Rapid technological advances and globalization have resulted in the rise of the information era and with it, the emergence of knowledge economies and the call to lifelong learning viewed as necessary for producing skilled workers. This study examines the characteristics of lifelong learners in different environments, in order to understand how education contributes to the development of the lifelong learner, as well as how active pedagogical approaches, namely problem-based learning, may be especially beneficial for developing the lifelong learner. Using a mixed-methods research approach, this exploratory study was conducted on a sample of polytechnic graduates from Singapore who were continuing their learning in bachelor degree programs at different universities. It was guided by a framework of four main attributes which were identified as possible descriptors of the lifelong learner: capacity for self-directed learning, motivation, metacognitive awareness, and learner disposition. Quantitative data were collected via responses to an instrument, the Self-Directed Learning Readiness Scale (SDLRS), while quantitative data were collected through interviews, to capture in-depth information about individuals’ lifelong learner attributes as well as to probe into their experiences in Singapore’s formal education system that enabled (or hindered) their lifelong learner development. The data generated from the survey and interviews indicated that this group of young learners from Singapore who were continuing their learning journey did manifest some of the qualities of effective lifelong learners. However, there was also some suggestion that their engagement in lifelong learning was not so much from an intrinsic love for learning, but more out of compulsion because of the better job prospects that came with it. Also, despite the aim of the Singapore Ministry of Education to develop lifelong learners under the policy umbrella of Teaching Schools, Learning Nation (TSLN), learners’ experiences suggest that reforms have not reached all secondary schools to the same extent, and that many government schools were still using more didactic teaching rather than learner-centred pedagogies. Cross-case analyses found that the experience of problem-based learning seemed to equip learners with more self-direction in learning, more intrinsic motivation to learn, and a greater metacognitive awareness. At the same time, the positive outcomes of this pedagogy appear to be mediated by the learner’s own readiness for self-directed learning: learners with lower readiness for self-directed learning appeared to be less able to enjoy the learning benefits of problem-based learning. The study concluded with implications of these findings for the Singapore education system, as well as on problem-based learning as a pedagogy for developing lifelong learners.

Rapid technological advances and globalization have resulted in the rise of the information era and with it, the emergence of knowledge economies and the call to lifelong learning viewed as necessary for producing skilled workers. This study examines the characteristics of lifelong learners in different environments, in order to understand how education contributes to the development of the lifelong learner, as well as how active pedagogical approaches, namely problem-based learning, may be especially beneficial for developing the lifelong learner. Using a mixed-methods research approach, this exploratory study was conducted on a sample of polytechnic graduates from Singapore who were continuing their learning in bachelor degree programs at different universities. It was guided by a framework of four main attributes which were identified as possible descriptors of the lifelong learner: capacity for self-directed learning, motivation, metacognitive awareness, and learner disposition. Quantitative data were collected via responses to an instrument, the Self-Directed Learning Readiness Scale (SDLRS), while quantitative data were collected through interviews, to capture in-depth information about individuals’ lifelong learner attributes as well as to probe into their experiences in Singapore’s formal education system that enabled (or hindered) their lifelong learner development. The data generated from the survey and interviews indicated that this group of young learners from Singapore who were continuing their learning journey did manifest some of the qualities of effective lifelong learners. However, there was also some suggestion that their engagement in lifelong learning was not so much from an intrinsic love for learning, but more out of compulsion because of the better job prospects that came with it. Also, despite the aim of the Singapore Ministry of Education to develop lifelong learners under the policy umbrella of Teaching Schools, Learning Nation (TSLN), learners’ experiences suggest that reforms have not reached all secondary schools to the same extent, and that many government schools were still using more didactic teaching rather than learner-centred pedagogies. Cross-case analyses found that the experience of problem-based learning seemed to equip learners with more self-direction in learning, more intrinsic motivation to learn, and a greater metacognitive awareness. At the same time, the positive outcomes of this pedagogy appear to be mediated by the learner’s own readiness for self-directed learning: learners with lower readiness for self-directed learning appeared to be less able to enjoy the learning benefits of problem-based learning. The study concluded with implications of these findings for the Singapore education system, as well as on problem-based learning as a pedagogy for developing lifelong learners.

abstract: Institutions of higher education often tout that they are developing students to become lifelong learners. Evaluative efforts in this area have been presumably hindered by the lack of a uniform conceptualization of lifelong learning. Lifelong learning has been defined from institutional, economic, socio-cultural, and pedagogical perspectives, among others. This study presents the existing operational definitions and theories of lifelong learning in the context of higher education and synthesizes them to propose a unified model of college students' orientation toward lifelong learning. The model theorizes that orientation toward lifelong learning is a latent construct which manifests as students' likelihood to engage in four types of learning activities: formal work-related activities, informal work-related activities, formal personal interest activities, and informal personal interest activities. The Postsecondary Orientation toward Lifelong Learning scale (POLL) was developed and the validity of the resulting score interpretations was examined. The instrument was used to compare potential differences in orientation toward lifelong learning between freshmen and seniors. Exploratory factor analyses of the responses of 138 undergraduate college students in the pilot study data provided tentative support for the factor structure within each type of learning activity. Guttman's <&lambda;>&#955;2 estimates of the learning activity subscales ranged from .78 to .85. Follow-up confirmatory factor analysis using structural equation modeling did not corroborate support for the hypothesized four-factor model using the main student sample data of 405 undergraduate students. Several alternative reflective factor structures were explored. A two-factor model representing factors for Instructing/Presenting and Reading learning activities produced marginal model-data fit and warrants further investigation. The summed POLL total scores had a relatively strong positive correlation with global interest in learning (.58), moderate positive correlations with civic engagement and participation (.38) and life satisfaction (.29), and a small positive correlation with social desirability (.15). The results of the main study do not provide support for the malleability of postsecondary students' orientation toward lifelong learning, as measured by the summed POLL scores. The difference between freshmen and seniors' average total POLL scores was not statistically significant and was negligible in size. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.A. Educational Psychology 2011

The diploma paper characterizes what motivates adults for lifelong learning. The theoretical part provides you a comprehensive overview about adulthood, lifelong learning of adults, and about motivation itself. First of all, the diploma work defines adulthood , and it focuses on developmental and professional parts of it. Then, it provides you an integrated idea about lifelong learning of adults, it especially focuses on the basic terminology, an overview about lifelong learning, the educational system in ČR and other types/cathegories of lifelong learning. Then, the paper defines motivation, connecting it with Maslow´s theory and assigning it with lifelong learning. It focuses for example on the system of benefits and gains, which is closely connected with lifelong learning. The practical part evaluates quantitative research methods. According to this kind of research technique I used a questionnaire for surveying what adults think about lifelong learning, which form of lifelong learning they prefer, and what motivates them for lifelong learning.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / Worldwide, a greater and more diverse student population participates in higher education now more than ever before as the literature suggests an increase in 'nontraditional' students commonly regarded as adult students, part-time students, working college students, widening participation students, new wave students, millenial students and undocumented students, as examples. Policy imperatives, such as widening participation and flexible provision, have influenced new kinds of student identities beyond the familiar and fixed student categories, of 'traditional' and 'nontraditional', conventionally in use. Problems of 'nontraditional' student identity are compounded when the language and nomenclature in higher education perpetuate only certain kinds of 'nontraditional' student constructs, denoting mainly an increased numerical presence for certain student groups while underarticulating blended student identities and corresponding educational needs for what is arguably a new and growing segment of 'nontraditional' students in higher education today. While 'nontraditional' students are widely reported in the literature as having both an increasing and prevailing presence in higher education internationally, scholarly interest in students constructed in this way appear to be relatively recent and disproportionate when compared with the literature pertaining to higher education students regarded as 'traditional'. But who are these 'nontraditional' students in higher education currently, and are their identities by definition distinct from each other? What is currently denoted by this 'nontraditionalising' nomenclature when the literature progressively regards 'nontraditional' students as the 'new majority', the 'new traditionals' and the 'new normals' in higher education presently? And how different are they from students who may still be conventionally categorised as 'traditional'? This study’s central research question led to the beginnings and continuities of 'nontraditional' students at one South African university, and probed the reasons for what comes into view as varied and uneven institutional portrayals of students historically constructed as adult learners, lifelong learners, recognition of prior learning (RPL), after-hours and part-time students. Recommendations from this study, therefore, encourage awareness and possibly a review of the use of all student nomenclature at the University towards better understanding the 'traditional-nontraditional' range of student. For higher education ecologies worldwide, this study suggests that generalisations about 'traditional' and 'nontraditional' higher education students provide a window only on two main 'types' of student participating in higher education. However, new and transitioning student constructs must also be reflected in the language of higher education presently. When this is not done, the educational identities of all students in higher education are only partially understood and their educational experiences may be compromised. Re-imagining nontraditional student constructs is recommended alongside discourses that make possible teaching and learning arrangements for all higher education students, who find themselves shaping their studenthood along an increasingly blended 'traditional'-'nontraditional' continuum in higher education presently. Finally this study puts forward that perpetuation of jaded nomenclature and misnomers for 'nontraditional' students in higher education may be an indication that the more fundamental and necessary re-imagining of the higher education curriculum for current times is not yet underway.

The complex human process of sport coaching is a dynamic and evolving practice that develops over a long period of time. Coaches learn from a number of different situations and their past experiences influence what they choose to pay attention to and learn from (Werthner & Trudel, 2009). This dissertation explores the lifelong learning process through a collective case study involving four coaches for athletes with a physical disability. The theoretical framework that guides this study is Jarvis’ (2006, 2007, 2009) comprehensive view on human learning, including his concept of lifelong learning, and key concepts such as biography, experience and disjuncture, and types of learning. Jarvis' psychosocial perspective on human learning is a useful lens for a closer examination of how coaches develop over a lifetime and how they change and continue the process of becoming through new experiences, which they gain, more often than not, within a social context. The work of Moon (1999, 2004) and her metaphor of a network view of learning is a complementary framework for examining learning through reflective practice. Moon's generic view of learning (1999) illustrates how a network of knowledge, feelings and emotions make up one’s "cognitive structure" and suggests that this structure plays an important role in the learning process as it guides what we choose to pay attention to and what we choose to learn. A thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006) was used to extract themes and examples from three in-depth interviews with each coach, observation of the coach in their coaching contexts, as well as interviews with key collaborators in their coaching practice. The transcripts were member checked to increase trustworthiness. Three articles comprise the results section and the main points in this dissertation are as follows: (a) a case study of one exemplary parasport coach and how he learned through a wide variety of life experiences, such as pragmatic problem solving, education, and building relationships; (b) the four coaches who engaged in social learning through meaningful interactions with a variety of key collaborators who contributed to their learning and coaching practice; and (c) the four coaches who used reflection to learn and to build their coaching practices within the unique context of the parasport world. These findings contribute to the emerging body of literature on coaches for athletes with disabilities by adding to our understanding of how coaches’ life experiences and biographies determine what kinds of learning opportunities they each found meaningful; the importance of the social context in learning to coach athletes with disabilities; and the role and importance of reflection in understanding the interconnections of learning from life experiences, particularly in the unique and developing parasport setting. The study will also aid coach educators in understanding the role and importance of past learning experiences and the social context in coach learning.

This thesis deals with the process of corporate education in a particular company for a specific job. The thesis is divided into theoretical and practical part. The theoretical part describes the basics of the system of lifelong learning and corporate training. The practical part is devoted to analyzing the current situation of training secretaries in the company Pražská plynárenská, a.s., this system is evaluated and in conclusion the most appropriate concept of the continuing education of secretaries is proposed.

This diploma thesis deals with the motivation of adults to the higher education in the master's degree program Educational Management at the faculty of education at Charles University. The first part of the work is focused on a clear summary of basic knowledge about adult education and motivation. This part introduces concepts such as lifelong learning, adult education in the Czech Republic and at Czech universities, the master's program Management of Education, types and basic theories of motivation and motivation of adults to learn. The second part of the thesis contains a description of the methodology and the results of the survey. The survey is based on semi-structured interviews with students studying in the master's degree program Educational Management at the faculty of education at Charles University. The interviews focus on what motivated adults to study in the master's degree program, why they chose the Education Management program, what is their current motivation to learn, what benefits of studying they perceive, what barriers they perceive during their studies and what plans they have after graduation. At the end of the thesis the results of the research are evaluated, and recommendations are proposed. The aim of the diploma thesis is to analyze the motivation of adults for higher...

The aim of this study is to examine how students at disadvantaged schools in Costa Rica experience and cope with the educational transition between 6th and 7th grade. Furthermore, to analyse which are the major contributing factors and how to aid this passage for students at risk through the term, Lifelong learning. This study will be conducted through an analysis of Costa Rica’s contemporary education policy documents through OECD’s educational report (2017). Thereafter the empirical data will be collected from seven semi-structured, qualitative interviews. Central findings shows that the school should provide more individual attention, equal career counselling in primary schools, start earlier with topics concerning identity and more engaging with parents or persons that are responsible. / Minor Field Studies

The aim of this study is to examine how students at disadvantaged schools in Costa Rica experience and cope with the educational transition between 6th and 7th grade. Furthermore, to analyse which are the major contributing factors and how to aid this passage for students at risk through the term, Lifelong learning. This study will be conducted through an analysis of Costa Rica’s contemporary education policy documents through OECD’s educational report (2017). Thereafter the empirical data will be collected from seven semi-structured, qualitative interviews. Central findings shows that the school should provide more individual attention, equal career counselling in primary schools, start earlier with topics concerning identity and more engaging with parents or persons that are responsible.