Lifelong learning for ageing workers: Sustaining employability while developing personality PD Dr. S

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Lifelong learning for ageing workers Sustaining
employability while developing personalityPD
Dr. Sandra BohlingerDr. Jasper van LooCEDEFOP
Working at old age Emerging theories and
empirical perspectives on ageing and work29/30
September 2008, Thessaloniki
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Overview

• Framing the analysis
• Lifelong learning and employability
• Evidence on participation and performance
• Attitudes towards learning and work
• Learning-conducive work
• Driving forward the agenda

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Levels of analysis
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When is a worker an older worker?
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Time-culturally conditioned views on
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Time-culturally conditioned views on
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From further education to lifelong learning

• Background technical technological, labour
  market-related and market-related changes,
  changed perception of age and adults
• Further education and its crossing boundaries
• General ? vocational
• IVET ? CVET
• Employability ? development of personality
• Interface between state, market and labour market

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From further education to lifelong learning
content-related changes

• Focus on learning process instead of education
• Individual instead of societal responsibility for
  learning processes
• Employability and citizenship instead of holistic
  education and development of personality
• Learning as individual and biographically-oriented
  process instead of collective socialisation

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Participation in lifelong learning
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Ageing and work performance
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Activity categories (Warr, 1994)
Task requirements exceed basis capacities with
increasing age Yes No
Yes Relevant experience enhances performance
No
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Attitudes towards learning working
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Learning-conducive work

• Advantages for ageing workers
• Secures continuity in learning
• Refers to previous professional training and
  learning experience
• Is closely linked to professional practice
• Is not selective in terms of age
• Application in three areas
• Organisation and work input concepts
• Market and performance based control systems
• Deployment of new technologies

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Learning-conducive environments

• Holistic activities and/or overall tasks
• Sufficient span of control regarding contents and
  management of time
• Individual goal setting and transfer of
  responsibility
• Self-control over work process and work results
• Sufficient variety in activities
• Social recognition of performance, effort and
  commitment
• Participation in decision-making processes

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Driving forward the agenda

• Promote individual career and learning decisions
  over the lifespan
• Develop competence strategies in research, policy
  and organisations and rethink the social
  construct of age
• Address the needs of AW in VET and HE and the
  labour market
• Develop indicators on motives, contextual
  conditions and decision-making processes
• Collect reliable and comprehensive data
• Develop interdisciplinary, intercultural and
  comparative approaches to age and AW

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Working at old age Emerging theories and
empirical perspectives on ageing and work29/30
September 2008, Thessaloniki