Students young and old: between Lifelong Learning and Adult Education after the conference in Belém 
magazine
reform school, run by David and Franco Ferrari Frabboni, and I work with students in the phone book published on the front page This month my article
Students? Yes, but not necessarily young.
International Perspectives of Lifelong Learning in the light of the VI Conference in Belem Confintea . I propose again here:
is at least by the Conference of Jomtien (Thailand) in 1990, which
international community has realized the need to consider the lifelong learning perspective necessary for the States.
The Lifelong Learning is the international policy which includes formal education, non-formal learning and informal learning that coordinates recognition. There are many international agencies engaged in the development and roots of this perspective: UNESCO (through its Institute for Lifelong Learning in Hamburg), the Director of Education of the OECD in Paris, the World Bank, the International Labour Organization in Geneva. In Europe, the Commission has the task to coordinate policies on continuing education at CEDEFOP Thessaloniki (1).
The Lifelong Learning is an advanced tool was confirmed by the same ICE Conference 2008 in Geneva, were the last general education under the auspices of UNESCO (2).
In Italy seems to have reached a wide perspective, to ensure a basic learning universal, but in many countries around the world, of course educational policies also suffer from serious deficiencies in basic education in the newly independent countries and often the national liberation struggle did not allow the recognition of accumulated knowledge is not formal means (something like in this regard to RPL, that "recognition of prior learning), but on experiential learning (eg at work) or non-formal education (ie theoretical and practical programs of many youth centers in the southern hemisphere) (3).
In particular, non-formal education is presented as a method of learning that moves away from a predominantly top-down approach, in order to achieve a more participatory way and takes the foreground instances not only the teacher but the learner (4). Often the non-formal education programs are based on the evaluations completed by the same students who take part in the learning process. In particular, assessments of how education can be divided into i) wait to start the route (along the lines Expectations And Fears - tr. "Expectations and fears" at the beginning of the course), ii) mid-term assessments, and iii) assessments at the end of the learning process.
in non-formal learning is recognized by agencies and international organizations, but can not be separated from the substrate and the mise en oevre by NGOs, which implement programs in both Western countries and in developing countries.
-umbrella organization of all NGOs involved in non-formal learning processes is in Paris, inside the headquarters of UNESCO and is called CCIVS (Co-ordinating Committee of the International Voluntary Service). The CCIVS, who turned sixty in 2009, confirmed in its latest report that the idea behind non-formal learning does not change from richer countries than in developing countries, and to vary are the instruments of which the personal capacity (of course an advanced country in the resources put in place are likely to be much higher than those available to it in a developing country, sometimes come out of long years of war and civil war in which non-formal education is often the only program educational / pedagogical fielded) (5). In addition
non-formal education and informal learning, adult education is also part of the general framework outlined by the policies of Lifelong Learning. In particular, policies for adult learning have recently been covered by the VI Conference on Adult Education entitled "Living and Learning for a Viable Future: the power of adult learning" (Living and learning for a viable future: the power of adult learning), held in Belém do Pará in Brazil from 1 to 4 December 2009 and opened under the auspices of the UNESCO General Director Irina Bokowa.
The Conference was attended by 1,125 participants from 144 different countries. For Italy this was only a college professor, while there were no appearances by the Government or the Ministry of Education (6). The
Confintea VI acknowledges in his final statement that literacy is "the basis for riconomscimento importance of adult education and lifelong learning" (7).
But, again, is the same conference to define the importance of continuing education, where it states that "the role of lifelong learning is critical in relation to the challenges of global education and educational issues. The lifelong learning from cradle to grave is a philosophy, a conceptual framework and a principle of organization for all forms of learning based on participation, emancipation, on humanistic values \u200b\u200band democratic is a theme that is integrated into the concerns and needs a knowledge-based society. We reaffirm the four pillars of education, as well as in the recommendations of the International Commission on Education for the twenty-first century, namely learning to know, learning to do, learning to be and learn to live together "(8).
International Conference participants have pledged to put pressure on national governments to devote affiche educational policies "at least 6% of Gross Domestic Product" (9). (I recall as the latest Eurostat data on educational policies emphasize that Italy spends only 4.4% of GDP, behind in Europe since the peninsula is only the twenty-first place among the twenty-seven Union).
The conference could not deny that it is still a long way to go about the implementation of educational programs for lifelong learning and adult education, especially in developing countries where lack of qualified personnel and are completely inadequate infrastructure and tools to be used (10) (however, the education department stressed that even in OECD countries there are often advanced the economic rigidities or embezzlement in the distribution of resources, for example, sometimes the money for education policies remain stuck at the level of central departments and struggle to reach remote locations where the most common issues facing the education itself should help to cope).
Some experts have also confirmed how difficult it is to trust the "benchmarking" (Ie, recognition, or "recognition" in English) of the educational practices actually fielded by the individual states, as in all the documents that were given to international agencies often they are optimistic about the policies implemented and tend to avoid to submit negative feedback: States want, simply, "look good", whereas, if anything, the smell of those who participated in these projects are different. We are wondering how to determine a profitable balance between the States that implement the policies and those taking part. The OECD is implementing since 1997, the PISA educational project, based on actual performances of students (we are to move under the "schooling" formal), but in this case, the primary criticism is the possibility to compare results because of the difference (cultural difference!) educational programs in various countries and the great difficulty - for example - to compare performance in the humanities and literary.
Paul Bélanger of the International Council for Adult Education has supported the importance of moving from words to action, "from rhetoric to action" (11), in a statement apparently controversy but has managed to highlight the importance for the progress human "learns that a planet" (12). Even the same
Education for All - Global Monitoring Report, in the end, inevitably ends by expressing concern about the possibility to enable all people of the world basic education by 2015 (it was the intention of the lecturers in Jomtien!) and already the title - even despite the many commitments the international community - to play rhetorical ends: "Education for All by 2015 Will we make it?" (13).
Confintea VI did not fail to show positive results of the international educational policies, for example from the last conference on adult education in 1997 (Hamburg), the line that monitors education adults scored a solid upward trend, increasing from 76 to 84% and a net positive balance in developing countries. Even adult education has had a positive impact on democracy and human rights, promoting equality between men and women and assisting in policy for the control and prevention of HIV (14).
But the question of the EFA Global Monitor Report, that "we'll make it?" Ends - even with all the good intentions of an idealist and liberal thought - to keep rhetorical question awaiting an answer almost certainly negative.
Notes:
(1) For an accurate definition of the differences between formal, non-formal and informal learning, as well as to why it is better to speak of "learning" (learning) rather than "education" (education) refer to the website of the Department of Education OECD Paris: http:// www.oecd.org/document/25/0, 3343, en_2649_39263238_37136921_1_1_1_37455, 00.html.
(2) See UNESCO (2008b).
(3) See the two contributions by Alan Rogers.
(4) ibid.
(5) CCIVS (2008).
(6) UNESCO (2009, 98).
(7) Belém Framework for Action, UNESCO (2009, 37).
(8) ibid, pp. 37.38.
(9) ibid, p. 39.
(10) Cfr. Statement of Evidence, in ibi, pp. 44-45.
(11) Bélanger Paul, From rethoric to action, in ibi, pp. 79-83.
(12) „The planet will only survive if it becomes a learning planet“ (Il pianeta sopravviverà soltanto se diventerá un pianeta che apprende), in ibi, p. 83.
(13) Cfr. UNESCO 2008c.
(14) Cfr. Statement of Evidence, in ibi, pp. 43-44.
Riferimenti bibliografici
AA. VV.
2006 Act, learn and teach: Theatre, HIV and AIDS. A toolkit for Youth in Africa,
UNESCO and CCIVS, Paris;
2008 Conflict and volunteering, Consiglio d’Europa e CCIVS, Paris.
Gianluca Bocchi and Mauro Ceruti
2004 Education and globalization, Raffaello Cortina, Milan.
CCIVS
1997 Volunteering in Conflict Areas, Paris, 2008
Volunteering for a vision, Paris (available at: http://ccivs.org/New-SiteCCSVI/CcivsOther/CandC/armenia08_report.pdf).
CEDEFOP
2009 European Guidelines for validating non-formal and informal learning, Office for Official Publications of the
European Communities, Luxembourg.
2000 Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly of the 1437 Recommendation on Non-formal Education,
Strasbourg, 24 January, available at:
http://assembly.coe.int/main.asp?Link=/documents/ adoptedtext/ta00/erec1437.htm;
2002 Compass - A Manual on Human Rights Education with Young People, Council of Europe
, Strasbourg, available at:
http://www.eycb.coe.int/Compass/en/contents.html;
2003 Recommendation ( 2003) 8 of the Committee of Ministers to Member States on the
the Promotion and Recognition of Non-formal Education / Learning of Young People,
Strasbourg, 30 April, available at:
https: / / wcd.coe.int / ViewDoc.jsp? id = 21131 & Site = CM & BackColorInternet = 9999CC & Ba
ckColorIntranet FFBB55 = & = BackColorLogged FFAC75.
Du Bois-Reymond Manuela
2003 Study on the Links Between Formal and non-formal education, Council of Europe,
Strasbourg, disponibile sul sito:
2 27
http://www.eurodesk.it/politiche/doc_pol/COE_formal_and_nonformal_education.pdf.
Rogers Alan
2004 Looking again at Non-formal and Informal Education – Towards a new paradigm,
in The Encyclopedia of Informal Education, disponibile sul sito
www.infed.org/biblio/non_formal_paradigm.htm;
2005 Non-formal Education: Flexible Schooling or Participatory Education?, Springer
Science, New York.
Singh Madhu and Castro Mussot Luz Maria (eds.)
2007 Literacy, Knowledge and Development, Unesco Institute for Lifelong Learning and INEA, Mexico City.
UNESCO
1974 Recommendation concerning education for international understanding, cooperation
and peace and education relating to human rightsand fundamental freedoms,
Paris, 19 novembre, disponibile sul sito:
http://www.unesco.org/education/nfsunesco/pdf/Peace_e.pdf;
2008a Inclusive Education: the way of the Future – Final Report of the International
Conference on Education, 48th session, Geneva, 25-28 November, ED/MD/104;
2008b Conclusions and recommendations of the 48th session of the International
Conference on Education (ICE), ED/BIE/CONFINTEND 48/5;
2008c EFA Global Monitor Report, Oxford University Press, Oxford;
2009 CONFINTEA VI Final Report, Unesco Institute for Lifelong Learning, Hamburg, available at: http://www.unesco.org/en/education/dynamic-content-single-view/news/just_published_final_report_of_confintea_vi_and_belem_framework_for_action/back/9195/cHash/221a960643/.
Werquin Patrick
2007 Terms, concepts and models for Analysing the value of recognition Programmes,
Vienna, OECD, EDU / EDPC (2007) 24.
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