Part 2: Lifelong Learning

There are many different definitions of lifelong learning. The American Association of Colleges and Universities Foundations and Skills for Lifelong Learning VALUE Rubric, which many universities use to assess learning on their campuses, defines lifelong learning as “all purposeful learning activity, undertaken on an ongoing basis with the aim of improving knowledge, skills, and competence.” Felicia Blow (2022) defines it as “[c]ontinuously taking advantage of and pursuing opportunities in a wide range of activities and settings in order to improve personal and professional skills.” Eugenia Proctor Gerdes (2022) talks about “creative and intellectual activities that expand […] horizons, invigorate […] minds, stimulate curiosity and the joy of learning, and provide opportunities for social interaction.”  All of these definitions emphasize that learning never ends. Graduating from college does not mean that all knowledge has been acquired, but rather that we are better able to meet whatever faces us and perhaps meet it with confidence and excitement.

In reality, lifelong learning is difficult both to define and to quantify. For one, as the name indicates, it is learning that takes place across a person’s lifespan. How can we study that? At the beginning of a person’s life, it is an ideal, something to aspire to or think about – or even be skeptical about. At the end of a person’s life, it is a matter of reflection. What was useful to me? What did I change my mind about as I got older? How did I meet different challenges and opportunities? How did my passions and interests change? These are questions we cannot have answers to early in life, but they are the transformations that we will go through as we age.

Perhaps then lifelong learning is about preparation, being equipped to learn more, exercising our brain so that it is ready for different challenges, and developing skills so that we are prepared enough to accomplish anything. Joyce Hinckley, former president of Adult Learning in the Fitchburg Area (ALFA), comments, “Today’s students are going to have to be lifelong learners. They’re not going to have just one career in their lifetimes. I ended up being a clinical psychologist, but I started as an English major. I taught at Northeastern University, I practiced, and I consulted. Because I had a liberal arts education, it made me flexible” (first published in Fitchburg State University Contact, Summer 2021). That flexibility is essential to personal and professional success.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Institute for Lifelong Learning emphasizes lifelong learning as a human right and as “a foundation for transforming our societies.” They indicate that the habits of lifelong learning promote awareness of diverse perspectives and the need for peaceful communication between human beings. Indeed, lifelong learning is about more than whether we keep up with the latest technologies, but how we can continue to empathize with others even as our own experiences and beliefs change.