Learning Regions in Hungary: From Theories to Realities [antikvár]

Chapter 1Theoretical Backgrounds1.1. The Dimensions of Lifelong Learning: The Four PillarsIn the last fourteen or fifteen years education has been extended from elementary education through secondary and tertiary education up to adult education and training. This robust expansion has prepared a shift of paradigm in educational sciences. The shift had both quantitative and qualitative aspects, therefore one of the outcomes of it caused fundamental approach change in the process of knowledge acquisition. This is the situation when in the process of information and knowledge acquisition learning become the main actor instead of and sometimes besides that education. Even if, the institutional bases have implied that education and training is the basis of knowledge acquisition process, but in reality learning become the catalyst. The social, economical and technological changes also supported the alteration from education to learning.Thus, learning has become a horizontal element of the human kind activities. The immanent human capability (learning) explored in those scenes where formerly learning was not a human activity and social phenomena.These changes have challenged the local and also the global actors, created some new terms, expressions for this new learning phenomena: lifelong learning, learning through life, life wide learning etc. Global organizations such as Unesco, OECD turn to and tried to analyze this situation from their point of view. At some milestone of this exploration process, the organization (also state and governmental organizations) have tried to grap the meaning of this process. To do this exercise, statistical and territorial data seemed the most appropriate and adequate tools to grab at least some parts of the learning phenomena happening in a very diverse context and variuos forms.5