“LLO means much more than just jumping on the bandwagon of flexible Education”

Developing educational programs within the framework of Lifelong Learning (LLO) often goes hand in hand with making existing programs more flexible. It is important to clearly distinguish between these two concepts, as educational consultants Katinka Cornelese and Dymphi van der Hoeven of Turner have learned from their practical experience. “When you combine the structure of LLO, increased flexibility, and new insights into teaching methods, you’re talking about a complete transformation of Education.”

We’ve said it before: Lifelong Learning (LLL) is relevant for vocational schools, colleges, and universities alike. The government encourages people to continue developing their skills; the number of traditional students is declining significantly in many regions; and trends such as labor market shortages, the energy transition, and rapid technological advancements call for serious training, retraining, and continuing education. These developments are leading educational institutions to offer more flexible programs, often specifically tailored to certain target groups, says education consultant Katinka Cornelese. “Educational institutions want to make it more appealing for professionals to return to school and continue their learning. But that’s usually not possible during regular working hours. As a result, educational institutions are offering customized programs to meet the needs of individual professionals. About ten years ago, a major subsidy program was set up for this purpose. The flexibility required for this turned out to be very appealing to regular students as well. After all, many of them now hold down a job on the side. In addition, this flexibility aligns with the development of modern teaching methods. Students are given more control over their own education. This has created a kind of flywheel effect of flexibility, which can also strengthen post-initial training programs.’

But that’s not as easy as it sounds, as Katinka and her Turner colleague Dymphi van der Hoeven have discovered. “At an ROC where I’m currently working on a project, I’ve noticed that there’s sometimes confusion about LLO versus increased flexibility,” says Dymphi. “The management team at this ROC uses a broad definition of LLO: they say LLO encompasses all education for everyone from 0 to 100 years old. It’s a nice definition, because LLO literally means lifelong learning. But in practice, this definition is so broad that it’s quite difficult to translate into a sound, implementable strategy. Ultimately, however, we succeeded by focusing on specific target groups and sectors within this broad definition. Everyone in the Netherlands receives education starting at age four until they enter their first paid job. In practice, all the educational programs we pursue after that fall under the umbrella of LLO: “post-initial education.” Katinka: “Although that definition isn’t set in stone either; LLO is primarily about mindset and attitude: we want to teach people to keep learning. That’s a very important aspect.”

Can LLO benefit from increased flexibility?

Dymphi has experienced firsthand the confusion surrounding greater flexibility and LLO. A vocational school facing a shrinking student population wanted to increase its appeal by adopting a more flexible, modular curriculum. The school’s board wanted to use the introduction of the new, more flexible structure as an opportunity to incorporate LLO offerings. Education divided into modules—blocks that can be exchanged between different programs? Why not, you might say. “It’s a logical idea,” says Dymphi. “But people enrolled in post-initial education are working during the day or have caregiving responsibilities, so they often can’t attend classes at regular times. Moreover, they generally already have prior experience. They need a tailored program. That calls for a flexible approach and cannot simply be fitted into the regular Education system.”

This could create a virtuous cycle. Instructors who develop flexible educational modules for regular students could also develop modules for LLO. However, LLO often involves much shorter cycles in the demand-driven development of education programs than regular education does. LLO modules (or courses, training programs) are developed in response to urgent demand from organizations or companies and are therefore less generic. As a result, LLO education takes a more commercial approach. “Of course, mainstream education is also increasingly focused on demand,” says Katinka. “Education today is more closely aligned with the professional field. There is more attention paid to authentic real-world issues. Didactic considerations also play a role here. Among vocational and higher vocational education instructors, there is a belief that students who work more closely with real-world practice often learn better and are better prepared for professional practice.”

Taking a Break from LLO

Katinka’s advice in such cases: set aside the combined development of flexibility and LLO for a moment, and focus on your educational vision. “Of course, it’s easier to develop LLO modules if you have experience with modularization. But in some situations, the focus must first be on traditional education and retaining the existing student population. Dropout rates are socially undesirable and costly. There are educational institutions where LLO has long been part of the curriculum and where the different types of education already coexist. Schools where that is not the case would be better off focusing first on making the curriculum more flexible itself, before they start overhauling all their systems. Making choices and being clear—that’s what it’s all about.”

After all, making work more flexible is complicated enough. When we ask ChatGPT what types of flexible work arrangements there are, it comes up with—unsurprisingly (since ChatGPT is, of course, a language model)—a top 10 list that perfectly illustrates the confusion we’re dealing with.