Learning

Our People | Learning

What is Lifelong Learning?
Why do we need to “Get Creative” with our learning?
How do we “Get Creative” with our learning?
How do we “Get Creative” with our learning at school?
Who says we can’t “Get Creative” with our learning?
Learning Links

What is Lifelong Learning?
“Lifelong learning is the ‘ongoing, voluntary, and self-motivated’ pursuit of knowledge for either personal or professional reasons. Therefore, it not only enhances social inclusion, active citizenship, and personal development, but also self-sustainability, as well as competitiveness and employability.
Learning can no longer be divided into a place and time to acquire knowledge (school) and a place and time to apply the knowledge acquired (the workplace). Instead, learning can be seen as something that takes place on an ongoing basis from our daily interactions with others and with the world around us. It can create and shapeshift into the form of formal learning or informal learning, or self-directed learning.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifelong_learning

Why do we need to “Get Creative” with our learning?
“Lifelong learning is vital for everybody, no matter the age or level of education.
Lifelong learners tend to keep themselves motivated with the desire for more knowledge and self-improvement, or there may be career aspirations in mind.
However, the most important aspect to lifelong learning may be its beneficial effect on general wellness.
A lifetime of learning can keep both the body and mind in shape. Research has suggested that continued cognitive activity has a positive effect on brain cells and helps promote mental sharpness, especially for senior citizens.
Taking up a class or hobby can be a social activity as well as an educational one. You can make friends with similar interests and get involved with the communities you care about, curbing loneliness and stress. Your avocation may bring opportunities for travel, giving you a chance to see more of the world, to experience life in another culture and to gain perspective on your own.
Lifelong learning means exploring the things that make you tick, expanding your horizons and becoming an active participant in your personal and professional life.
https://study.com/academy/popular/importance-of-lifelong-learning.html

How do we “Get Creative” with our learning?
“Personal Learning
Lifelong learning enriches your life with the things that spark your curiosity, simply because you want to know how, what or why. The subject may be personally significant (e.g., learning about genealogy to trace your family roots), but you do not need to be enrolled in a formal degree program to develop your own interests.
Professional Learning
Lifelong learning can also fortify and round out the skills you need to excel in the working world.
Depending on the nature of your work, your place of employment may provide (or inform you about) relevant courses, expositions, seminars or even travel opportunities designed to help you perform better, network and advance in your field. Such opportunities are usually strictly optional, but taking advantage of them may give you a professional edge.
If you are unemployed (or underemployed), learning something new can improve your resume, as well as your chances of moving towards a more desired or better paying position.
https://study.com/academy/popular/importance-of-lifelong-learning.html

How do we “Get Creative” with our learning at school?
“Sparklers: Promotes the online toolkit supporting the mental health and wellbeing of primary and intermediate school children. Part of the campaign to promote wellbeing in Canterbury.
Activity Topics: Warm up activities, Balancing energy, Managing emotions, Using our senses, Noticing our world, Being ourselves, Feeling good, Showing kindness, Gratitude & giving.”
http://www.sparklers.org.nz/activities/

“Addison to lead innovators of the future:
‘I want Edgewater College students to be world leaders and world changers, and to have the skills to make their mark on this world.’
The teacher of more than 20 years has already pitched the concept of an innovation stream to her staff and received overwhelming support.
She says it’s going to be similar to the successful innovative curriculum she established at Howick College last year in her role as associate principal.
It’ll be called ‘The Edge Innovation Programme’, she says.
It’s an innovative curriculum that will help develop students’ skills to feel at home in a fast-changing world and prepare them to become future innovators, entrepreneurs and change makers.
It will focus on integrating the necessary NCEA content across the innovative areas of community action, creative design, problem solving, future studies and global issues.
‘Students who are coming through now are not going to be able to say I want to be this profession and stay in only that career for their whole life,’ she says.
‘The world is changing and in order to thrive, these kids need to be versatile and able to adapt.'”
http://www.times.co.nz/news/addison-to-lead-innovators-of-the-future/

Who says we can’t “Get Creative” with our learning?
“Many people think that creativity is a mysterious trait like charisma — you either have it or you don’t. The received wisdom is that creativity is one of those elusive arts that must be a birthright, and can’t be taught.
Tina Seelig, the executive director of the Stanford Technology Ventures Program, which is the entrepreneurship center at Stanford University School of Engineering, says that’s a myth.
Creativity, she believes, is a renewable resource that we can tap into at any time. And, yes, she says, it’s a process that can be taught.
The biggest myth about creativity is that it isn’t important and that it can’t be learned. In fact, it is one of the most important skills we can master. With enhanced creativity, instead of problems we see potential, instead of obstacles we see opportunities, and instead of challenges we see a chance to create solutions.”
https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/2471-creativity-innovation-learned.html

Learning Links
https://my.christchurchcitylibraries.com/lifelong-learning/
http://www.cinch.org.nz/
http://www.cinch.org.nz/categories/1311/1330/entries
http://www.cwea.org.nz/
http://www.ara.ac.nz/study-options/short-courses
http://www.cashmere.school.nz/our-school/night-classes.html
https://www.hagley.school.nz/after-3/
https://www.papanui.school.nz/adult-education
https://www.hagley.school.nz/esol-refugee-migrant-programmes/
https://www.risingholme.org.nz/
http://www.sparklers.org.nz/
https://arttherapyresources.com.au/