Wider benefits of learning
On 26 October 2006, the Department for Education and Skills published a
research brief (The wider benefits of learning: a synthesis of findings
from the Centre for Research on the Wider Benefits of Learning 1999-2006)
which brings together and summarises findings from the first seven years
of research at the Centre, to define the nature of these wider benefits
and explore how they might be realised. Some of the key findings are outlined
below.
- The Centre assembles clear evidence of wide-ranging and often sizeable
wider effects on health; crime and society; and the family These benefits
are distinct from the economic returns gained from learning through higher
wages or higher productivity. They include changes in health behaviours
(e.g. smoking), improved well-being, reductions in crime, increased civic
involvement and reduced political cynicism.
- However, learning does not always provide a solution, and its effects
are dependent on delivery at both individual and systemic levels. For
instance, at the individual level, self-worth may be damaged if challenges
are beyond an individual's capabilities; learning can raise expectations
that cannot be met, disrupt existing social networks or put additional
strain on limited family time and resources. The provision of personalised
education needs to take account of the needs of the learner, not only
in terms of the learning content, but in a way which recognises and understands
their wider needs.
- At the systemic level, the importance and complexity of providing an
educational framework for fair and just provision is apparent. Nationally,
it is not just the level of education which is important in realizing
benefits but equality of access, as countries with very unequal levels
of education also tend to have lower levels of societal cohesion.
- However, ensuring such equality of provision is no simple matter: patterns
of educational participation and achievement tend to be repeated across
generations, with the children of more educated parents being more likely
to achieve better educational outcomes than those of less educated parents.
But the role of the educational process itself in breaking this intergenerational
cycle is uncertain. The Centre provides evidence that increasing the amount
of time which people spend in education has minimal or no effect on their
parenting style, their educational behaviours with their children or the
subsequent attainments of those children. The power of education to affect
intergenerational outcomes may lie in the quality and/or nature of that
education, rather than its duration.
In conclusion, it is apparent from this that learning has potential for
improving outcomes throughout the life-course, and that the potential
effects accrue both in terms of quality of life and knock-on economic impacts
through reduced pressure on services. It is particularly
important as the UK population ages and pressure on services increases to
maximise the potential of learning to improve and sustain outcomes in these
wider areas of health and well-being. However, it is a process which needs
both to be managed and better understood if we are to realise the full benefits
not only for the current, but for future generations.
