Lifelong

Education
A Little Summary

Miguel ngel Lpez Carot

Continuing Education is open to any learning stage of a person's life educational

paradigm. It is considered as one movement to bring all levels and stages of life of human
beings towards continuous learning, so that each person will receive as much as possible
to carry it out and improve knowledge, skills and attitudes1.
The implementation of education throughout life within society is an essential
Delors2 proposals formulated to deal with new situations emerging and affect both private
life and the professional life. It involves a radical transformation of the concept of
education, not only involves the extension of educational processes-whether these formal,
non-formal or informal, but also fosters the emergence a new opposed to traditional
education model. Not long ago, it argued that the teaching should focus solely on specific
stages -the children and youth. It is emphasized that the subject learned in that period all
that was need, since this was the only stage of life in which they could acquire
knowledge3. Thus, the development of skills, abilities and attitudes to provide the person
learning to learn was relegated to the background.
In this new form of education are different types of classification4, which will be
discussed below.
Depending on the area:

Professional: The objective is to enable the individual to adapt without any

problems to changing technologies and ensure the mobility of professional
worker. It is mainly aimed at adults who need retraining in their work.
Political: Promotes the capacity to assume the rights and duties. This type
of education should be to show the limits and possibilities of social
development, as well as showing double messages sources of information.
General: Searching defend equal opportunity and balance the overall
inequalities.

Depending on resources:

Training: Promotes the development of critical skills and the acquisition

of behaviors of people. For example, debates, forums...
Broadcast: Promotes access to certain own cultural property of the
community where it operates. For example: You outings to museums.
Artistic: They favor the expression in every way and constitute forms of
initiation into the development of creative languages. For example: body
language.
Amusement: They promote physical development. For example: hiking.
Social: They promote community life and provide care to group needs

Gonzlez Guzmn, Antonio J. y Garrido Gonzlez, Jos L.: "Construir la educacin de adultos: una
reflexin desde la prctica. Experiencias. Consejera de Educacin y Ciencia. Sevilla 1990.
2
Delors, J. (1996). de la publicacin: La Educacin Encierra un Tesoro (Libro).
3
Martnez, F., & Prendes, M. P. (2004). Nuevas tecnologas y educacin. Madrid Espaa: Editorial.
4
M. J. Cabello. Educacin permanente y educacin social. Controversias y compromisos. Mlaga, 2002.

As stated in the Delors (UNESCO)5 report "... covers education from infancy to the end
of life", indicating that four basic learning for learning throughout life:

Learning to know and acquire the tools of understanding.

Learn to make and influence the environment itself.
Learning to live together, to cooperate with others participating in social
activities.
Learning to be autonomous and critical persons capable of formulating
own judgments and to address the circumstances of life.

For all this, a method is proposed, specifically in the Spanish state6, to face difficulties
and challenges are, they certainly are very intricate and complex:
1. Identify and define a modular way learning basic skills, boost their acquisition
of open, flexible and relevant manner; and encourage their accreditation and
certification unit and combined.
2. Increasing access opportunities for youth and adults to primary and secondary
binding multiple plurals, flexible and open pathways. Improving
opportunities, conditions and quality of the situations of interaction between
students and teachers.
3. Increase and recognize the work skills of youth and adults as their intellectual
cultural property against the demands of work. Strengthen opportunities for
ongoing training and work. Strengthen links between school and work and
educational spaces at work.
4. Stimulating action of multiple public, private and civil society to create, design
and deliver training programs to help strengthen, in its entirety, citizenship
education actors.
5. Massively distributed by various media and multiple pathways, practical,
relevant knowledge, short and easy access to improve the daily conditions of
life, in the realm of the family, labor and life in the town.
6. Define teacher competency standards for teachers of adults in the various
forms and dimensions and establishing the criteria and mechanisms for
certification.
7. Encourage all open, flexible and distance learning systems that allow an
autonomous, independent and self-managed incorporation of the population
concerned to the middle and upper levels of the education system and various
options for continuing education.
8. Establish mechanisms, credit systems and equivalences that allow smooth
flow of individuals between different educational institutions and between the
latter and the workplace.
9. Establish networks of local, state and national information on opportunities
for continuing education and training needs to link with the existing supply.
10. Encourage and motivate young adult population to seize opportunities for
continuing education.

Delors, J., Amagi, I., Carneiro, R., Chung, F., Geremek, B., Gorham, W., ... & Nanzhao, Z. (1997). La
educacin encierra un tesoro: informe para la UNESCO de la Comisin Internacional sobre la Educacin
para el Siglo Veintiuno. Unesco.
6
Osorio, A. R. (2003). Educacin permanente y educacin de adultos: intervencin socioeducativa en la
edad adulta. Ariel.

In my opinion, the answer to the question is good lifelong learning is a resounding

yes. But we should not be carried away by the absolute phrases. Lifelong Education is
necessary, but needs a few resources that is not easy to offer.
The first problem we face is whether all people are willing to permanent
educational model. If all people enter into it, and feel comfortable. How and what methods
we use for this purpose. Of course today, and thanks to the Internet age, we are able to
offer knowledge to everyone almost immediately. But we must not trust this information
will be well spent. Therefore, we need a solid firm model, and in which we can include
more than one kind of people. Many of this people are not prepare for the autodidactic
education, need support, and more, a person who advise them and teach knowledge
management. In short, a teacher.
In the opinion of Cabero7, this new education through new technologies must have
these characteristics: The learning becomes interactive; Learning takes place through the
discovery and construction; Learning focuses on the learner, not who teaches; The most
important thing is how you learn and how information is sought; It delves into
personalized learning; The teacher is a facilitator and guide learning. This is the perfect
summary of what the new education must be.
Finally, lifelong learning is the correct model at many levels. As professional or
amateur, continues to develop throughout his entire life to the zenith. Which is optimal.
But we must bear precaution. Lifelong learning needs of highly qualified teachers, and
students well prepared. For that last stay, students to become their own teachers.

Cabero, J., Salinas, J., Duarte, A., & Domingo, J. (2000). Nuevas tecnologas aplicadas a la educacin.
Madrid, Sntesis.