The present publication is one of the outcomes of the OBSERVAL-NET project (followup of the OBSERVAL project). The main aim of OBSERVAL-NET was to set up a stakeholder centric network of organisations supporting the validation of non-formal and informal learning in Europe based on the formation of national working groups in the 8 participating…

Seamless and future-oriented: in essence, this is Finland's vision for lifelong learning in a world where adapting to new jobs and tasks and trends in society is becoming the norm. To make it a reality requires the support of the entire education and training system. This renewed emphasis on learning as a continuous process throughout life and the…

The present article will examine informal learning in popular and jazz music education in Finland and evaluate it as a part of formal upper secondary vocational musicians' training, which is typically teacher directed. It is not necessarily the best model of working in popular and jazz music learning, which has traditionally benefitted from…

Empirical evidence suggests that educational attainment nurtures people's social outcomes and promotes active participation in society and stability. However, it is unclear to what extent other types of human capital also correlate with social outcomes. Hence, we explored the opportunity offered by the PIAAC survey through its provision of…

Living in learning societies encourages learning outside the classroom. Alongside this reality, higher education institutions have been incorporating policies and procedures that support recognition of prior learning (RPL). This development means establishing adequate RPL assessment practices. Our empirical study at the Aalto University Language…

The article explores the role of digital media in supporting lifelong learning. In particular, it focuses on bloggers who write their blogs voluntarily in their own free time. The aim is to examine how lifelong learning--viewed as self-directed, nonformal learning and active participation that evolves from a desire for self-actualization--occurs…

This article discusses formal and informal foreign language learning before university level. The focus is on beginning university students' perceptions of their earlier learning experiences, especially in digital contexts. Language learners' digital competence is a part of their everyday lives, but its relationship to learning in and outside…

The article explores intercultural encounters in a vocational school and how cultural tools and practices are identified and made "visible"; without this process, the practices of the dominant groups are taken for granted and perhaps assumed to be beyond critical scrutiny. The study examines a cultural artifact and learning practices…

In recent years Finnish university language centres have increasingly developed procedures for assessing and recognising the skills in English for Specific Purposes (ESP) that students acquire in various non-formal and informal learning environments. This article describes the procedures developed by the University of Eastern Finland Language…

This book deals with the relevance of recognition, validation and accreditation (RVA) of non-formal and informal learning in education and training, the workplace and society. It examines RVA's strategic policy objectives and best practice features as well as the challenges faced and ways forward as reported by Member States. Special attention is…

This publication is the outcome of the international conference organized by UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL), in collaboration with the Centre for Validation of Prior Learning at Inholland University of Applied Sciences, the Netherlands, and in partnership with the French National Commission for UNESCO that was held in Hamburg in…

This article is the report of a large-scale, international research project involving focus group interviews of adolescent and young adult members of a variety of self-initiated visual culture groups in five urban areas (Amsterdam, Budapest, Chicago, Helsinki, and Hong Kong). Each group was established by young people around their interests in the…

The article presents a thematic review of the recent research on workplace learning. It is divided into two main sections. The first section asks what we know about learning at work, and states four propositions: (1) the nature of workplace learning is both different from and similar to school learning; (2) learning in the workplace can be…

Phenomenographic analysis of observations and interviews of 18 Finnish engineers and product designers yielded six ways of learning: through doing work, through collegial interaction, through evaluation of work experiences, through taking on new tasks, through formal education, and through experiences outside work. (Contains 66 references.) (SK)

Interviews in two technology-intensive Finnish companies (banking and engineering) found that workplace learning was continuous and active. Learning stimuli and competence development differed in two settings. A more systematic, long-term approach to learning and acknowledgment of collective competence could improve the work environment as a…