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Plymouth Marjon University’s archive contains a wealth of materials from its history, which spans almost two centuries. Before doing primary research, the Brian Simon Research fellowship fund project, Far away from the ivory tower, engaged with this rich repository, selecting sources that provoked questions and ideas related to the team’s focus on understanding and exploring disadvantage in education. These sources, with questions and prompts to stimulate discussion, were used in informal meetings with participants, who were first-in-family to attend university; many participants had experienced disadvantage, and the selected sources enabled powerful reflection on experience and life stories.

A lifelong commitment to learning can have a profound and significant impact on life’s outcomes, manifesting formally and informally. Although its impact is complex to understand, evidence suggests individuals’ lives improve across a range of measures (Schuller, 2017a), which can be both lifelong and life-wide (Power & Maclean, 2013). The testimonies of Kirsty, Zara, Jack and Jackie^[1] – voluntary participants who have all had, or continue to have, professional careers in education – provide a nuanced view of the transformational power of learning.

With higher employment rates for graduates compared with non-graduates (Morrin et al., 2021), it is unsurprising that better career prospects motivate many to pursue higher education (HE). The Far away from the ivory tower research project participants consistently highlighted how education positively impacted their personal and professional development and influenced those around them. For Kirsty, her commitment to self-improvement and continuous learning enabled professional advancement – with a significant move from the civil service to study skills tuition later in her working life. Like many women (Schuller, 2017b), Kirsty’s career progression was interrupted by factors such as caring responsibilities, yet her passion for learning motivated her to return to work, securing more fulfilling work of greater subjective value.

Although being a committed lifelong learner might be considered desirable, or even essential (Kaplan, 2016), participants’ testimonies reflect that it is not unproblematic. Jackie’s learning was impacted by parenthood and the cloying presence of imposter syndrome in her academic life. Similarly, Kirsty had to balance learning with family responsibilities in a context with limited professional options for women. Zara had to overcome geographical isolation and more parochial family expectations to bring her learning to fruition.

‘Jackie’s learning was impacted by parenthood and the cloying presence of imposter syndrome in her academic life.’

For these participants, community and mentoring were critical to their development, learning and sustained motivation. Through mentoring, which can be construed as an act both positive and emancipatory, individuals can benefit from coaching, counselling, networking and guidance through experiences that entail reflection (Rushton, 2010). Zara had mentors who offered the space and time for her to recognise her intellectual potential. For Jackie and Kirsty, professional and family communities, respectively, provided a critical and powerful foundation of support, thereby demonstrating the value of supportive learning environments – in their widest sense – as a factor essential to learning across the life span (Crow, 2001).

The long-term, sustained impacts of lifelong learning are evident in participants’ testimonies, particularly in how education drives social mobility and positive community engagement (Schuller, 2017a). The participants’ curiosity and passion for learning expanded through HE, becoming a sustained feature of their lived experiences. Whether it’s Jack, motivated by his lifelong and zealous enthusiasm for learning German; Kirsty, with her intense and abiding interest in literature; or Zara, who saw knowledge as key to improving her life – all testimonies highlight the sustained and humanistic value of a life with learning at its core.

The participants also pointed to their educational journeys as instrumental in positively impacting others, including family members and wider communities. Jack, once a head teacher and a lifelong advocate for internationalism and fundraising, played a key role in developing school projects in South Africa. Comparably, Jackie, Kirsty and Zara – all educators like Jack – have given back socially, inspiring others in their own learning journeys. Kirsty motivated her own daughter and grandson in their learning, even inspiring her daughter to follow her professional pathway.

These testimonies suggest that with age, learning becomes more selfless as learners think less about qualifications, and more about inspiring others including their family and friends (Morris & Mcvitty, 2012). Perhaps more critically – in a humanistic, ethical and socially just way – lifelong learners might develop dispositions and characteristics needed to inspire in others an appetite for learning that is virtuous and sustaining for society.

[1] Pseudonyms used to heighten participant anonymity.

References

Kaplan, A. (2016). Lifelong learning: Conclusions from a literature review. International Online Journal of Primary Education, 5(2), 43–50.

Morrin, M., Jones, M., & Salem, L. (2021). The pathway to lifelong education: Reforming the UK’s skills system. Lifelong Education Institute. https://www.lifelongeducation.uk/research-1/the-pathway-to-lifelong-education%3A-reforming-the-uk’s-skills-system

Morris, K., & Mcvitty, D. (2012). Never too late to learn: Mature students in higher education. National Union of Students.

Power, C. N., & Maclean, R. (2013). Lifelong learning: Meaning, challenges, and opportunities. In R. Maclean, S. Jagannathan, & J. Sarvi (Eds.), Skills development for inclusive and sustainable growth in developing Asia-Pacific. Technical and vocational education and training: Issues, concerns and prospects (vol. 19). Springer.

Rushton, I., (2010). ‘Mentoring in the lifelong learning sector: A critical heuristic account. Teaching in Lifelong Learning, 2(2).

Schuller, T. (2017a). What are the wider benefits of learning across the life course? Government Office for Science.

Schuller, T. (2017b, August 24). Women and lifelong learning: Galling short of meritocracy. Government Office for Science.