The Learning Revolution

Adults in Canada are returning to a lifeof learning in massive numbers. And theyare doing so largely of their own accord.The impulse to learn is getting to becontagious. Could it be that the ancientdream of lifelong learning is coming true?

"IfI shall not be learning now, when shall I be?"

-- Lacydes of Cyrene, philosopher, onbeing asked why he was learning

geometry in old age.

[] The door of a lecture room in Winnipeg creaksopen and a 39-year-old mother of three slips intoa back seat, late again for her psychology lecture.In Northern Ontario, a 68-year-old woman drives14 miles through a sleet storm to the home ofanother elderly lady who is teaching her how toweave. A secretary in Montreal foregoes her lunchto attend a political science seminar; she is tryingto lose weight anyway. In Saint John, a recently-retired ex-soldier shifts uncomfortably on a woodenchair in a library and ponders a complex paragraphon the habits of bees.

Could this be a preliminary glimpse of theancient Utopian dream of a lifelong learningsociety? It would almost seem so as Canada’s coll-eges and universities get set to deliver their cropof graduates this year. Among them will be thous-ands of adults who have taken a successful secondrun at formal education. And they comprise but afraction of the multitude of adult Canadians whoare learning a vast variety of things in their sparetime.

A mass return to learning is underway, thedimensions of which are difficult to measure. It isknown that adults make up the fastest-growingsegment of educational enrollments in North

America, and will probably continue to do so for along time to come in an era when classrooms arebeing emptied by low birth-rates. But the bulk ofplanned--as opposed to casual--learning isbeing done outside of schools, and surveys showthat the great majority of Canadians are engagedin planned learning of one kind or another. Thesituation here is thought to be much the same asin the United States, where an expert has com-mented: ~It appears the major question is no longerparticipation versus non-participation. Almosteveryone undertakes learning projects to somedegree."

The philosopher Benedictus Spinoza concludedthat permanent happiness in life can only be foundin the pursuit of knowledge and the joy of under-standing. In their pursuit of knowledge today,people are indeed finding happiness and joy. ~’Ithas brought a new dimension to their lives," oneadult educator says of his students. ~They lookbetter and feel better," another affirms.

People who have taken up part-time learningtell researchers that it has brought about a realimprovement in their family and other personalrelationships, mainly because of the satisfactionand sense of self-esteem it engenders. Merelyhaving an interest and something to do outside ofthe normal home and work routine helps to combatthe boredom which is so often the underlying causeof marital and other inter-personal stress.

Studies show that learning often becomes afamily affair, bringing new interests to share with

family partners. It is catching; a wife who embarkson a learning project is likely to influence herhusband to do likewise, even though they maynot take up the same subjects. This may help toaccount for the growing strength of the back-to-learning movement in the past few years.

One driving force behind that movement is therealization that education does not and cannotcease when a person graduates from a school, coll-ege or university. All of us are obliged to keep onlearning whether we want to or not--often thehard way. That being so, there is an advantage tosystematically learning the things we need or wantto know.

Mortimer Adler, the American philosopher andeducator who founded the Great Books program,once offered a pungent explanation of why oureducation cannot end with our formal school days.~The obstacle to becoming educated in school is aninherent and insurmountable one, namely youth,"he said.

The young people who graduate this year willenter a school of experience and responsibilitywhich, for better or worse, will give them their realeducation in the trials and joys of living. But in themeantime they would be well-advised to continuelearning in a deliberate fashion if only to copewith this rapidly-changing world.

The public recognition that learning is neces-sarily a continuing pursuit arises partly from hardeconomic reality. It now has been more than adecade since the Economic Council of Canadacautioned that no one in this country can expectto live out a career without having to be retrainedin a new set of occupational skills.

But even when people are not compelled to learn,they have adopted a new attitude towards adulteducation. Gone are the days when to say that youwere learning something after working hours wastantamount to admitting to a social disability.People no longer talk about "night school" in apejorative tone, connoting language courses forrecent immigrants and remedial education forschool drop-outs. It has now become a point ofpride to be learning in your spare time.

A positive eagerness to learn is in the air,proving the truth of a statement made 2,300 yearsago by Aristotle: "All men naturally desire know-ledge." This was a fact that was lost sight of formany centuries in the western world, while theruling classes propagated the doctrine that themasses were neither capable nor worthy of learn-ing. To put it cynically, they believed that bykeeping the people ignorant, they would keep themin their place.

The Koran admonishes believersto learn from cradle to grave

Public education is a relatively new phenomenonin the historical scheme of things. Even after mostchildren in western nations were guaranteed theright to a basic education in the late nineteenthcentury, continuing education was tightly re-stricted to a chosen few.

Now that ordinary people have the educationalbackground, the leisure, means and facilities tocontinue to learn, they are making the most ofthe opportunity. And they have rejected the hoarycanard that you can’t teach an old dog new tricksin favour of the Koran’s admonition to continuelearning from the cradle to the grave.

It is no longer unusual for people in their sixtiesand seventies to be enrolled in university courses.One of the brightest ideas in years is being putinto effect at the Fromm Institute for LifelongLearning at the University of San Francisco,where retired people are being taught a full cur-riculum by retired professors, making good use onboth sides of the wisdom that comes with age.A New York Times feature on this interestingproject noted: ~The Fromm Institute is one of agrowing number of college programs being set upto provide education for old people and to giveschools a way to maintain enrollments as thebirthrate declines."

But learning is no more the province of the oldthan it is of the young. Many youthful adults arefinding it possible to continue studies while build-ing a career and/or raising a family. The urge tolearn among those active in the work force is being

mobilized by employers in job-related educationalprograms such as the one offered by the Instituteof Canadian Bankers, in which more than 3,000men and women participated last year.

The appetite for learning among all age groupsis keen and sustained. Dr. Allen Tough of theDepartment of Adult Education of the OntarioInstitute for Studies in Education estimates that80 per cent of all adult Canadians annually under-take at least one ~major learning project". Hedefines such a project as ~a highly deliberativeeffort to gain and retain certain definite knowledgeor skill, or to change in some way".

Most have chosen to learnmore or less by themselves

His definition encompasses all learning methods,from attending classes through reading, listening,observing, reflecting, practising and gettinganswers to questions. ~Learning for highly prac-tical reasons--to make a good decision, buildsomething, raise a child, perform some task-is included," Tough writes, ~as are learning effortsmotivated by curiosity, interest, puzzlement, andenjoyment." Looking at the subject in this broadframework, he sees a picture of ~fascinating diver-sity and energy. The vast panorama of adult learn-ing is certainly not dull!"

Among the striking figures cited in a recentstudy by Tough is that about 73 per cent of thesemajor learning efforts are planned and executedby individuals. A further 7 per cent are conductedwith the aid of the learner’s friends or peers inclubs or self-help groups. This means that immensenumbers of people are learning more or less bythemselves, without recourse to professionalteaching.

They are finding the experience sufficientlyrewarding to continue to learn in this way whenthey pass on to different fields of knowledge. Adultlearners rarely terminate their efforts when asingle project is complete. Though they spend an

average of 100 hours per project, they are quiteready to take on another at the end of it; a personwho, let us say, has mastered building log cabinsmight then start studying guitar-playing. Thetypical North American learner in Tough’s studyundertakes five major projects a year, for a totalof 500 hours or almost 10 hours a week.

The range of subject matter is vast, running fromdisco dancing to philosophy, from basic readingfor the functionally illiterate to internationaleconomics. There are some adult educators whowould dismiss much of this as mere dilettantism,or of making a virtue of a necessity in the case ofjob-related projects. ~If lifelong learning onlymeans taking courses in wine-tasting and bridge-playing while millions are discriminated againstor starving, then it is not what I seek," PaulBertleson, chief of adult education for UNESCO,told a recent conference. "Lifelong learning isessential because the crucial issues that face us-- such as environment, peace, energy, and unem-ployment- are too momentous and too urgent tobe solved by our children some time in the future.Our duty is to provide learning opportunities onthese disparate issues--to help everyone learnwhat we all need for our collective survival."

Clearly it is better to learnanything than to learn nothing

It is hard to reconcile this apocalyptic call topedagogic arms with the typically modern spec-tacle of a young woman learning macramS. Yet re-searchers have noted an escalation in the serious-ness of subject matter as people -- once they havetasted the satisfactions of learning--move on tomore difficult things. Clearly it is better to learnanything (with the obvious exception of criminalor morally reprehensible activities) than to learnnothing. And, since people are not going to stoplearning on their own in any case, it is up to theeducational system to adapt to their needs.

This suggests that a fresh look be taken at theteaching of the fundamental skills of reading,

writing and arithmetic in the primary and second-ary school systems. The focus would be on teachingpeople how to learn after they have finished school.That distinguished student of the workings of thehuman mind, Dr. Wilder Penfield, once observedthat a person with a deficient education in youthdoes not make a likely candidate for adult educa-tion. Fears are now being expressed that NorthAmerican school systems are turning out grad-uates with serious deficiencies in basic learningskills, leaving them ill-equipped to continue learn-ing in their adult years.

Concentrating on individuals,and how to help them to learn

On the level of adult education, a need exists toprovide more assistance and guidance to peoplewho prefer to learn by themselves or with friendsand peer groups. This preference is strong andabiding, as indicated by a recent survey of 1,500adult learners across the United States. It hadalways been believed that the main factors inpreventing people from taking adult courses wereshortages of money and transportation problems.In this survey, however, the respondents over-whelmingly picked the flexibility of self-plannedlearning as the chief reason for choosing thatapproach over attending classes° Lack of the moneyand transportation required to attend coursesranked at the bottom of the nine reasons givenfor choosing to learn on their own.

~One finding is clear," writes Dr. Tough. "Adultswant additional help and competence with plan-ning and guiding their own learning. Hopefullyadult educators will respond by adopting a fresh,broader purpose: to foster the entire range of majorlearning efforts, not just group instruction andpre-planned courses." He suggests that adulteducation organizations gear themselves to help-ing adults to clarify their learning aspirations,

ALSO AVAILABLE IN FRENCH AND IN BRAILLE

choose their goals, plan their strategy, and guidetheir work. This could be done both throughcounselling and by publishing printed materialdesigned to aid people to learn on their own.

Such thinking comes under the heading of~mathetics", which has become a vital term inthe vocabulary of adult education. According toDr. Teresa MacNeil of the famed adult educationprogram at St. Francis Xavier University atAntigonish, N.S., mathetics concentrates on howthe individual can be assisted to learn. ~It impliesa switch in emphasis from instructing to learning,and implies that teachers are educators, helpers,rather than transmitters of knowledge .... [The]assumption is that people learn most effectivelywhen the learning experience is rooted in theirspecific learning needs."

What are the learning needs of people in thisworld of constant changes? They are mostly con-nected to the individual’s personal needs in otheraspects of life. They may be expressly related tocoping with a job. They may be psychological-to achieve an understanding of others and oneself,and to find spiritual contentment. They may berecreational; we all need something that willoccasionally take our minds off our immediateconcerns. They may be to feel the joy of havingmastered a skill. They may be to further our know-ledge of the world around us. They may be tobecome a better citizen--or simply a betterhuman being.

Whatever they are, these needs are demon-strably strong; and taken all together, they havegreat social import. The fact that people are nowresponding to them as never before presents achallenge to the educational system to respondto them too. The lifelong learning society may nothave arrived yet, but it certainly seems to becoming. And we can all help to speed it on its wayby resolving to continue to learn as long as we live.

THE ROYAL BANK OF CANADA 1979/PRINTED IN CANADA