The hard problem of lifelong learning

The Canadian Association for University Continuing Education (CAUCE) recently published a position paper highlighting the growing importance and challenges surrounding lifelong learning. 

Lifelong learning is defined as “a continuum of educational and experiential activities pursued throughout an individual’s life, aimed at enhancing knowledge, skills and competencies across personal, civic, social, and employment-related domains."

The Competency-Mind Hypothesis: Competency emerges from weighted combinations of lifetime-acquired skills, shaped by our mental models and knowledge networks. These components interact dynamically, with learning processes continuously updating both our skills and our understanding of the world.

Key drivers of the need for lifelong learning are:  

1. The rapid advancement of technology - particularly artificial intelligence (AI) - and the global shift toward carbon-neutral economies, coupled with economic stagnation, are poised to cause not only significant turnover in required skills by 2030 but also long-lasting changes in labour demand.

2. Occupational turnover - expected to increase over the coming period of technological and economic transformation leading to what some call a cross-disciplinary career. The average duration of occupations in a career is expected to decrease as businesses and industries adjust their operations.

3. The atomization of skills and education - the focus on micro-skills is an increasingly prevalent and imposed reality for many seeking to remain relevant and competitive in the workforce. The problem is that this latter point places the burden of action and outcome of success (and failure) on the individual.

More and more governments and institutions orienting towards a culture of lifelong (as well as life-wide) learning to provide the affordances necessary for individuals to meaningfully pursue upskilling and reskilling.

With an increasing proportion of the workforce over 30, the CAUCE is calling for a national strategy on lifelong learning in Canada that recognises the importance of continuous lifelong education.

Source: Lastra, R. 2024. The Hard Problem of Lifelong Learning.