Reimagining the education system- From lifelong to character based and purpose led - learning is changing, but how will it work?

“There is nothing permanent, except change,” the Greek philosopher Heraclitus said around 500 years BC. The Ionian pre-Socratic philosopher also known as the ‘dark one’ was around well before iPhones and the internet, but his words ring true of modern education during a paradigm shift brought about by a technological revolution. 

Although old fashioned academia has been the favoured education system for millenia, modern education could be on the cusp of change as pioneering lifelong and character based learning is sparking a momentum around the world. But what is it and how does it work?

Three pioneering education models in the heart of Europe are embracing new learning concepts and high tech in- person learning facilities in response to a fast moving tech savvy world. In a bid to adapt education, their leaders came together to discuss their plans for the future - and they’re big and bold.  

At Globe College Munich, a third-level business college, which combines Irish and German approaches to education, dean Dr Susan Walsh launched a radical education model in Autumn of 2021. 

“We initially created an ‘individual led’ business studies BA for a niche group of students in 2006. Its main focus was academia, while customised character development enabled students to learn how to think on their feet, operate in dynamic environments, learn people skills and communication abilities.”

“Now we want to pivot the four year accredited BA programme and make it about character development first, academics second. We want to adapt and consolidate what we have been doing since 2006 and make students savvy to the world of work.”

She says there is no ‘one size fits all’ education model. “Real communities are being replaced by online communities. Young people have everything they ever need at the tips of their fingers, but as a result, they could be left vulnerable to absent mindedness, inability to take risks and fear of failure.” 

Character based learning, perpetuates qualities like discipline, perseverance and self control. Good character, ' is not formed in a week or a month. It is created little by little, day by day. Protracted and patient effort is needed to develop good character’, Heraclitus said well before creativity and innovation were needed to solve future challenges. 

But can you actually teach character? “Quick fixes won’t work. You need four years, and possibly life long learning,” Wash insists.  

Lifelong learning is more than a buzzword for entrepreneur and venture investor Christopher Pommerening, who created ‘Learnllife.’ 

“At Learnlife we envision that collaborative learning communities will become the problem-solving champions in a world where agility, creativity, and innovation will be needed to solve future challenges.” 

Learnlife opened it’s digital doors in 2017, enabling students to learn from anywhere in the world, but also on-site an innovative Learnhubs or a blend of both. “We empower skills such as collaboration, digital literacy, critical thinking and problem-solving to thrive in a fast-changing world,” he says.

A learning hub in Barcelona offers innovation  exploiting a new learning paradigm. “As more people join the journey, the impact of this growing community is already sparking a wider momentum for change.” 

The father of three, who invests in startups, and has exited from portfolio companies with an aggregated value of more than $400 million told a live audience via a web conference, that he wanted to change the ‘normal’ education paradigm for the sake of his children.

In response to an ever evolving technological world, where young people’s lives are infused with technology. LearnLife works as both a digital platform as well as local learning centres called ‘Learning Hubs’. “My wife and I are convinced that the Learnlife approach is the right way forward. “The future of learning is pan generational and lifelong. The focus only on the 'utilitarian' function of education is not the future. 

With a learning centre in Barcelona’s £2.7 million in pre-Covid seed funding, the ultimate goal is for digital nomad parents enrolling their children on purpose-led courses, “wherever they call home.” He won’t stop at Barcelona. Pommering wants to innovate and recreate the worldwide education systems to empower the next generation to be happy life long learner. “I traveled to innovative schools all around the world, and in collaboration I created Our Dream School to learn new methods, learning spaces and learning technologies, with the objective of empowering 100 million learners in 100,000 schools around the world by 2030.

Inspired by Learnlife, an international learning initiative founded in Barcelona in 2017, the couple, members of the Otto family and retail, financial services and service Otto Group, say Otto says conventional forms of school education are no longer sufficient to prepare people for the digital world, a world of permanent change.

In Hamburg, a future oriented campus for ‘self determined, cross-generational and lifelong learning” is targeted for completion in 2025. “‘Life Hamburg’ will offer cross-generational learning, while giving something back to society that will have a sustainable impact, contributing to future-orientated learning and work, as well as to improving human health,” its creators Benjamin Otto and his wife Janina Lin Otto said. “Life Hamburg is a prototype building which will house a nursery, school, digital learning centre, creative studios, exercise facilities and community spaces for intergenerational interaction under one roof,” Janina Otto explained during a live chat with Globe College in Munich. 

“It’s a prototype for a networked, collaborative learning community, which will bring generations together, so young and old can learn together.” The Ottos don’t want to just end there. They want to take their concept further and see Life Hamburg as a lighthouse project that puts this vision into practice. “We aim to make it a place that brings all generations together and where young and old can learn and work together, feel at home and network.”

The campus will see people learn from childhood onwards, into adulthood- with the unification of creches and day care, primary school and then university, followed by startups and entrepreneurship. Sustainability will also be a concept on the 20,000 sqm campus, as it will include work with nature, cultivating foods, alongside large areas for sports. Designed to accommodate around 2,000, the centre will at first be fee paying, but offer scholarships. 

There are many schools around the world, Because noncognitive qualities like grit, curiosity, self-control, optimism, and conscientiousness are often described, with some accuracy, as skills, educators eager to develop these qualities in their students quite naturally tend to treat them like the skills that we already know how to teach: reading, calculating, analyzing, and so on. And as the value of noncognitive skills has become more widely acknowledged, demand has grown for a curriculum or a textbook or a teaching strategy to guide us in helping students develop these skills. If we can all agree on the most effective way to teach the Pythagorean theorem, can’t we also agree on the best way to teach grit? In practice, though, it hasn’t been so simple. The pandemic exposed the cracks and speeded up education. We are now witnessing a massive disruption in the educational process. As a result, large multinational tech giants are creating their own schooling system. 

www.globe-college.com. https://life.hamburg/english. http://www.learnlife.com