Thanks to the developed brain, learning has been the key to the survival of people since the earliest times. Without complex, genetically determined forms of behavior, people are forced to resort to transferring skills to the next generations through training. This brain flexibility gives humanity as a species many advantages in overcoming challenges. Even though in childhood, a person is most predisposed to mastering new skills and obtaining further information, today, it is only possible to close the education issue at a young age partially. The modern world requires a considerable number of highly specialized skills, the development of which at a high level is only possible in a few decades. Moreover, more skills are in demand in a rapidly changing environment and increasing competition. Lifelong learning is essential to be able to sustain this competition.
The idea of lifelong learning is one of the key competencies characterizing quality education. The idea of lifelong learning is associated with the half-life of knowledge. It was proposed by the Austrian-American economist Fritz Machlup in the 20th century (Davis et al., 2018). The essence of the concept is simple: the world changes so dynamically, and new information spreads so quickly that some knowledge ceases to be relevant even before we acquire it. Accordingly, there are professions for which aging and knowledge decay occur quickly, such as information technologies. And there are those where it happens more slowly: professions based on knowledge of mathematics or language. Under such conditions, academic education needs constant updating, and it is necessary to study throughout life to keep up with information.
In Scandinavian countries, the concept of lifelong learning originated in rural areas in the middle of the 19th century. After all, there was a big gap between educated elites and uneducated peasants. The first institute of non-formal education for adults was the national higher schools, which were completely autonomous (Skøtt, 2019). Students on an equal footing with teachers could decide what and when they would study, and most decisions were made collegially. Such schools have become a model of a society in which everyone’s opinion is taken into account, where you can freely express and defend your point of view. The state system does not dominate but serves the interests and needs of citizens. Nowadays, studying in such schools takes place on weekends or in the evenings during free time from work and is more a part of the culture than a formal obligation.
The Scandinavians understood that everything related to ethics, the formation of one’s position in life, and social skills (especially the ability to negotiate and trust) is not transmitted through knowledge. All this is formed through the experience of living together and practicing these things. Therefore, for them, the main result of continuous non-formal education is a proactive citizen and a society capable of fighting for their rights and future through dialogue.
Staying in crisis zones, in one way or another, problematizes a person’s life, triggers his thinking, and stimulates him to develop. Education should feed a person’s inner impulses to learn something new, not kill them. Along with this, there must be an environment where interaction with other people generates these impulses. Therefore, the formula for continuous development includes a new environment and social interactions. High-quality learning is possible only if a person has a task, problem, or challenge in real life. A qualitative learning process will be only when a person understands how learning collides with his real life. Being in a group is disciplining because responsibility appears to oneself and others. In addition, it helps to approach the learning process in a structured and systematic way.
Work in law enforcement, emergency services, or the armed forces is an occupation in which skills affect the effectiveness of tasks and survival. Working in such structures requires keeping the body in good physical shape, which a person can only achieve with regular training. Similarly, the coordinated performance of tasks requires appropriate skills that need constant updating and support. Active combat is a highly competitive phenomenon, where even the most negligible differences in the training and skills of military personnel are of great importance. An important parameter that affects the parties’ chances of victory is the technical advantage in weapons, which means that fighters must regularly undergo training with the latest available models of weapons and equipment. Moreover, war is a dynamic environment in which conditions are constantly changing. The experience of fighting in the desert, jungle, snowy terrain, or a destroyed city is fundamentally different. The enemy plays a significant role: terrorist armed formations, partisan units, or the regular army of another country. Acquiring theoretical and practical action skills in such different situations is necessary for the survival of a soldier and the successful conduct of military operations. This means that lifelong training for soldiers is the key to the effective functioning of combat units.
The most critical task of continuous education and upbringing is creating conditions for the comprehensive harmonious development of each person. It is mandatory to consider his characteristics, motives, interests, and value guidelines. The goal of continuing education is the development of the individual during physical and social-psychological maturation and aging of the body when compensating for lost functions and opportunities comes to the fore.
References
Davis, D., Kizilcec, R. F., Hauff, C., & Houben, G. J. (2018). The half-life of MOOC knowledge: a randomized trial evaluating knowledge retention and retrieval practice in MOOCs. In Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Learning Analytics and Knowledge, 1-10.
Skøtt, B. (2019). Introducing society: A lifelong learning perspective on public libraries’ contribution to integration. Nordic Journal of Library and Information Studies, 2(2), 19-40.