DO WE NEED AND, IF SO, WHAT ARE THE PRINCIPLES FOR A CURRICULUM AND PEDAGOGY FOR LIFELONG LEARNING - Essay Example

ive advantage over their competitors, just as it means that national economies must spur lifelong learning if they are to become, or remain, competitive; as regards the sociological front, greater social diversity and changing demographics, as in increasingly older and more ethnically and racially diverse populations, has determined the imperatives of lifelong learning as a strategy for older adults to acquire the knowledge deemed requisite for working and competing within the said environment.

In other words, the importance of lifelong learning emanates from both the aforementioned changes and the mercurial, ever-changing, nature of global and national economies. There is no doubt that lifelong learning, due to the reasons mentioned in the preceding, is a critical imperative. The question is whether this means that the development of a curriculum for lifelong learning is necessary. As this research will argue, traditional curricular models cannot be applied to lifelong learning as these only embrace formal learning which usually unfolds within a classroom setting.

In direct comparison, lifelong learning embraces all of formal and informal types of learning and may be defined as a continuous process of learning, autonomous and directed, formal and informal, theoretical and practical. Following a review of the implications of lifelong learning and a clarification of the meaning and structure of curriculum, this research will argue that while lifelong learning does not need a curriculum, it does need a model. As broadly defined by Knowles (1980, p.25), adult education is “a set of organized activities carried on by a wide variety of institutions for the accomplishment of specific educational objectives,” and Rachal (as cited in Merriam & Brockett, 1997) described the workplace as “a major force in the changing nature of adult education” (p. 151). Darkenwald and Merriam (1982, p. 9) defined adult education as “systematic and sustained learning