By Marwa Kotb.

“Lifelong learning may be broadly defined as learning that is pursued throughout life” (LLCQ, 2016). Lifelong learning is flexible, available at different times and in different places, it promotes learning beyond traditional schooling and throughout our lives.The future is moving very fast and changes are unpredictable, teaching is a career that demands the most flexibility to keep up with the continuous changes where educational curricula are constantly evolving and advances in technology is rapid. Thus educators need to be active independent self-directed lifelong learners to adapt with new skills and competences.

Educators’ development can’t be achieved without self-knowledge,  it is “the beginning of all knowledge(Christensen, 1991)” as cited in (Weimer,2010, November 5) . Thus educators must observe their classrooms and reflect on their experiences to be able to decide where to head and what areas they need to improve. They must continuously self-assess their teaching needs, take the initiative with or without the help of others and formulate their learning goals, set plans, seek materials and training programs, decide the suitable mean of learning, and evaluate the outcome of their new learning. Nowadays  there are a huge number of professional development resources available such as Books, magazine, articles, online course, workshops, and mentoring where experienced educators provide instructional support to their less experienced peers.

It is crucial that educators pass skills that help their students to become lifelong learners, setup the foundation to make their learners become more self-directed, gradually increase the responsibility on the students so they are capable to use both personal and academic skills to learn again independently and adapt to the future changes. At the end of this post I would to remind everyone including myself with Lindeman superb quote  “the whole life is learning” (as cited in Merriam & Bierema, 2014, p.105).

References

LLCQ.(2016). What is Lifelong Learning?. Retrieved from http://www.llcq.org.au/01_cms/details.asp?ID=12

Merriam, S. B., & Bierema, L. L.(2014). Adult Learning Linking Theory and Practice. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Weimer.M. (2010, November 5).Lifelong Learning: Discovering and Developing Your Teaching Skills. FacultyFocus. Retrieved from http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/faculty-development/lifelong-learning-discovering-and-developing-your-teaching-skills/