate and multinational organizations. This will call for students who have ICT skills, which will be applied later in the work setting. With ICT skills, the workers will be able to access information as required and this will reduce delays as well as lost productivity. Companies will also stretch to offer geographically distributed organization increased abilities through education and training. More and more often, the promise of e learning will fulfil the training needs. Such transformations in the world will demand corresponding transformations in the education sector. E learning will bring forth additional cost benefits and will facilitate employee retention through ensuring that the workers have the right tools and knowledge to work in an effective manner. Educators thus have to direct their efforts to the e-learning training and incorporation. Furthermore, the world in increasingly becoming interconnected and these connections are both spontaneously created and officially established. Countries have to rethink their education systems with globalization in mind. The new development need to consider a revaluation of methods and goals of education. Currently, because of ICT students have access to information more than ever and are no longer solely depending on teachers to furnish them with information. To some extent there seem to be a disconnection between what is offered in the curriculum and what they consider relevant. The teacher is no longer taken to be the gatekeeper of information because of this, causing a gradual change in the role of the teacher and that of the student. Teachers and students role will need to become more fluid and adaptive to the current education culture of increased incorporation of ICT. This is important because the ICT transformation require equivalent transformations in education sectors, and ways in which educators may lead the transformation instead of falling victims to changes that they have limited or no control over. Answer 16 The Australian Human Rights Commission “Principles to promote and protect the human rights of international students” education policy outlines the state duty of care to ensure the safety, health and well being of international students who study, work and live in the cities and the regional centres. The argument in this policy document does not present strong support for the four accruing principles, as there are considerations, which have not been taken into account. This policy document has four principles for protecting international students yet the normative grounds, warrants, and backing for these principles are not substantive. According to Haynes (2002), an argument, which purports to offer support for a normative conclusion, is not usually considered to be sound unless it has a normative ground, warrant or backing. The four principles presented in the document are “enhancing the human rights of the students”, “ensuring all international students access human rights and freedom from discrimination protections”, “Understanding the diverse needs of international students” and “empowering international students during their stay in Australia”. There is no normative backing of these policies, which allow the reader to accept the structure of the argument as valid considering the normative nature of the conclusion. The principles identify the main human rights considerations to be considered in development of policy as well as service delivery and yet there is not substantiating data that shows the statistics of international students who face social isolation, economic insecurity, safety threats, language and cultural barriers, and intricacies when accessing needed information and services. The policy document also merely states that some international students experience exploitation, discrimination or harassment because of their colour, race, religion, culture, sex and language and this usually happen while dealing with migration agents, employers, health providers and real estate agents among others. There is need for relevant evidence to support these statements. When individual claim or assert something, it requires the support from relevant reasons or evidence to get other persons to accept the claims or assertions. According to Haynes (2002), educational policy should be taken as an argumentative use of language, which depends on its impact on the satisfactoriness of the support given in the form of reasons and evidence. In the policy document, there are a number of sub-conclusions, which are serving as grounds for conclusion. Nevertheless, the stated grounds for the conclusion are not adequate to support the four principles for protecting international students. The given grounds are also not connected to the conclusion by the word therefore. There is no modified for indicating the strength of the argument. Reasonable rebuttals in this case are not false and hence this limits the effectiveness of the argument, for instance, the four principles only cover some of the barriers and discriminations that students face, and hence a rebuttal can be produced where a student faces some other form of human right violation. The policy document puts forward grounds, which support the four policies based on assumptions, which are not proven. The argument in this case does not support the conclusion. Reference List Australian Human Rights Commission 2012, Principles to promote and protect the human rights of international students, viewed October 31, 2012, http://www.humanrights.gov.au/racial_discrimination/publications/international_students/international_students_principles.pdf Boshier, R 1998, Edgar Faure Mte 25 years: Down but not out, In international perspective on lifelong learning by Holford, J., Jarvis P & Griffin, C, Kogan Page, London. Christie, F & Martin, J 2007, Language, knowledge and pedagogy, The Tower Building, London Field, J 2006, Lifelong learning: A design for the future? Trentham Finger, M & Asun, J 2000, The transformation of adult education: Where adult education is going or being driven towards, Zed, London Fowler, C & Lee, A 2007, ‘Knowing how to know: questioning ‘knowledge transfer’ as a model for knowing and learning in health’, Studies in Continuing Education, vol.29, no.2, pp. 181-193 Gustein, E n.d, Reinventing freire: Mathematics education for social transformation, 1-16 Groundwater-Smith, S & Sachs, J 2002, The Activist Professional and the Reinstatement of Trust, Cambridge Journal of Education, vol.32, no.3, pp.341-358 Haynes, B 2002, Australian education policy: An introduction to critical thinking for teachers and parents, Social Science Press, N.S.W Houghton, J & Sheehan, P 2000, A primer on the knowledge economy, Centre for Strategic Economic Studies, Australia Kalantzis, M & Cope, B 2008, New learning: Elements of a science of education, Cambridge University Press, Vic Merriam, S & Cafarella, R 2006, The social context of adult learning, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco Murray, G 2010, ‘Framing globalisation and work: A research agenda’, Journal of Industrial Relations, vol. 52, no. 1, pp. 11-25 Nussbaum, M 2009, ‘Education for profit, education for freedom’, Liberal Education Summer, 6-13 Rogers, A 2006, ‘Escaping the slums or changing the slums? Lifelong learning and social transformation’, International Journal of Lifelong Education, vol. 25, no.2, pp. 125-137 Schuller, T & Watson, D 2009, Learning through life, National Institute of Adult Continuing Education, England. Wheelahan, L 2009, The limits of competency-based training and the implications, Routledge, New York Read More