University College Cork Rejuvenates ASEM LLL Hub — Interview with Séamus Ó TUAMA, Chair of the ASEM LLL Hub
Written by Ms Joni Hendrick, colleague of ACE (Adult Continuing Education), University College Cork
The ASEM Education and Research Hub for Lifelong Learning (ASEM LLL Hub) is an official network for university cooperation in Lifelong Learning Research between Asia and Europe. The ASEM LLL Hub’s operation is part of the ASEM Education Process and it is a strong partner of the Asia Europe Foundation (ASEF). Dr Séamus Ó TUAMA was appointed as Chair of the ASEM LLL Hub in May 2019 at the 7th ASEM Education Ministers’ Meeting for a 5-year period. The Hub’s secretariat has moved from Aarhus University, Denmark, to University College Cork, Ireland. We asked Dr Ó TUAMA about the new vision and future plans of the Hub, and how academics, researchers, and other organisations in Asia and Europe can join their work.
Lifelong learning, reskilling, and upskilling are at the centre of the policy discussions in preparation for a post-COVID-19 world. What role does the ASEM LLL Hub have in contributing to these discussions?
The ASEM LLL Hub is a process where we bring together research, policy formation, and praxis. What is important in the new post Covid-19 paradigm is that we need to understand learners are people, not just one compartment based around skills or learning. They are full human beings that have aspirations not only around their careers, but also aspirations around their communities, families, and lives.
I think that the critical dimension that the ASEM LLL Hub can bring is a holistic global understanding of that and drawing from the two regions of Asia and Europe we get a much richer sense of the possibilities that exist in the world for people and for communities. One of the things that we talk about is capital accumulation, more specifically human capital. We also talk about social capital, which is the networks in which we operate in and the connections we can make which is very important in all aspects of our lives, including our careers and jobs. We talk about identity capital, which is about who we are as a person and how we see ourselves. The more comfortable we are with our identity, the better we are able to be positive actors within society. The fourth area of capital accumulation we talk about is cultural capital accumulation. This is around the idea of being able to participate in the society or community you live in. Cultural capital accumulation is a big challenge for many people and immediately we can think about topics such as migrants, who come to a new society and have to accumulate the competencies to be able to function well in that society. But there are also other dimensions of cultural capital accumulation, even for people who are operating or living in the societies they were born in, because there are a lot of challenges with how we can culturally participate in the world.
The point I am making is that, we cannot divorce skills accumulation from the complete human experience and all the needs we have as human beings. This is where the ASEM LLL Hub can be really effective.
We have a number of different strands pursuing specific research teams, but all of these strands interact with each other. We also have a broad range of researchers from different perspectives in Asia and Europe, and we are linking them in with the global challenges set by organisations such as the United Nations around sustainable development goals, or around the International Labour Organisation around the future of work. I think this is really where the ASEM LLL Hub really comes into play because we can give a perspective that is very broadly based.
Which areas of lifelong learning does the ASEM LLL Hub focus on?
The ASEM LLL Hub tries to cover all aspects of lifelong learning. Lifelong learning is literally lifelong. We begin our journey as children who are creating their own sense of who they are as a person, and this continues right until your last breath. Bertolt Brecht has a famous quote ‘you can make a fresh start with your final breath’ and I think that is an important concept. The idea that learning never ends, we are learning constantly throughout our lives and it does not matter what age you are, we are all learners. Life wide learning is across all dimensions of our lives. We are learning all the time, whether that is at home, school or at work. We bring learning from one context into all our domains. The ASEM LLL Hub should be trying to capture that holistic vision of lifelong learning. It impacts every aspect of our lives.
The ASEM LLL Hub Forum takes place between 13–15 October 2020, online. It will review the current landscape of lifelong learning research & policy, and will adopt a work plan for the next 5 years. What are your expectations from this Forum?
What we hope from the Forum is that it is a new beginning for the ASEM LLL Hub. Ireland is now hosting it for the next 5 years, so it is an opportunity for us to reflect on where the Hub currently is and where we would like it to go. It is also important to remember, however, that this is happening in a very critical moment in human history because of the Covid-19 pandemic. This has forced us to re-examine all aspects of how we live our lives, and that includes how we learn and how we engage with other people. So, I think the new beginning is in that context as well. It is also in the context of the huge global challenges around climate change, migration, and a lot of other very serious existential challenges faced by humanity.
So, what I hope for the Forum is that we have an open discussion led by scientific thinking, that’s oriented towards policy formation, inclusion, progression, plotting a future direction for lifelong learning, and making sure that all voices are heard.
To echo the important phrase which emerges from the United Nations, UNESCO and other organisations, the idea that ‘nobody should be left behind’, and I think that is the big challenge for lifelong learning. So, from this forum I would like us to have an open discussion around the challenges and opportunities that we face and from that, to plan a programme of activities for the next 5 years. I do not envisage this to be a fixed plan, but one that acts as a roadmap that we can use and adjust as we go along. But at least that we can agree on some common objective into the future. And also, what I want to get from the forum is engagement from the governmental organisations within the ASEM community. We are interested in a huge part of the global population. I would also like more significant engagement from civil society because I think it is important that we are not just a top down organisation but a bottom up one also. I think it is important that we all work in collaboration with each other to address the huge challenges that we all face in the world today.
How can academics, experts and students from Asia and Europe contribute to these activities/plans?
I think there are a number of ways in which they can engage. The first is that Ireland is taking the hosting of the ASEM LLL Hub. Ireland is a small country; it has a unique and special type of history and has a unique and special way of engaging the world. Irelands philosophy is one of partnership, collaboration and inclusion of global partners and I think this will be the stamp of the next phase of the ASEM LLL Hub. So, in that sense, we will be welcoming participation.
In terms of the research networks, it is an opportunity for renewal of the networks. So, the research networks would be reaching out to researchers right across the ASEM community. We will be trying to ensure that all of the different ASEM partners in every country will have representation and we will be trying to ensure that there’s cultural and gender equality in terms of participation.
The concept of student is not a major defining aspect of lifelong learning. Lifelong learning is about co-learning and it is about learning together. There is not really a student/teacher focus, the student is a learner, but the student is also somebody who is teaching.
The teacher is also learning from the student. It is a more open concept and I think if we are serious about lifelong learning that has to be the way we are going. So, we want inputs from everybody and this is one of the reasons why we’re also trying to place an emphasis on civil society because a lot of research and engagement happens at grass roots levels, and we want to be able to pick up on learning from that perspective as well because that really is critical for all our futures. To learn from each other and to respect that everybody has a contribution to make.
What type of organisations is the ASEM LLL Hub looking to cooperate with?
We are trying to cooperate with all different types of organisations. It is important that different collaborations like this have impact. It must have impact on the lives of ordinary citizens in Asia and Europe and across the globe, so we will be hoping that governmental organisations, ministers, senior civil servants, university leaders, researchers, civil society organisations, and even ordinary people will be part of the future direction of the ASEM LLL Hub.
We need to work on this whole project together, so we are not going to be exclusionary. We are not going to be defined by who we exclude but who we include. That has to be a striving vision for us and it’s a difficult task, but we have to go forward with a mission of including as many voices as possible, and we also have to go forward in a spirit of constant renewal. That our doors are never closed and that we’re always open to new people to contribute, and that we’re always evolving and responding to the challenges of the day and also trying to anticipate future challenges and prepare ourselves to meet those challenges.
The ASEM LLL Hub Forum takes place between 13–15 October 2020. You can register here.
Dr Séamus Ó Tuama is the Director of ACE (Adult Continuing Education), University College Cork, Ireland, which has over 100 programmes and approximately 3,000 students. He was appointed as Chair of the ASEM Lifelong Learning Hub in May 2019. He is a member of the board/steering committee of several organisations including EUCEN (European University Continuing Education Network); Cork UNESCO Learning City, which hosted the 3rd UNESCO Conference on Learning Cities; Cork Learning Neighbourhoods; Cork Lifelong Learning Festival;; HELLIN (Higher Education Lifelong Learning Ireland Network); HERC (Higher Education Research Centre) hosted by Dublin City University. He is EUCEN Ambassador to the AAACE (American Association for Adult & Continuing Education). He is also active in ESREA; AAACE and PASCAL international.
NOTE:
The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely by the author(s) and do not represent that of the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF).
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