Education as a Lifelong Journey

Question: Education is a lifelong journey. What kind of qualities do you think a lifelong learner should have? 1. Defining your key terms • Education: not just about learning within classrooms, in schools – education as less of the context in which you are learning, but the content of what skills you are learning  albeit a new skill, new ideas, new knowledge about the world, scientific discovery, reading, learning about yourself – the key thing about defining education is to be able to take on a broader perspective about it • Lifelong journey: learning does not stop once you graduate from school, it should continue throughout one’s lifetime – good to keep this key term in mind when considering the qualities of a lifelong learner, because it would contain certain characteristics that would differentiate it from simply being a student in school 2. Thinking deeper – reflective questions  Why do you think lifelong education is important? What are the practical benefits of lifelong learning? Why is education essential to us as human beings? - Lifelong education has an increasingly important practical benefit in today’s society - In many of Singapore’s workforce policies, to increase the quality of our human capital – the government has been introducing many skills upgrading lessons for the older generation of the population - Eg: Singapore Lifelong Learning credits given free to Singaporeans 25 years old and above – to allow them to apply and take up learning courses provided + Workforce Development Agency regularly coming up with new courses for individuals to enhance their skills and occupational knowledge - The emphasis on lifelong education is important to the individual for keeping up with the quickly changing economic and labour conditions within the country, to remain competitive and employable even as the type of jobs and skills needed with the economic restructuring that occurs - Having an population that is able to keep their skills updated to the rapidly shifting needs of the global economic conditions is also advantageous to the national economy and prosperity  Besides these practical economic benefits to the individuals and nations, lifelong learning itself is something worth pursuing

 Maximizing our knowledge and understanding of this world, discovering the mysteries of the world, making sense of our social environment and this place we live in – will require us to continue learning even beyond our classroom years  Education, when taken on as a lifelong journey – will enhance the individual’s cognitive ability, learning skills, worldly knowledge, and give them a better, fully understanding of this world that they inhabit  Education open up windows of opportunities within the economy, but it also opens up new perspectives to the mind that helps us to evaluate the way we used to see this world and bring in refreshing insights to us 2. Lifelong learner should