| Finland needs a strategy for lifelong learning | | Print | |
| Terhi Kouvo | 19.04.2010 | National Affairs - News items [en] | ||||
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FINLAND. Finland's knowledge society is a success from an educational perspective but only if the learning route taken is a blinkered march from pre-school through to the retirement home. This sums up the message that the Council for Lifelong Learning, operating in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, is sending to politicians dealing with education.
COURSES TO BE EXAMINED AFTER THE ELECTIONS The current focus of this expert body for lifelong learning is on the 2011 parliamentary elections. After the election, adult education courses will also receive increased attention. The Council calls for the development of a strategy specifically geared towards lifelong learning. As a basis for this, a written declaration has been produced stating the Council’s aims for lifelong learning. “We want to send the message to the winners of the election that we need to completely rethink lifelong learning, and we do not only mean its structure", the Council's spokesperson Petri Lempinen insists. The statements and aims of the Council convey a firm belief in education as a solution for the economy and employment. “Finland creates its own future through education. The opportunities for personal growth offered by education must come first, however, and only afterwards, the opportunities for economic growth,” Lempinen argues. THREE SIDES OF THE COIN Lifelong learning is defined in the European Union in terms of self-realisation, active citizenship and employment. “These are often considered to be mutually exclusive, but in reality they represent different sides of the same coin. Improving one’s skills and knowledge provides increased energy needed for work, just as this energy aims to increase levels of activity in working towards common goals,” notes Petri Lempinen. Liberal education services, which involve the participation of over one million people in Finland, are barely given a mention in the document, which resorts instead to listing target groups: those excluded from working life, the elderly and immigrants. ABILITY MUST BE ACKNOWLEDGED More emphasis will be placed on vocational and university-level education. This is in line with the aims of the current government administration. One of these aims is to extend careers, which reinforces the need for increased and targeted adult education. “Dismantling and reconfiguring the threshold for starting one’s studies requires the development of guidance services and being able to identify and acknowledge ability”, Petri Lempinen asserts. As a tool for this process, the Council suggests the use of a lifelong learning study record book. The book would record the skills that the learner has accumulated through work, hobbies and training. |
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