Lifelong Learning for Academics and Professionals

Introduction    

In 1996 the European Commission proclaimed lifelong learning a central element of education. Since then a large number of papers have been written dealing with this political principle. For universities and colleges this development gained in importance especially as a result of the Bologna Declaration in 1999, entailing as it did a call for a change in the structure of tertiary-level courses to a three-tiered system (bachelor's / master's / PhD). meNet set itself the task of promoting the future development of music as a school subject in this process of change by gathering data on the school systems and training systems for music in 20 European countries.

The present documents, put together by the Working Group for Lifelong Learning, or LLL Group for short, bring together central ideas of lifelong learning for music teacher training and derive criteria from them that will be relevant also for music as a subject in both schools and training systems all over Europe in order to meet the challenges of our times and society.

The Learning Outcomes Group, referred to below as the LO, undertook an in-depth examination of the fundamental orientation towards learning outcomes. The papers presented here offer an exceptional opportunity for further study and additional information. The documents compiled by the Music Teacher Training Group, called MTT below, show how the basic ideas of lifelong learning are to be incorporated into study courses and how they appear in the criteria for case studies taken from the school systems.

The definitions relating to LLL provide an opportunity for a better understanding of the effect that formal, non-formal and informal learning contexts have on an individual’s learning. They can be consulted for discussions on mission statements at schools and universities.

The two case studies show how a lively learning environment can be fostered. They demonstrate how teachers can be supported in their self-determined development and their professional growth.

The criteria for the development of competence for lifelong learning are worded as recommendations. They intend to show that for expectations of the development of lifelong learning for individual music teachers to be met the training institution concerned must provide the opportunity to acquire the necessary skills. All European universities and schools are currently working on the development of suitable courses. The recommendations can therefore be consulted with a view to taking them into account in curriculum committees and concepts for lessons and lectures. Every criterion stands for a basic position that must expand into a strategy by means of numerous measures, otherwise the requirement remains unfulfilled, a vision.

It would therefore be desirable for us reflect upon our own practice against the background of these documents and to use them to bolster our arguments for using these principles as the basis for the study courses at our own institutions.

Photo project on lifelong learning

The photo project “Art reflections on LLL” took place from May to June 2008 with fourth year pupils at the Srednja vzgojiteljska skola, a secondary school in Ljubljana.

The subject was chosen as a result of the meNet project. The teachers introduced the creative activity by citing some key terms pertaining to lifelong learning. Other than this there was no guidance from the teachers: the activity lived entirely from the pupils’ ideas. Since the meNet team has been looking at aspects of non-formal and informal learning in particular, it seems appropriate to present the best photos here. In addition, they won first prize in a photo competition.