Develop A Lifelong Learning Plan
Going by our newsletter trend over the first quarter of the year, it is already a consensus that the initial training received in school is no longer sufficient, if one would remain relevant throughout one’s career and hence, should be sustained with further and continuing development known as Lifelong Learning. However, for one to achieve successful lifelong learning, one has to develop a plan.
“A goal without a plan is just a wish.” – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
A lifelong learning plan is a written, well-thought of strategy to continuously gain, absorb, and build skills and knowledge and apply these throughout the life of an individual. As learning should be an essential and indivisible portion of our daily lives, it is necessary for one to develop one’s own plan to constantly acquire knowledge and skills that you can use for your everyday life.
Tomi, a graduate of Banking & Finance who presently works in a Bank has realized her need to further her education if she will achieve her life goal of becoming a Lecturer. So, she started applying for and attending professional trainings, both online and offline, and for each professional certificate she got, she felt fulfilled and a step closer to achieving her life goal of becoming a University Lecturer.
10 years down the line, Tomi had bagged 32 professional certificates, but she was still in the bank, although she had risen to the position of the branch manager of the bank owing to the recognition of her professional certifications and years of service. However, Tomi realized that she is still as far from achieving her life goal of becoming a University Lecturer as she was 10 years ago. She became a successful but unfulfilled banker.
Tomi knew what she wanted; she made serious motions, howbeit zero progress towards achieving her goal because she did not have a concrete plan. The European Society of Association Executives in 2007 came up with 5 procedures to follow when creating a lifelong learning plan.
- Identification of your existing knowledge, skills, competencies, and qualifications. What do you already have? What do you still need to acquire or further develop?
- Identification of no-formal and informal learning activities and opportunities available. What learning activities are available?
- Assessment of the suitability of said activities to your needs and interests. Will the available learning activities enable you to acquire or enhance the knowledge, skills, competencies, and qualifications that you need? Do the activities match your needs? Here you have to consider if resources (e.g. funding) are available for the learning activities.
- Availment of suitable non-formal and informal learning activity/ies. Once you have assessed the learning activities and found them beneficial to you, it’s time to avail of them.
- Self-evaluation of learning acquired. Were your learning expectations met by the activities?
These procedures are proven guidelines for developing a lifelong learning plan and it has to be systematic and procedural. Although planning has to do with projections into the future which most times seem obscure, but in the words of Alan Lakein, “Planning is bringing the future into the present so that you can do something about it now.”
See you next month.