LIFELONG LEARNING

AND RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN THE BRAIN SCIENCES

STORMING

LIFELONG LEARNING

Val Bissland Senior Studies Institute, University of Strathclyde,

March 1999

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The Lifelong Learning Foundation 1998 Competition

The Lifelong Learning Foundation is an independent, non-political organisation

promoting the values and goals of lifelong learning through funding, co-ordinating

research and development. Its agenda centres on the challenge of individual motivation

and involvement.

The aim of the competition was to bring to the current lifelong learning debate original

thinking, potential for application and intellectual rigour.

For further information contact:

Dr C. Brookes, The Lifelong Learning Foundation, PO Box 98, Sale, Manchester M33 2UJ

The theme for the 1998 inaugural year was:

LIFELONG LEARNING AND RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN THE BRAIN SCIENCES.

STORMING LIFELONG LEARNING by Val Bissland is one of the four expanded titles

from the competition. Val Bissland is a lifelong learning tutor and personal development

trainer who runs classes and seminars on memory enhancement, accelerated learning

skills, cognitive behavioural training, NLP, and career and life planning.

First published 1999 by the Centre for Lifelong LearningStrathclyde University, Graham Hills Building, 40 George Street, Glasgow G1 1QE

Copyright c 1999 Val Bissland

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STORMING LIFELONG LEARNING

INDEX

Abstract 4

Introduction 5

New Information Overview 7

The Human Brain 8

Metacognition 12

Memory Skills 16

Mind-Body Connections 19

Summary 23

New Learning Overview 24

Identifying Preferences 25

Accelerated Learning 26

Neuro-Linguistic Programming 30

New Interactive Learning Aids 32

Changing Roles and Interests 33

Conclusion 38

References 39

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STORMING LIFELONG LEARNING

Abstract

Recent insights into how our brains work have revealed that highly effective and

enjoyable ways of learning are within the grasp of people of all ages. This augers well

for lifelong learning. Learning throughout our lives is increasingly important in a rapidly

changing world with the blurring of boundaries between work and leisure, the prospect

of more career changes for many people, generally less employment but longer lives.

New information, new learning, and changing roles and interests are three

avenues of investigation in this essay to tease out new directions in lifelong learning.

Information from the brain sciences has revolutionised our understanding of the

chemical pathways of the mind/body system that control learning, health and wellbeing.

Mental fitness is a concept that is explored and, like physical fitness it generates

vitality, enthusiasm and energy - necessary conditions of optimal functioning.

However lifelong learning can only thrive within a social matrix that values it. We now

have the power to change the texture of our experience. The question is how to achieve

this, not only for all our young people and people in paid work, but for sizeable

marginalised groups, who can then feed back their energy into sustaining their own

worlds which is in everyone's interest. Therein lies the challenge of creating a lifelong

learning culture for all.

INTRODUCTION

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Life does not consist mainly - or even largely - of facts and happenings. It consists

mainly of the storm of thoughts that are forever blowing through one's mind.

Mark Twain

Jean Piaget's observation that intelligence is what you use when you don't know what

to do, mirrors an ancient Chinese proverb that those who want to do something find a

way. The evolution of human history is about people with inventive minds finding

ways and leaving a legacy of knowledge, ideas, values, beliefs, stories and discoveries

to ongoing generations. In a multicultural world the starting point for each of us is

determined by dominant societal, institutional and situational processes over which

we have no control, but through the process of learning we develop our minds and

self awareness in relation to our own culture.

Then we can respond by accepting, adapting, changing or creating new ideas, and

even influencing others. Our big flexible brains and their 'storm of thoughts' make all

this possible, and scientific research over recent years suggests that better learning

is within the grasp of people of all ages. This makes the prospect of lifelong learning

an energising, life-enhancing pursuit with the potential to radically change the

texture of personal experience at work and at leisure, in families and in communities,

and in the process create a highly participative and inclusive society whose citizens

can cope well with economic, political and cultural change.

New Orientations

This extended essay 'storms' recent insights into the brain's organisation from the

perspective of how this knowledge contributes to our understanding of the best ways

to learn, what will motivate us to learn all our lives and why this is not just desirable,

but an imperative in today's changing world. Experts who know more and more about

less and less, are recognising the interconnectedness of different fields of knowledge,

and are communicating with one another and collaborating as never before to bring

their synergy to bear on real-life problems. Yet the practical implications of the

discoveries of cognitive neuroscientists, evolutionary biologists and molecular

psychologists have not yet filtered down uniformly into educational practice.

Perhaps this is not surprising in a profession steeped in psychometric testing, grading

procedures and the transmission model of teaching where information passes from

teacher to learner, and of course, the nature of formal education systems is such that

they are often slow to respond to new ideas. However a radical re-orientation of

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teaching practice, towards a constructivist model (Dart, 1997), where learners

actively form their own representations, select material relevant to their needs, work

co-operatively, become aware of metacognitive thinking and adopt a deep approach to

learning, is underway. It cannot be resisted, ignored or simply not recognised any

longer in the light of recent developments.

Adults especially, with their store of life experience and prior knowledge are ideal

candidates for the new student-oriented bottom-up learning. It certainly means

changing the teacher's role from a giver of information to the more challenging task

of facilitator of learning, but it is a paradigm shift that needs to be hastened if lifelong

learning is going to appeal to the many rather than the few. A more egalitarian and

useful concept than intelligence is mental fitness - a culture of success for everyone

(Cusack, 1995). This concept will be explored throughout the essay and is the 'glue'

that holds together many disparate and diffuse ideas.

New information, new learning and changing roles and interests

These are the three avenues of exploration to try and tease out dimensions of lifelong

learning. There is not a smooth trajectory through this 'storm of thoughts'. Selection

and integration are features of the way we lead our lives and reflect, as well as

create, who we are. If there is a unifying thread it is a kind of persistent practicality -

a desire to put the new knowledge to work. It is a post-modern perspective which

rejects the notion of an hierarchical ordered universe with people in measured control

of their destiny. Individuals have to deal with global consequences that are

unpredictable, ephemeral and heterogeneous. It is a world with an endless labyrinth

of possibilities, an infinite number of different and confusing routes with paths

crossing, rejoining and coming from many different directions. I hope the ideas I have

assembled are helpful in the development of your own perspective although our

thoughts will inevitably diverge in some important ways.

I begin by examining how new research in the brain sciences, aided by computer

technology, has opened up realistic possibilities of a true learning revolution. Each

section is broken down into advanced organisers with a brief overview and added

footnotes for specialist terms, where appropriate.

_____________________________________________________________________

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SECTION 1

NEW INFORMATION

OVERVIEW

The vast fund of new information on the brain indicates that you

either use it or lose it - and using it well sustains both body and mind.

New information is divided into:

new knowledge - brain structure and function in terms of a system of

neuronal networks and multisensory perceptual channels

metacognition - awareness of learning and thinking processes, and

multiple intelligences

memory skills - memory brain sites and strategies for reviewing,

registering, retention and recall

mind-body connections - unravelling the interaction between

chemical messengers (neurotransmitters) in the brain, our cognitions

and physical functioning (the exciting field of molecular psychology)

with major implications for learning and health.

All brain functions are inexorably bound up together and operate as a

complex holistic body system with the whole being greater than the

sum of the parts.

_____________________________________________________________________

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The Human Brain

'The most important thing we can experience is the mysterious.

It is the source of all true art and science'

Albert Einstein.

Nothing in the known universe comes close to matching the complexity of a human

brain with its 100 billion brain cells or neurons. Each brain cell is a thousand times

more powerful than a megabyte computer and has thousands of branching

connections to other cells making a neural network1 of a million billion connections.

This is so large that it outnumbers the number of particles in the known universe. In

the fifties scientists thought we only used about 50% of our brain's potential but

discoveries of the past few years have pushed that figure down to less than 1%

(Buzan, 1995)!

While healthy brains lose some cells as they age, the loss is not dramatic and is

limited to very specific areas (Goldman, 1996). So the myth of diminishing brain

capacity has been scotched and we need have no more worries about the effects of

dying cells! In fact, rather than losing brain cells as we get older we can usually

extend our neural connections. Neurons are spidery things that have a cell body and

thousands of appendages that can either receive (dendrites)2 or send (axons)3 electro-

chemical impulses to and from other nerve cells across synaptic gaps 4. The

interconnectivity between brain cells is the power that allows us to make new

associations and continually add to them all our lives. Our thoughts and actions are

the traffic of these signals between cells.

Language

As you read this, millions of cells are firing as they process the symbols on the page

recognising letters, words, grammar, semantics, meanings and values, and relating

the content to information already stored in memory. The majority of people do this

1 Neural networks are the connecting circuits in the brain. Each neuron can communicate with anything between 2,000 and 200,000 others. Out of their interactions arises the phenomenon of human consciousness.2 Dendrites (Greek word for tree) form a spiky fringe around the cell body allowing each cell to receive signals from more than 100,000 others.3Axons are the nerve fibre projections from the brain cell that transmit impulses to the dendrites of other neurons. They can even extend for as much as 3 feet - the equivalent to a kite with a 40ft tail!4 Synapses are the tiny gaps at the terminals of the axons across which electro-chemical signals travel - a system we share with all other animals from the jellyfish up.

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effortlessly, and because we learn to read as children we take it for granted without

realising how phenomenal this human ability is. When computer scientists tried to

model everyday language they literally hit a brick wall because of the unexpected

complexity of word meanings in social context. Like a brain, a computer has a

memory and can solve problems by means of tiny components working together in

complicated firing patterns - but it is basically a box of on/off switches. Compared to

the speech performance of a five year old with, on average, a 5000 word vocabulary,

even the most powerful computer is puny. The average reading speed of a adult is

around 200 words a minute, but through training this can increase to 1000, and top

reading speeds of an incredible 20,000 words per minute are possible by suberbly

trained expert readers. This illustrates two points - the untapped potential we have

between our ears is almost limitless, and although computers are wonderful tools for

advancing our understanding, in terms of handling task complexity a brain is in a

different league altogether.

Other Brains

Insects, birds, reptiles and mammals have the same basic brain cells as we do, the

only difference being their number and organisation, but as the spectacular wildlife

documentaries of the recent times have revealed, they have a range of different and

often equally amazing capabilities. A bee can, among other things, communicate,

dance, learn, defend its community, adapt to gravitational forces and detect the

difference between millions of scents. Computer analysis of a skylark's song reveals

that it composes as many as twenty different Mozart-like symphonies in a day.

Mammals have complex social systems, share human emotions (even laboratory rats

respond to affection), have highly developed reasoning powers and a range of most

intricate communication systems that we have scarcely begun to understand. We

often forget that an anthropocentric view5 of the natural world is a very limiting one.

Human Neural Networks

These have such unfathomable capacity that many neuro-physiologists, cognitive

scientists, information theorists, perception and memory psychologists have

abandoned the bio-computer metaphor. Certainly, a baby arrives in the world

neurologically prewired with a staggering database of instructions but it learns new

information ten thousand times faster than any machine. A computer needs a

programme with information put in by an operator in an orderly way. However the

world does not contain neatly organised pieces of information just waiting to be

5 Anthropocentrism means viewing everything in terms of human values and humankind as the ultimate creation.

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picked up by the brain. We know the brain has to impose its own boundaries on the

world and actively construct concepts and categories. For example, Eskimos are said

to have around 40 words to describe what Europeans would simply call 'snow'. Are

there really 40 different sorts of white frozen water or do Eskimo brains make these

distinctions? Before the brain can make a representation of an object it has to decide

if it exists and organise incoherent impressions into structured categories. (Edelman,

1993) According to this theory we learn complex skills through the brain reinforcing

those connections acknowledged by our value system - a form of neural Darwinism.

Exactly how this happens is a subject of much research but it certainly takes place

very rapidly.

Diversity

The more that is discovered the more amazing the picture of human consciousness

becomes and the more scientists have yet to uncover. The crucial thing to appreciate

is that there is no 'correct' description of the world, as the way it is perceived and

coded depends very much on the brain that is doing the job. Diversity of perceptions

and sensations is a feature of thought processes and unlike computers, our actions

are suffused with values, predilections, and some goal to be satisfied. This means that

even the highest level, abstract kinds of thinking are based fundamentally on feeling.

This theory also allows for one of the most striking attributes of the human brain - its

imagination.

Einstein also said that ideas are more important than knowledge. So although

thinking can be logical, it is also emotional and creative - key factors that are

explored in more detail.

Albert Einstein, one of this century's phenomenal innovative thinkers, gifted his brain

to science and it sits in a glass jar in a Kansas City. It is no larger than anyone else's.

In fact, by the time he died it had lost about 10% of its mass, as is normal for a 76

year old, but the richness of the connections between the cells is truly remarkable

and his ability to function and produce novel ideas in later life was little affected. The

exact nature of the links between the observed changes in an older brain and their

mental consequences remains obscure.

Even although neurochemical activity is considerably less by the time someone is in

their eighties or nineties, resulting in reduced capacities of processing, speed and

working memory, the effect on thinking is relatively slight (Slater, 1995). Positron

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emission tomography6, for example, indicates that the brains of healthy people in their

eighties are almost as active as those of people in their twenties. So provided there is

no pathology and we exercise moderately, have a nutrient rich diet, ply our brains

with new and varied knowledge, have purpose in our lives and good social support,

we have the capacity to compensate for age-related biological changes and respond

creatively with logic and emotion, thinking and feeling.

The Cerebral Cortex

The key to the brain's awesome power lies in the most evolutionary advanced part of

our brain - the cerebral cortex - the 2mm wrinkled outer coating which, spread out

flat, would cover approximately four A4 sheets of paper. The bulkiness of the brain, in

fact, comes from the myelin sheathes that insulate the 'wiring' connecting different

parts. In the late 60s Roger Sperry's discovery that the two hemispheres of the brain

had different dominant functions was a major breakthrough, with the left brain

specialising in language and mathematical logic (the 'academic' brain) and the right

brain concerned with creative activities such as rhythm, music, colour and pictures

(the 'metaphorical mind'). However both sides are connected by a network of 300

million neurons with information racing between the two halves.

Subsequent research showed that brain regions are to some extent multifunctional

but work at their best if used in harmony. So thinking is in fact a whole-brain

function using an amazing range of skills - words, order, sequence, lists, linearity,

number, logic, rhythm, colour, imagery, re-creation, dimension, spatial

awareness and Gestalt7 with each stored in different parts of the brain. We know

that each skill requires appropriate training and development for it to trip in when

required, allowing multiple memory traces to be formed at different brain sites. (See

New Learning section). These fundamental discoveries have led to the realisation of

the amazing benefits of multisensory learning, creating enjoyable, effective and

fast processing of information using three perceptual channels - visual, auditory and

kinesthetic.

6 PET (Positron Emission Tomography) is non-invasive brain scanning enabling researchers to examine the structure of living brains in action, seeing on screen electrochemical activity as memories are activated.7 Gestalt is seeing something as a whole rather than breaking it down into parts.

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Metacognition

Tell me and I will forget

Show me and I will remember

Involve me and I will understand.

Confucius

Insights into the how we learn have been around for a long time and good teachers

have intuitively appreciated the benefits of multi-sensory learning. Our early learning

history probably determines our habitual thinking patterns which are as unique as our

signatures. However a great proportion of learners have been disadvantaged in the

traditional system where learning through verbal transmission is the norm. It is

estimated that only 25% of people are strongest in the auditory mode, with 35%

strongest in the visual mode and 40% in the kinesthetic mode. Most of us can identify

a particular thinking style that helps us to learn (Markova, 1991).

However this does not mean we are trapped in a kind of learning 'straight-jacket'. By

becoming more self-aware and reclaiming dormant mind capabilities we can become

confident in our own experiences, and think, learn and communicate more effectively

using all our senses to accelerate our learning. It certainly helps if our teachers and

tutors facilitate the process by recognising that people learn differently and therefore

set into motion a whole range of learning activities.

'When teachers use games and activities, emotion and music, relaxation, visualisation,

role play, colour, and learning maps, learning becomes a joyful, stress-free event.'

Rose & Nicholl, 1997.

Multiple Chance Learning

That we all possess to varying degrees multiple intelligences is a theory that has

tremendous potential for 'multiple chance' learning (Gardner, 1993). Formal

schooling tends to concentrate on linguistic and mathematical 'ways of knowing' as

well as some visual and spatial learning, and standard IQ8 tests are reasonably good

at predicting performance in these. However they are not so good at predicting

success in the real world. This is why fierce controversy rages about their failure to

identify people who later display flair and high intelligence in their chosen careers,

and others with high IQs who end up giving very mediocre performances. The

8 IQ is universally recognised as a person's mental age determined by a test result divided by their chronological age - and the ratio multiplied by 100

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conclusion many draw is that IQ tests only measure the ability to perform well in IQ

tests.

What matters is not how smart you are but how you are smart' , Howard Gardner.

Harvard education professor Howard Gardner maintains that it is a crucial blunder to

assume IQ is a single fixed entity. His contention is that we have a repertoire of skills

for solving different kinds of problems in different settings. Using insights from

neuroscience (especially the work of Sperry and Edelman) as well as psychology,

philosophy and history, and studying gifted people, child prodigies, experts, people

from different cultures and ordinary folk, he proposes a theory that we have five

distinct intellectual competencies in addition to the scholastic verbal-linguistic

(reading, writing, communicating), logical-mathematical (reasoning systematically

and calculating) and visual-spatial (thinking in pictures, visualising a result).

There is musical intelligence - the ability to sing, compose music or appreciate

rhythm and jingles (e.g. composers, song writers); bodily-kinesthetic intelligence -

empowering body movement (e.g. athletes, mountaineers), the ability to skilfully use

your hands to solve problems (e.g. technicians, surgeons) , create objects (e.g.

builders, sculptors) or create ideas and emotions (e.g. actors, orators, mime and

dance artists); interpersonal intelligence - form good relationships, social

competency, empathy and sensitivity to others' goals and desires (e.g. religious

leaders, counsellors, salespersons); intrapersonal intelligence - self analysis and

introspection with the ability to make plans and set goals (e.g. philosophers); and

finally naturalist intelligence - to be able to tune in to nature for the purpose of

hunting, farming, conservation or observation. (Sometimes called intuitive

intelligence.) Charles Darwin is a supreme example of someone with this fine-tuned

intelligence. Another illustration is the Aboriginal initiation ritual when a young man

spends a sustained period alone in the bush and rapidly learns how to survive.

The Hardwired Brain

These five additional intelligences are rarely acknowledged in our educational system

with visual-spatial aspects often on the margins as well. A normal brain is hardwired

to use all intelligences, but because each brain has its own unique architecture and

neural networks, different intelligences combine and interact in uniquely creative

ways. If the educational system only heeds verbal-linguistic and logical-mathematical

competencies this makes the going tough for many students with a difference

dominant intelligence, especially as most teachers themselves are strong in the

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verbal-linguistic and logical-mathematical spheres and often fail to appreciate that

the problem is something other than lack of 'intelligence'.

We must challenge a system that results in huge proportion of children leaving school

undereducated and demotivated with the belief that they have little talent for

learning. Many continue to believe this all their adult lives unless lucky enough to

have an experience that restores faith in their own ability. The growing number of

mature students at university who go on to considerable achievement in their chosen

fields bear witness to their mental fitness. And in later life, Open University students

in the 60 to 65 age band who gain degrees have been shown consistently to produce

the best course results of all age groups (OU Older Adult Research Group, 1993).

All this confirms the findings of scientists that we can train our brains to become

more finely-tuned instruments as we go through life. The evidence about brain

potential proclaims loudly that the deficit model of learning is failing many, and that

unless a serious problem exists each of us has the basic brain power to learn well in

our own unique ways using all our intelligences. This calls for a radical reappraisal of

the underlying assumptions at the heart of our educational system.

Learning How To Learn

This ability is now recognised as a major step towards unleashing the brain's

potential. By developing an understanding of how to store new knowledge effectively,

access it efficiently and use it creatively we can overcome assumed insurmountable

handicaps or unquestioned limitations. This requires metacognition, understanding

the 'language of the brain', how we organise our perceptions, thinking processes,

emotions and performance. It is a frame over which we can stretch the canvas of our

experience. How do we know we know? We can know rationally by thinking about

them and checking them out with what else we know. We can know by our senses

and checking with objective experiments or thirdly, we can know metaphorically and

depend on an intuitive grasp of situations.

With world knowledge said to be doubling every two to three years the memorisation

of hard facts is less valuable than knowing how and where to gather facts, taking the

initiative, making decisions, developing our natural talents and inventing imaginative

solutions to problems. After all, a double click on the mouse can gain Internet access

to the Encyclopaedia Britannica and a whole lot more. In other words, developing the

ability to take control of our own brain power is the foundation of lifelong learning. In

almost every occupation people who are not upgrading their knowledge and skills are

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falling behind. Indeed a likely scenario next century is for individuals not only to have

many career moves, but to have two or three total career changes. Therefore being

able to identify the organisational, sorting and creative languages of your mind and

learn how to learn fast are not optional, add-on bonuses for the privileged few but a

mental fitness programme for everyone.

Genes

To quote geneticist David Suzuki, 'The really important genes are not the ones which

tell us what to do, but the ones which give us the ability to change behaviour in

response to our environment'.

This implies the whole evolution of the higher mammals is about genes handing

over control to the brain. Certainly a growing body of evidence supports the theory

that the more the brain is stimulated the more it will achieve at any age, and the brain

sciences have given us strategies to move off and accelerate quickly into top gear.

_____________________________________________________________________

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Memory Skills

If you keep on saying things are going to be bad,

you have a good chance of being a prophet.

Isaac Singer

Not many people profess to having a good memory and yet our memories do an

incredible job in storing all the information we need to operate as independent and

social beings all our days. What people usually mean is that they cannot access their

memory store and recall exactly what they want when they want it. Research

increasingly suggests that we can take steps to improve recall. Only in cases of

irreversible damage is it a hopeless scenario, such is the compensatory power of the

brain.

However there are two tiny structures above the brain stem 9, the hippocampus and

the amygdala that are critically involved in memory processing. They are the sorting

station and gatekeeper for new memories and are part of the limbic system 10 which

needs a constant supply of oxygen to do its job. If this is cut off bilaterally by a severe

stroke for example, the person, provided their perceptual skills and previous

memories are intact, will be trapped in a time warp unable to lay down new

memories. Such sad cases of amnesia have provided many insights into how

memories are formed and where they are located in the brain. It is, in fact, one of the

most researched fields although notoriously difficult to study.

A Reconstruction

However we do know that categories of things are stored together at different places

e.g. names of natural items such as trees are separate from the names of botanists,

and nouns are separate from verbs. Also different sense memories are scattered all

over the cortex. So recalling the memory of a dear aunt - the sound of her voice, the

feel of her skin, the smell of her perfume, the image of her smiling, the taste of her

home-made tablet is a reconstruction - a whole brain activity. This knowledge has

implications for multisensory learning using your eight intelligences. Memories

9 The Brain Stem is a tapered 3in. section where the brain meets the spinal cord. It regulates many bodily functions that happen without conscious effort such as breathing and digestion.(Sometimes it is referred to as the reptilian brain.)10 The Limbic System is the central control panel made up of the organs wrapped round the brainstem like a collar ('limbus' is Latin for collar). It controls physical expression of emotion and contains the pleasure centre. It also distributes information to the cortex for storage. (Sometimes it is referred to a the mammalian brain)

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become permanent when the information is registered strongly using all senses and

involving strong emotions.

An interesting model of memory by neurologist M. Grossman of the University of

Pennsylvania uses the apt acronym - W.I.R.E.S :

Working memory - is a holding pen for short bits of information and is situated in

the prefrontal cortex11 . (Sometimes referred to as short-term memory.) For example,

it allows you to retain information long enough to make sense of a sentence in

conversation or store a telephone number till you dial.

Implicit memory is memory of how to co-ordinate movements, like driving a car and

is stored in the cerebellum12. Once it is learned it becomes automatic. (Sometimes

called procedural memory or 'muscle memory'.)

Remote memory is all the information you have accumulated over time and is

located all over the cerebral cortex. (Often called long-term memory)

Episodic memory is memory of your life as it unfolds, the people you meet, the TV

programmes you have watched and everyday incidents.

Semantic memory is your store of symbols, words and their meanings.

The latest evidence shows that while we sleep information is replayed, registered and

woven into our remote memory. This is one good reason researchers believe that

imaginative made-up stories are such good ways to consciously encode information as

they have a dream-like quality that lend themselves to easy processing.

The Social World

Think back to the baby arriving in the world with the phenomenal prewired capacity

to learn and remember. However if stimulation and encouragement are missing those

abilities will most likely atrophy or never develop properly, as we have witnessed in

recent times in extreme form in Eastern European orphanages ravished by wars,

corruption and poverty. At the other end of the life span, as we grow older we need to

11 The Prefrontal Cortex situated just behind the forehead oversees complex mental activities such as exercising judgment, future-planning and higher-order thinking, such as compassion, altruism and a sense of justice.12 The Cerebellum coordinates balance and posture incorporating a sense of the body's movement in space.

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generate our own motivation and positive energy and use conscious strategies to

organise and review new information using all our senses well.

We know now that the brain is an organ capable of continuing structural adaption and

that previous views about the process of decline were extremely negative and

deterministic. Even the care of people with organic brain disease such as dementia is

being transformed by this knowledge from a 'no cure-no hope' scenario to a vision of a

new culture of stimulating and quality care that sustains personhood (Kitwood,

1997)13.

A Resourceful State

To ensure we put ourselves in a state of learning readiness we can consciously

conjure up our past successes, ask ourselves why new material to be learned is

important, what we will be able to do better if we know it, how it links to what we

already know, what associations we can set up in our minds. We can summarise it,

make notes, record our summary and then listen to it and tell others about what we

have learned. We can make quick-reference index cards, exercise our creativity by

making colourful illustrated learning maps, turn the information into a jingle, a

rhyme, a colourful story or a mnemonic, and take pleasure in learning by listening

to music and relaxing while it sinks in - in effect putting ourselves into a semi-

hypnotic highly receptive state. Later we can reflect on our most effective strategies

for registering, retention and recall.

What research shows is that actions such as these improve memory by setting up

positive expectations and confidence in our own ability to learn successfully, as

we exercise control and mastery over the way learning happens. When the brain is in

a positive state of arousal, opiate-like pleasure chemicals are released increasing a

flow of the chemical transmitter acetylcholine, essential for the growth of neural

networks. For lifelong learning to have a mass appeal these techniques must be made

widely known either through 'learning to learn' courses for both teachers and

students, or through experiencing these methods face to face in the classroom.

Without convincing reassurance many people who have been hurt before by negative

learning experiences are just not going to take the risk. So we need a highly

supportive social matrix for lifelong learning to begin in ernest.

13 Tom Kitwood's contribution to the understanding of dementia cannot be underestimated and anyone involved in care should read his most recent book Dementia Reconsidered .

18

Good lifelong learning practice takes away those limitations (that people impose on

themselves) and provides the new tools, techniques and motivations to learn,'

Norman

Longworth, 1997.

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Mind-Body Connections

'Scientific revolutions are very interesting. The way they happen is that most people

deny them and resist them. And then there's more and more of an explosion, and

there's a paradigm shift.' Candace Pert, 1986

Pert's landmark work on the biochemical pathways of the brain helped to spark the

neuroscience explosion that has led to our understanding that the mind and body are

one, with the same chemical messengers (neurotransmitters) found in both. There is

now overwhelming evidence that our bodies react to suggestion not to reality and that

even a broken leg mends at a rate linked to our attitudes, hopes and fears.

Sleep, thoughts, movement, rage and even a smile reflect neurotransmitter activity

which stems from the pleasure centre deep inside the hypothalamus 14 and it drives

much of our goal-seeking behaviour for good or ill. In evolutionary terms it was there

long before the cortex and often means that we can at times behave out of keeping

with our intellect if the feelings are powerful enough. Sexual feelings, as you can

imagine, emanate from here and you don't have to think very long to recall

prestigious public figures whose pleasure centres have landed them in spectacular

trouble!

Brain Chemicals

Neurotransmitters are the versatile molecules that chemically connect neurons at the

synaptic gaps, and extremely small amounts subtly underlie all our moods from

ecstasy to deepest depression. Dopamine, norerepinephrine and serotonin are the

primary mood-elevating neurotransmitters. These opiate-like endorphins trigger an

increased flow of acetylcholine - the 'lubricant' that allows neural networks to grow

and memories to be captured. Listening to a vibrant piece of music, experiencing a

breathtaking sunset, sharing a joke with a friend, stroking an animal, going for a walk

on a beautiful day, hugging a loved family member, mastering something new, are

events that give us a chemical 'brain bath' which affects the activation threshold of

the pleasure centre and account for all the pleasurable sensations that accompany

these activities.

If our 'feel-good' levels drop we don't like it and seek ways of redressing the balance.

Some would argue that in common with most species on earth we are addicted to

14 The Hypothalamus is a 'motor' of the limbic system (the 'feeling' system) which controls our biorhythms: emotional response and behaviour, pain and pleasure, heart rate and temperature, sleep cycles, appetite, thirst and hormones.

20

pleasure which explains why emotional appeal is so powerful and compelling.

Advertisers exhibit this knowledge day and daily and have turned promotion of their

products into an art form. You only have to watch TV car adverts, for example, to see

how they seem to be about gaining access to beautiful and desirable people at exotic

locations - they are certainly not about gears and clutches! It is significant that the

limbic system not only controls emotions, but memory also.

The Emotional Brain

This phenomenon has profound implications for learning, as emotional images are

more likely to be remembered. An extreme example is recalling a moment of high

drama, such as hearing about Diana's car crash in Paris. Most people will remember

exactly where they were at that moment of truth. This is sometimes called 'flashbulb'

memory - a memory frozen in time by its dramatic impact. However positive emotions

play an important part in laying down memories during everyday learning. If students

find an experience fun and enjoyable they will remember the facts more readily.

Therefore collaboration, group discussion, participation, games and quizzes will

create a state of positive emotional arousal releasing a flood of 'pleasure chemicals'.

The opposite happens if someone feels under duress. The switchboard between the

limbic system and the cortex shuts down and a more primitive fear response trips in,

inhibiting access to higher brain functions. This is also the reason why some people

do so badly in exams although they perform well in class - they are literally consumed

by fear and their minds go blank. It also goes some way towards explaining some of

the mismatches between certain students' good performance at university and

subsequent failure at work. These people for whatever reason cannot cope with the

demands of the outside world and their negative emotions well up preventing access

to their neural networks.

Evolution

This type of phenomenon is explained in this quote from Ornstein and Sobel (1987)

when discussing brain development:

' We carry our evolution inside us, within the different structures of the brain,

structures built in different eras.... each one designed to maintain stability in its

organism as animals moved from the sea to land, to the trees, to the savannahs of

eastern Africa, to Fifth Avenue.'

21

Although we have this limitless capacity to perform well our evolutionary history is

sometimes waiting to trip us up. Therefore the systems we design have to take

account of our emotional selves and ensure that we work in harmony with our

biological natures. The educational answer is a 'multisensory, multi-intelligence

classroom or training room with lots of colour, art, music, role play, interaction,

information on the walls and sheer novelty.' Rose and Nicoll (1997).

Such an environment is stimulating and draws out learners' natural talents and

exuberance, stimulating the release of the pleasure endorphins.

Positive Attitudes

There are other life-giving bi-products that accompany the release of the 'good'

neurotransmitters - the number of white blood cells in our immune system increases,

cholesterol levels fall, blood pressure drops and heart rate steadies. Studies linking

psychological factors to physiological effects have been accumulating for decades but

there is now an overwhelming body of evidence that positive attitudes and

commitment protect and restore our health by flooding our system with

regenerating chemical tonics. Thoughts, beliefs and ways of reacting to problems

are not ephemeral abstractions but electrochemical events. Just as optimistic

appraisals are beneficial, so losing your temper, being cynical, pessimistic, giving up,

blaming others or yourself, and believing you have no control or are useless have

deeply damaging effects.

Hans Seyle (1976) who spent 50 years researching stress posed the question: What is

the cause of death in this scenario? You pass a drunk in the street who gives you a lot

of verbal abuse. You respond in kind triggering your stress response and flooding

your bloodstream with adrenaline, increasing blood pressure and sending your pulse

racing. If you are a coronary candidate the result may be fatal. What kills you? The

drunk? The insults? The wrong response?

'Fundamental to health is the way we view life, the sense of purpose we bring to it,

the willingness to see obstacles as opportunities for learning, and the space we find to

give and receive warmth and respect.'

Neville Hodgkinson

(Sunday Times medical correspondent,

1988).

New Concepts

22

Awareness of this phenomenon has led to the study of psychoneuroimmunology

which examines the biopsychosocial risk-factor concept of illness - a marked

departure from germ theory. The startling results from much of the research make a

powerful case for low-cost social and behavioural interventions to be included in the

curative regimens of many patients. And if these arguments are moved into the

realms of preventative medicine they become even more compelling, as a

stimulating learning environment of the type described by Rose and Nicholl will

carry powerful health benefits.

This mind-body aspects of illness is gradually entering the mainstream of medical

thinking as scientists can clearly identify the neurochemical pathways that allow the

brain to 'give orders' to ration. Now we know that it can occur in the absence of a pill

or potion and requires no deception to produce results.

The main ingredient is the human belief system (Cousins, 1981). When people

deeply believe they will be helped by something, bodily changes occur from the

physiological impact of that thought. It could be a new therapy, a new learned way of

coping, a new interest, a sense of control, a prayer, a relationship or a doctor. If an

inert placebo is involved, the changes still take place. If a real drug is involved, the

resulting changes are a combination of belief and pharmacological action (Weil,

1983), but the pill that we think will cure us is metabolised in a very different internal

environment (Achterberg, 1985). Developing positive attitudes is a mental fitness

skill that has a major effect on our physical wellbeing and firmly draws lifelong

learning into the equation.

23

SUMMARY OF NEW KNOWLEDGE

Our 'learning bio-machine'

This selective look at recent scientific advances has scattered to the wind the notion

that learning should be a painstakingly difficult process. Brains have evolved as

'learning bio-machines' with unlimited capacity for growth, and indeed human

survival, especially at this point in our history, is dependent on learning well and

learning fast. Once we can organise the information we want to remember to suit our

learning style we have literally learned how to learn.

This knowledge is crucial for mobilising all our various mental fitness skills, in the

same way that we now appreciate that our physical state is profoundly influenced by

exercise, what we eat, our attitudes, our social support and our activities. By learning

how to use our visual-spatial, musical, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal

and naturalist intelligences as well as logical-mathematical and verbal-linguistic skills,

a fulfilling life of stimulating and health-giving learning becomes a real possibility.

_____________________________________________________________________

24

SECTION 2

NEW LEARNING

OVERVIEW

The section explores several interesting learning and training ideas

based on modelling brain architecture that enable everyone to enjoy

learning. These thumbnail sketches do no more than highlight certain

features of the new paradigm.

Identifying Learning Styles - styles of organising, remembering and

creating using auditory, visual and kinesthetic pathways.

Accelerated Learning Systems - metacognition and learning to self-

regulate learning, whole brain thinking, overviewing, structuring,

criticising, using all higher mind skills (including affective motivational

skills) to maximise retention based on Constructivist Theory.

Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) - establishing patterns of

excellence in clear thinking, good communication and achieving results

including Cognitive Behavioural Training.

New Interactive Learning Aids - Using Information and

Communication Technology (ICT), Open Distance Learning (ODL) and

Computer Assisted Learning (CAL).

_____________________________________________________________________

25

Identifying Learning Preferences.

OUR PREFERENCE IS THE

'ON' SWITCH FOR OUR BRAINS,

THE NOZZLE FOR THE HOSE

THAT DIRECTS OUR STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS

Dawna Markova, 199116

The three ways of learning - visual, auditory and kinesthetic and how they combine is

a subject of endless debate in educational circles. Everyone's mind uses a favourite

symbolic language for organising thoughts, and being able to identify your conscious

learning style is a bridge between your intellect and your intuition allowing you

to absorb information faster. Something effective learners have in common is that

they actively do something to ensure they are absorbing information in the way that

suits them. Some have to visualise and paint a mental picture. Others have to

describe something to themselves in a stream of words or ask questions. Others

cannot think clearly unless they are in motion or in action, or experiencing or

feeling something. Our preferred representational system is the one we are most

competent using in expressing ourselves publicly.

Visual learners like to read for themselves rather than be read to e.g. follow a map

rather than follow verbal instructions. They like to see the 'big picture' and draw up

lists of things to do. TV, films and crossword puzzles hold an endless fascination and

they tend to be good spellers. Talking quite fast and revealing emotion through facial

expression is a strong characteristic, as is eye-to-eye contact with the person they are

speaking to. They rarely forget a face and remember by picturing things in their

mind's eye. Often they sign off by using the expression: I'll be seeing you.

Auditory learners are likely to be highly articulate, adept at describing their own

ideas, telling jokes and recalling facts and names. They enjoy listening to stories,

lectures, radio, tapes, debates and discussions, and have very good vocabularies and

expressive voices, often humming away to themselves. Talking their way through

problems or out of trouble is their preferred style. They are very comfortable on the

phone, remembering what has been said. Speak to you soon is a common farewell.

16 Dawna Markova in her book The Art of the Possible enables you to identify your subconscious and unconscious modalities as well as your conscious one allowing deep knowledge of your unique learning style.

26

Kinesthetic learners like active outdoor pursuits and prefer some kind of physical

involvement in what they are doing, such as manipulating objects and demonstrating

how to do things. Using expressive body language is also a powerful indicator. They

like using three dimensional aids (index cards) to help them remember and may well

use a signing-off expression such as: I'll be in touch.

Of course, people do not fit rigidly into only one category as we have all three

modalities available to us to different degrees. However most people can see

themselves more of one thing than another. As we now know that different modalities

are stored in different parts of the brain we can consciously train ourselves to back up

our learning with our other senses to lay down stronger traces with more

connections between brain cells. The outcome is sometimes referred to as divergent

thinking or radiant thinking which can produce creative and imaginative ways of

responding to challenge.

Accelerated Learning

The application of accelerated learning which excites me most is a programme that

will teach you how to learn and thereby reach your true potential. I want to see

everyone acquire the tools and motivation to realise their dreams as I have seen the

incredible impact this learning revolution has had on people's lives.

Colin Rose 17

Gradually over the past ten to fifteen years various educators have been transforming

the theoretical knowledge of brain scientists into accessible strategies for learning. 18

Accelerated learning is 'fast track' learning. However it is no gimmick but a process

that can become a lifelong habit to enhance retention of information. Basically you

just do more of what comes naturally to you, going with your own learning rhythms,

as discussed above. Accelerated learning has been tested and evaluated

17 Colin Rose is founder of Accelerated Learning Systems in the UK and co-authored Accelerated Learning for the 21st Century (1997). Vital reading for anyone who wants to learn how to learn and put this knowledge into practice imnediately, either as a tutor or learner.18 Quantum Learning by B.DePorter (1992) Expert instruction on how to get into Accelerated Learning by head of a college in the USA which runs learning how to learn classes for all ages.

27

independently and shows spectacular success, not only in mainstream educational

establishments, but in schools for people labelled 'learning disabled' and in high-

powered business environments.

28

GOOD FEELINGS

PRODUCE THE ENERGY

TO FUEL OUR TRIP

THROUGH

LIFE

The following highlight accelerated learning's six principles.

• Start off by creating a positive state of mind that makes you highly receptive

and eager to learn. This means activating your emotional limbic system. Sit in

surroundings where you feel comfortable with sounds, sights and smells that

make you feel good. Decide the learning session will be pleasurable and

productive because you want to know. This activate the higher mental processes.

Believe this will be a breakthrough day for you and affirm it to yourself.

• Take in information in your preferred learning style and then reinforce this

through the other senses. Then you will have a written or pictorial image of the

key concepts, spoken or heard them and have made index cards for filing - all of

which help you to organise the material meaningfully.

• Use your multiple intelligences so the whole brain is activated. This can involve

reading, talk, logical explanation and flow-charts, making effective notes such as

learning maps, visualising, comparing notes with other people, asking questions,

making up rhymes, jingles or mnemonics, moving round the room and pinning up

some pictures or key ideas, taking time out just to sit quietly and reflect on how

the material fits in to what you know, remembering that failure leads to success.

• Use a variety of memory techniques, such as memory flashing (sketching a

quick learning map), reading aloud, using mental imagery with movement,

humour, strangeness to add memorability, devising mnemonics and reviewing

index cards.

• Demonstrate your new learning in a way that suits your learning style. For

example, make a tape recording to listen to later, sketch a learning map from

memory or help someone else to learn.

29

• Review the new information by discussing with a learning partner how this new

learning fits in to your life and experience. Read over your notes before going to

bed to allow your unconscious mind to sort them out.

The 'big' picture

Any learning session should begin by identifying what you already know. People are

often surprised at the things they have absorbed from newspapers or magazine

articles or TV programmes. This primes the areas of the brain where related

knowledge is stored and gives a feeling of confidence about building on it. Also it

highlights gaps and generates questions that you want answered. The next stage is to

grasp the 'big picture'. If this is personal learning flip through the book or the

programme and look at the index, the foreward, the beginning and end, and speed

reading anything that catches the eye to get the gist. Next try to extract the central

theme and as you read, question why this is worth reading and what you want to learn

from it.

This structure still applies if you are facilitating a learning programme. What do your

students already know? What would they like to know more about? What are the most

interesting features of the programme? What is your perspective? All these

preliminary procedures are not just ice-breaking activities they serve the function of

orientation, so that learning is put in a familiar context. While your description will

be adequate for auditory learners, an overhead summary slide will help visual

learners and a handout will please those who like to do something such as underlining

or circling key points.

Constructivism

Still too many teachers and tutors position students in passive roles that inhibit taking

control and taking risks. This is the key to enthusiastic motivation that doubles the

amount of information that can be absorbed. Constructivism is now central to theories

of learning, from primary schools to undergraduate courses (Howe, 1998), with

emphasis on goal orientation, the progressive elaboration of knowledge by personal

activity, social and collaborative interactions, individual feedback on problem-solving,

and reflection on learning (Dart, 1997).

Learning maps play a key role and no description of accelerated learning would be

complete without a brief sketch of this way of thinking that revolutionises retention

and recall, and enhances understanding. Tony Buzan, President of the Brain

Foundation, introduced the idea of Mind Maps in 1974 in the publication Use Your

30

Head. Since then he has produced a stream of books developing Mind Mapping19 into

an extremely powerful creative tool integrating left and right brain activities,

reflecting the architecture of neuronal networks.

Mind Maps

To make a mind map start with a blank sheet of paper in horizontal format and put

the central concept in symbolic form in the centre. Draw numbered thick branches

leading off from this with key words printed neatly along them, using lots of colour,

symbols and sketches to make the map memorable, arty and fun to do. Branches split

off into thinner sub-branches and connect to other linking ideas.

There are many applications from rough note-taking at a lecture to later note-

making, when time goes into making the map neat, clear, colourful and well

organised. They are useful for making a record of a meeting, planning a course of

action, learning a language, studying for exams and problem-solving. You can mind

map a chapter of a book, a whole book, a whole course even by using a large sheet of

paper and pinning it on the wall. The key words trigger ideas and time is not wasted

reading vast quantities of text to revise. Reviewing is done in regular short bursts

every hour, every day, every week, every month, every three months and so on, so

that vast amounts of information that would just disappear from your memory bank

are continually being reactivated along with associations.

You remember your learning maps as you might remember a picture. Research shows

that we have virtually limitless capacity to remember images so the more you use

brightness, imagery, space, pattern and originality on your learning maps the better

you will recall them in detail. It could be argued that in learning how to learn this is

the ultimate mental fitness skill.

_____________________________________________________________________

19 The Mindmap Book: Radiant Thinking by Tony Buzan (Reprint 1997) A comprehensive guide to Mind Maps - a revolutionary method of accessing intelligence, using and improving memory, concentration and creativity in planning and structuring thoughts at all levels.

31

Neuro-Linguistic Programming

THINGS TURN OUT BEST

FOR THE PEOPLE

WHO MAKE THE BEST OF THE WAY

THINGS TURN OUT.

Art Linklater

Over the last decade or so endless books have been written on how to accomplish

personal, professional and business success based on what we know about thinking

and organisational skills. However the two people who laid the groundwork of

neurolinguistic programming are Americans Bandler and Grinder whose initial

work was carried out in the context of family therapy, based on ideas of psychologists

Perls, Erikson and Satir. Bandler and Grinder's book (The Structure of Magic, 1975)

sets out to identify language patterns that obscure meaning and cause

misunderstanding through the imprecise uses of words and phrases. They correct

such woolly thinking by reframing the initial sensory experience, based on the

premise that our experience of the world is filtered through our beliefs, interests and

preoccupations, with unhelpful patterns often personally and culturally ingrained.

NLP methods are quick and effective (sheer magic in fact!) in changing negative

thinking patterns and generating constructive internal dialogue. This led Bandler

andGrinder to modelling patterns of excellent communication by successful people

and their ways of thinking. Some new forms of NLP analyse very sophisticated and

complex interpersonal behaviour.

Sometimes NLP is called 'software' for the brain because it allows people to

'reprogram' their thinking and establish new helpful thought patterns. There are

numerous versions although practitioner jargon can be baffling. However the

strategies of NLP undoubtedly help people to change self-limiting beliefs, set positive

outcomes that are within their control, be clear and specific about what they want

using all their senses (what they will hear, see and feel), while at the same time,

encouraging flexibility to keep negotiating and building bridges to others till they

reach their goal.

Applications

It has been adapted for use in many contexts where people feel they do not have

enough control over their lives. For example, Back on Track courses (Clark, 1997) for

32

unemployed people over 50 based on NLP have been operating throughout the UK, to

re-motivate and re-orientate people to plan and develop strategies to deal

constructively with their unemployment. Many people gain stronger self-belief and

confidence in their own ability to perform well at interviews, at re-training or to

become self employed, while others find they have better motivation simply to make

each day's job search more purposeful.

Cognitive behavioural training (CBT) has also been used successfully in this context

(Proudfoot, 1997) which is based on many of the same principles - identification of

common thinking errors, analysis of automatic thoughts, goal-setting, time

management, techniques to gain access to deeper levels and dimensions of

attributional thinking. An evaluation of this particular progamme showed that

participants benefited from improvements in general psychological well-being as well

as finding jobs.

Personal Development Courses

NLP is widely used in the context of personal development courses, such as

assertiveness training, where the language of passive and aggressive people often

reflects poor self esteem and false beliefs about their own and other people's worlds.

New constructive thinking patterns and better ways of communicating can be taught

very quickly using experiential training. The improved reactions from other people on

the receiving end immediately feed back into better self image and a stronger

feelings of competence.

The main communication challenges for most people are confronting others with their

behaviour and dealing with their reactions, giving and receiving criticism, overcoming

self consciousness, controlling emotions, setting limits, being taken seriously, gaining

co-operation and speaking publicly. These are powerful personal skills to develop and

NLP provides some very effective tools.

Learning how to organise your perceptions, thinking processes and behaviour in ways

that lead to success is highly motivating and incorporates awareness of the

advantages of cueing into others' thinking styles. We often talk about the pleasure of

being on the 'same wavelength' as someone else. But by being able to consciously

adapt to another's wavelength we establish speedy rapport, strong empathy and

effective collaboration. These communication skills demonstrate a type of mental

fitness that is increasing valuable in today's world and is certainly vital in a

teacher/student environment if learning is to be fast and effective.

33

New Interactive Learning Aids

There is little doubt that information technology will have a huge impact on learning

opportunities in the near future. It is perfectly possible that students will log on at

virtual colleges or universities, sit in on virtual lectures with the up-to-date

multimedia teaching aids, visit virtual libraries anywhere in the world, meet fellow

learners at virtual student unions, attend a virtual summer school, e-mail their

assignments to tutors and cap it all by sitting their exams in virtual assessment halls

(Howe, 1998). This mind-boggling scenario is already happening to some extent. (The

new University of the Highlands and Islands is very computer-dependent and the OU

has piloted a virtual summer school.)

Distance learning has been around for a long time but IT is set to bring a new

dimension that is already impacting on mainstream education. Simple economics will

make networking the best option in schools and other institutions although the

interpersonal and social aspects will have to be addressed, particularly at both ends

of the age spectrum, with young people at a formative stage and older people

appreciating the interpersonal nature of learning. Students will be able to log on at

any time of the day or night, listen to a pre-recorded lecture when it suits, stop and

start it at will, learning fast and learning cheaply, and receive individualised tutor

feedback. With this type of learning each student's awareness of knowing how to

learn will be crucial to success. In terms of lifelong learning, IT is set to play a

powerful role in opening up access to vast numbers of new learners.

34

SECTION 3

CHANGING ROLES AND INTERESTS

Lifelong learning in context - a radical self-improvement culture of

new possibilities for all.

Economic regeneration - the creation of multi-option flex-lives for

workers in a global market-place.

Social exclusion - with one in five people in Britain marginalised by

poverty and this set to increase, a radical re-appraisal of a more

equitable way to apportion resources is imperative.

___________________________________________________

'We see a series of shifts over time aimed at substituting inclusion for

exclusion, achievement for failure, opportunity for good fortune,

diversity for uniformity, a mass for an elite, the many for the few, and

pleasure where there is currently dread.'

An extract from the first report of the National Advisory Group for

Continuing Education and Lifelong Learning, Fryer, R. 1997.

35

LIFELONG LEARNING

It is important to put lifelong learning in context to evaluate why it has entered the

vocabulary of the movers and shakers of policy during this decade. The issue was first

raised in Britain by educationalist Basil Yeaxlee (1929) during the prevailing mood of

social reconstruction after the Great War (Cross-Durant, 1987). His concept rested on

integrating learning and living - at work, at leisure and in the community - from the

cradle to the grave along lines set out by the American philosophical founding-father

of lifelong education, John Dewey (1902). Yeaxlee saw adult education as a vehicle for

creating a harmonised world and a more democratic lifestyle, but with the separation

of liberal adult education from technical and evening classes in 1924, the idea

became dormant until UNESCO revived it the 1970s as a European response to

change and uncertainty.

A survival concept

However in the 90s the metaphor of lifelong learning has become a 'survival

concept for the 21st Century' (Longworth & Davies, 1994). At the first global

conference on the topic in Rome in 1994 (The European Lifelong Learning Initiative)

it was defined in much the same terms set out by Yeaxlee 70 years previously as a

process of human development, resulting in positive, confident and creative people,

both at work and at leisure, old and young, gifted and handicapped, developed and

developing, family and friends. In other words, it was an holistic all-embracing

'lifestyle' concept rather than an economically-inspired one - a response to the

impact of the major global political and social upheavals that have changed the

nature and patterns of work, life, leisure and learning. The changes that the

world faces at the end of the century include the explosion of information &

knowledge, environmental pressures and, in Europe, an exponential increase in the

number of people over 50 unemployed or left paid work , and a decrease in the

number of younger people.

New Options

Recent governments have produced various documents on lifelong learning, including

Lifetime Learning, DfEE 1996 & The Learning Age, DfEE 1998, to suggest the value

of a self-improvement culture with new options, advice and support so that

everyone has opportunities for fulfilment and a job. The first Undersecretary of State

for Lifelong Learning has been appointed but despite all the fine words the real focus

seems to be on lifelong earning rather than learning - in other words, the creation

of a flexible, highly-trained, multi-skilled workforce to generate wealth and meet the

36

demands of a global market in a world experiencing rapid technological, economic

and demographic change.

Although these instrumental objectives meet important economic imperatives and

address the juggernauts of global challenge and change, they ignore the needs of vast

numbers of citizens - older people (especially older women), ethnic minorities, poor

people and the physically and emotionally vulnerable. Their learning needs are just as

vital if they are to acquire the knowledge, attitudes and skills to cope with life in the

21st century and not be marginalised by the limiting attitudes that have excluded

them to varying degrees from mainstream learning opportunities.

Economic and social factors

Social exclusion is recognised as an evil in a civilised society, but with 15% of the UK

population living in poverty according to a recently published United Nations

Development Programme Report (Johnston,1998), the choices open to around one in

five in the population are severely limited. The report uses the traditional measure

for poverty - the proportion of the population living on less than half median male

earnings - along with three additional yardsticks - long-term unemployment, life

expectancy and illiteracy, broadening the concept to include poverty of

capabilities and poverty of opportunities. The illiteracy statistic is quite shocking

and damning, with 21.8% of British 16 - 65 year olds 'functionally illiterate', indicating

difficulties filling in a benefits form or writing a cheque. With other studies showing

correlations between educational status and health, such a situation has far-reaching

implications for the national economy.

In fact, viewed from purely an economic perspective it spells long-term financial

suicide to have a policy of just 'propping up' this vast deprived sector, and from a

social perspective it is grossly inequitable. But it is at a personal level that real

injustice is taking place. People who are not encouraged to develop their potential are

often sentenced to an existence on the margins. This is a woeful waste of human

resources, stripping people of self esteem, confidence and sometimes even their

health, and reducing them to the status of 'a burden' rather than a resource for their

families and for society. Therefore lifelong learning must be more than an

instrumental framework for bolstering workplace skills.

Others must have a share of resources if learning is to meet the wider social aims

stated boldly by David Blunkett in his introduction to The Learning Age.

'Learning enables people to play a full part in their community and strengthens the

family, the neighbourhood and consequently the nation. It helps us fulfil our potential

and opens doors to a love of music, art and literature. That is why we value learning

for its own sake and are encouraging adults to enter and re-enter learning at every

point of their lives as parents, at work and as citizens.'

37

A Learning Culture

Evidence of change to a learning culture is extremely patchy although there are

beacons of light and models of excellence on which to build. The State of the Nation

Campaign for Learning/Mori Poll, 1996 found that 95% of adults and 93% of children

think you are never too old to learn. Therefore an anti-poverty overall strategy along

the lines of the UN social summit in Copenhagen is a pressing need as structural

poverty is a barrier to learning for a significant percentage of people. Many have not

the surplus cash to pay for classes let alone buy a computer.

Initiatives like New Deal, the national minimum wage, improved benefits for families

and poorest pensioners, the University for Industry with its flexibility and

dissemination of good practice, are steps in the right direction, but how we create a

literate (and now a computer-literate) society has to be addressed specifically with a

time-tabled plan of action (Age Concern England, 1998). Minority groups should

certainly be part of the consultation process and with no single educational institution

committed to learning across the total age spectrum (Coffield, 1998) it falls on

government to co-ordinate the lifelong learning culture.and pay more than lip service

to opportunities for all.

We cannot afford in human or economic terms to fail one in five people at the very

minimum, and in terms of potential higher quality of life, probably nearer a third of

the population. The latter is the proportion that has never been involved in learning

since leaving school, either through evening classes, college or training courses, or

open learning (MORI,1996), many because of 'learning shutdown' after deadly

negative feedback from school. Information on how to make learning exciting,

enjoyable, exploratory, co-operative, creative, interdependent, personalised,

accelerated - for everyone is not a secret although sometimes it may seem so.

However more teaching will only be part of the solution as more and more people will

have to learn independently and in ways that are embedded in work and other life

contexts.

Accredited learning

The way lifelong learning operates currently is to direct resources to work-based

accredited learning at the expense of other non-vocational schemes. 'More of the

same' is not good enough to meet the challenge of creating a learning culture for all

and blockages in the system need to be rooted out. A major blockage is the

government preoccupation with readiness to work when the changing nature of work

- the lack of continuity, career changes, self-employment, early retirement, more free

38

time and less paid jobs - means that boundaries between work and leisure are

blurred. In effect, learning should be available to all who want to benefit from it and

are ready to do so.

Carers, mentors and volunteers, for example, have an important impact on the

economy and their rights and needs as learners should be recognised. As life

expectancy increases more people in their 50s, 60s and 70s are engaged in these

active roles and benefit greatly from supportive training. Many are the very people

who never enjoyed learning under the old regime. We owe it to them to redress the

balance and provide a taste of accelerated learning in the direction they wish to go.

Such intervention has multiple benefits in raised self esteem and recognition of their

own capabilities and brain power.

New insights

New knowledge of experience, of instinct, of intuitiveness and of imagination cannot

be taught but they can be learned. Sir Graham Hills, 1997.

In creating insights into new fields of useful knowledge relevant to their lives and

activities, it allows people on the margins to rejoin society, and be valued for their

contributions. Equally importantly, it helps to sustain health and wellbeing. Knowing

what we now know about the mind-body connection the question should be: Can we

afford to exclude older people, people with disabilities and ethnic minorities from

access to lifelong learning? A quote from a volunteer guide in the Dairy of 1000 Adult

Learners says it all:

'My life is now full of work, bringing up a new family of interested visitors. My future

looks busy, no time to sit doing nothing, too many things to find out, and also so many

friends to keep me looking forward to the future.'

D.Harvey, Senior Studies Institute

And when it comes to very elderly people the effects of learning can have even more

dramatic effects. Pilot studies in residential homes teaching word processing to

facilitate life history writing have demonstrated that even 80 and 90 year olds lap it

up with enthusiasm (James, 1996). Current scientific studies into Mental Fitness

acknowledge that people who are mentally active lead well-adjusted lives, but more

work needs to be done in this country to demonstrate forcefully this vital link between

learning and health.

A Learning Culture

39

How ready is the public to move from an enterprise culture to a learning culture? A

major hurdle may be that taxpayers are not prepared to pay if it looks like more layers

of expensive 'education'. While pouring endless resources into the health service 20

meets with great approval, giving universal free entitlement to lifelong learning

would be fiercely contested as a luxury . An eminent surgeon in his recent retiral

speech21 after a long and successful career, made two linked statements that doctors

rarely express publicly:

'The world is obsessed with medicine' and 'Technique is taking us beyond common

sense.'

As this discourse relates, people engaged in learning have a greater chance of

staying well, independent and out of hospital. This surely is a more imaginative way

of tackling soaring health bills and social costs, funding rehabilitation and

counselling. Preventative medicine is the best medicine. In the light of what we know

about the mind-body connection is it not time we took seriously the idea of

preventative learning to stop the waste of lives and human resources?

CONCLUSION

A learning culture will offer massive benefits apart from economic regeneration.

The spin-offs will be social cohesion and citizenship that underpin a civilised,

pluralistic and inclusive society with increasing tolerance and acceptance of

differences. It will be a culture with easy access to information in all public places

with computer networks readily available, much as access is now standard for

disabled people in new buildings. Lifelong learning will then become a natural activity

that informs our society, operating for people at all stages of their lives.

Jacques Delors stated in 1996 that not only must lifelong education adapt to changes

in the nature of work, but it must also constitute a continuous process of forming

20 In September 1998 Health Secretary Frank Dobson pledged 8 billion pounds for new buildings and equipment at the Labour Party Conference to the sound of rapturous applause.21 The words of Professor Dan Young reported in The Herald by medical correspondent Alan MacDermid (1.10.98)

40

whole human beings. Learning is indeed a natural human activity and the education

done in institutions is only a small part of the story. However to create a society

where the vast majority value, support and engage in learning as a matter of course,

will require a paradigm shift in the perception of what can be changed at individual,

institutional and societal level, perhaps through fruitful coalitions among the

voluntary, education and business sectors. Brain scientists have revealed our

untapped potential, each one of us with our million million brain cells. We have lots of

signposts about how to use them well and creatively, and now we have new

opportunities through technology, the changing nature of work and leisure, and

longer lifespans.

Lifelong learning waits like a fleet of ships in harbour. Many global hazards lie in wait

ready to sink it without trace, but I am reminded of the saying: Ships are safe in

harbour but that is not where ships are meant to be. It is time for real changes to be

activated in learning, teaching and universal opportunity so that people at all levels

and stages can pursue their dreams and build their mental fitness with enthusiasm,

confidence and optimism, making lifelong learning a reality, and a fairer and

sustainable world a more distinct possibility.

41

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