The benefits of learning beyond economic needs

The benefits of HE, which I heard referenced a lot throughout the two days, relate to how HE and, I would argue, learning more broadly, afford an individual (whatever their age) a sense of ‘being’, ‘of worth’ and ‘of value’ within their own sphere of responsibility, whether that is their family, work environment, or as active citizens within society as a whole. Supporting young people to love learning at an early age, and recognising the value of the process of learning, rather than necessarily what is being learned, is one of the fundamental things that we could do to really embrace the lifelong learning agenda across the different educational sectors.

This contrasts quite significantly with the panel discussion that opened the conference where colleagues from UUK, the ESRC, and university leaders reviewed how ‘a new Labour government could reshape higher education’. The key words that I scribbled on my lovely new WONKHE Festival notepad were  ‘local, skills, growth and proactivity’ all of which speak to the economic needs met by a university education, rather than any of the broader advantages of learning, that the narrative around lifelong learning promotes.

Lifelong learning: ‘from cradle to grave’

For me, the concept of lifelong learning was both explicitly and implicitly referenced throughout the conference. A dedicated session led by the Open University on the Lifelong Learning Entitlement (LLE) demonstrated how modular-based study can support the complexity of student lives, predominantly aimed at more mature learners but becoming more prevalent with younger students attending campus-based universities. The practical implications of implementing this, particularly in relation to student finance, are yet to be fully tested. A more nuanced discussion with university leaders and the QAA around student engagement, in terms of quality, teaching excellence and educational gain, touched upon the broader transformative benefits of HE whilst recognising that universities are still required to measure success through quantitative metrics such as the NSS, and student and graduate outcomes data.  The final panel discussion also referenced the siloed working  between the different parts of our compulsory and tertiary education system, and the policy makers within this context. It was generally agreed that there was a need to join these up but with no sense of how this could realistically be achieved.

Growth and productivity

We know that learning takes many forms (and education is a part of it). Informal, formal, non-formal, experiential, are all terms used, often interchangeably, but with nuanced understanding of what they actually mean. For me, the economic arguments for higher education are only the tip of the iceberg, in terms of the impact of ‘learning’ in its broadest sense, and on individuals and society. Whilst not dismissing growth and productivity as important for global competitiveness, and the opportunities that this affords to UK plc, employers and individuals, we must not be too limited in our thinking. We must recognise that growth and productivity can also relate to the growth in individuals, through engagement in learning throughout the life-course, and that this growth can lead to an innate level of personal productivity, in terms of impact within families, local communities and wider society.

What do parents want for their children?

While I don’t believe all parents want their children to go to university, I do believe that parents want a pathway that enables their children to reap the wider benefits of learning, wherever and whatever the educational level that might be. Ultimately this will contribute to the development of individual economic, social and cultural capital, which indirectly contributes to the wider economic arguments that currently dominate policy thinking. Opportunities for this may not lie solely in the physical HE space but currently there are no real alternatives for young people who choose not to ‘go’ to university but want to continue their lifelong learning journey.