#BTSpeakingOut – Lifelong learning

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the author(s) do not represent the official position of Barbados TODAY.

by Michael Rudder

“Give to your country the vigour of your youth, the knowledge of your adult life and the wisdom of age and she can ask for nothing more.” – Michael Rudder

Those were the words I first used some many years ago at the close of an outside broadcast of a youth rally in Independence Square.

Each phase of our life presupposes that we have learnt something of value from the previous period and that we can build on what has passed.

Education is therefore vital to the process of growth and development. Some of us had the good fortune to have had opportunities for lifelong learning through exposure to non-formal education, as well as the formal and informal.

At this critical juncture when more and more there is a questioning of our system of education and the results gained from it, I want to posit some views.

First of all, I believe that the most significant portion of our education must be shared at nursery and primary level. In my opinion, the first and most important goal should be that no child leaves primary school unable to read, write and comprehend at the age-appropriate level.

We no longer have time to achieve this first goal.

In addition, to reach this point it means that primary schools must not focus on getting a high number of transfers to “better schools” using whatever new standards are set, as a measure of the success of their school. This may mean training and retraining of nursery and primary school
teachers and principals.

Further, open plan classrooms are no longer acceptable, if any remain. Students have enough distractions outside the classroom; they do not need them all day long in the classroom. Every class in the nursery and primary schools should occupy a discrete space.

This lifelong process must be given a head start to full individual development where not only space and formal education, but also informal and non-formal education, are equally important.

Types of education

Many years ago the Barbados Boy Scouts Association made available to the local Ministry of Education a document entitled “The Education of Young People – A statement at the dawn of the 21st century.” This report was presented by the then Chief Executive Officers of five of the world’s largest non-formal education organisations with the active support of the then CEO of the International Award Association.

Those organisations were YMCA, the YWCA, the World Organisation of the Scout Movement, the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts and the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent. I believe the substance of the document is still valid today. The report notes…”

In its broadest sense, education is a lifelong process which enables the continuous development of a person’s capabilities as an individual and as a member of society. The purpose of education is to contribute to the full development of an autonomous, supportive, responsible and committed person.”

The document makes the point that … “A variety of educational agents make a contribution to the full personal and social development of an individual. The UNESCO definition, generally accepted, shows three distinct types:

(1) Formal education is the hierarchically structured, chronologically graded, educational system running from primary through to tertiary institutions.

(2) Informal education is the process whereby every individual acquires attitudes, values, skills and knowledge from daily experience, such as from family, friends,
peer groups, the media and other influences and factors in the person’s employment.

And (3) Non-formal education is organised educational activity outside the established formal system that is intended to serve an identifiable learning clientele with identifiable learning objectives.

The statement also sets out the special characteristics which define organisations providing non-formal education and strongly encourages all those who will shape educational policies for young people from then on (their emphasis) to accept that non formal education is an essential part of the educational process and to recognise the contribution that can be made by non formal education organisations. In particular Ministries of Education and the like are urged to:

• Seek dialogue with the non-formal educational organisations.

• Support and utilise the skills, resources and experience of non-formal youth educational organisations.

• Strengthen partnerships between formal, informal and non-formal education in order to create policies that meet the educational needs of young people.

The authors conclude by asking all other non-formal education organisations to endorse and associate themselves with the vision expressed in the document. I am aware that the Ministry of Education has made many attempts to promote more non-formal education activities as part of the strategy for educational certification. The stumbling block has been, however, the lack of facilitators and leaders.

What is the answer to the dearth of leaders? It may well be that government may have to offer a small stipend to the groups that are currently providing non-formal education, e.g. scout, guide and 4-H groups and the like, based on the certified number of members, and to those that will be formed in the future, so that leaders don’t have to ‘pull their pockets.’ All leaders must, however, undergo training and re-training to be able to respond to today’s young people.

There is no quick fix for our education dilemma or our thrust for lifelong learning. Perhaps we need to be reminded of a statement by Paolo Freire … ‘Teaching (facilitating) does not mean transferring knowledge but creating opportunities for … producing and constructing it.’