Introduction
Personal development is central in education for it enables learners to identify their talents, sharpen their skills, and develop their careers optimally. In personal development, lifelong learning is enriching and empowering because it makes learners gain knowledge, skills, and competencies. Laal and Laal (2012) assert that the demands of the modern society require individuals to keep abreast with the rapid-changing knowledge economy and the ever-changing technological globe (p. 1562). Lifelong learning enables individuals to acquire knowledge, sharpen skills, and nurture competencies so that they can cope with the demands of the modern world. Fundamentally, lifelong learning is a learning process that facilitates personal development among learners. However, for effective lifelong learning to occur, learners should acquire some elements. Therefore, this essay identifies self-efficacy, adaptability, and openness to experience as the three elements of effective lifelong learners and discusses their importance in personal development.
Self-Efficacy
Self-efficacy is one of the elements of effective lifelong learners because it is the major driving force of lifelong learning. Essentially, self-efficacy is the belief and determination that an individual possesses concerning the performance of activities leading to personal development. A notable psychologist, Albert Bandura, identified self-efficacy as an important element of learning for it determines how individuals approach their tasks, goals, and challenges (Kurbanoglu, 2013, p. 635). In this case, self-efficacy is a driver of lifelong learning as it determines how learners believe, think, feel, behave, and motivate themselves during the learning process. Learners with the attribute of self-efficacy leverage their emotions, thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors in a manner that make them achieve their goals, complete their tasks, and attain their dreams. Fundamentally, self-efficacy offers learners the capacity to define and shape their personal development.
Given that modern society is very demanding regarding personal development, acquisition of self-efficacy is essential. In the era of information, societies require individuals with self-efficacy because they can search, consume, generate, and share information that is essential for personal development. Individuals with self-efficacy are equipped for lifelong learning since they are self-regulated, independent, confident, and determined learners (Kurbanoglu, 2013, p. 635). Self-regulation enables learners to regulate their learning process by filtering information and applying in their respective fields of expertise. Independence and confidence are two attributes that make learners develop a sense of initiative and the courage to achieve career goals. Determination offers willpower to develop, implement, and achieve career goals effectively. Empirical evidence indicates that self-efficacy correlates with academic performance and personal goals, which are the cornerstones of personal development (Kurbanoglu, 2013, p. 638). Therefore, learners who possess the element of self-efficacy in their learning process tend to be lifelong learners.
Adaptability
Adaptability is the second element that is essential for learners to achieve effective lifelong learning. Given that personal development entails the acquisition of diverse forms of knowledge, skills, and competencies, learners adapt themselves to diverse learning processes and conditions that the society provide. Lifelong learning is very dynamic because it is responsive to time, epistemological trends, and prevailing forces of globalization that influence personal development. Leone (2013) argues lifelong learning needs adaptability since it is diverse, flexible, and periodic form of learning (p. 10). The argument means that individuals have to adapt to diverse conditions and remain flexible to keep abreast with inevitable changes.
For individuals to achieve personal development, they should tailor their knowledge, talents, skills, and competencies to the demands of their professions and careers. According to Laal and Laal (2012), lifelong learning requires learners to adapt to changes and challenges that are prevalent in diverse situations and conditions (p. 1565). The process of adapting to changes and challenges requires learners to alter their attitudes, beliefs, behaviors, and cognitions. London (2011) notes that adaptation entails diverse aspects such as learning new things, social interaction, cultural tolerance, handling uncertainties, creative resolution of problems, physical adaptation, and coping with stresses (p. 453). Such forms of adaptation enable learners to be responsive and proactive in learning, hence, leading to lifelong learning. Thus, adaptability is an integral element of lifelong learners for it enables them to keep abreast with the trends of personal development in the society.
Openness to Experience
Openness to experience is the third element of lifelong learners for it promotes continual learning. The major drawback to lifelong learning is that learners are not open to experience because they consider their knowledge, skills, and competencies as sufficient. Learners who are open to experience consider themselves as novices, and thus, they optimize learning opportunities that they encounter (Seone, 2013, p. 10). Fundamentally, openness to experience forms the basis of lifelong learning for it motivates learners to gain new knowledge, skills, and competencies. Openness to experience is a cognitive attribute of personality dimension, which indicates that individuals are curious and creative, and hence, they are likely to undertake lifelong learning (London, 2011, p. 183). Therefore, the personality dimension of openness to experience is an integral element of lifelong learning.
Comparatively, openness to experience plays a central role in personal development, particularly in the modern world where knowledge, skills, and competencies are unlimited. Openness to experience correlates with performance in the workplace (London, 2011, p. 182). Employees who are open to experience acquire new knowledge, skills, and competencies in the course of their duties and training. However, employees who are not open to experience do not upgrade their knowledge, skills, and competencies, and thus, they stagnate in their careers and perform dismally in the workplace. Armitage (2012) argues that openness to experience allows individuals to respond constantly to changes that are in their learning environment (p. 108). Thus, openness to experience is an essential attribute of lifelong learners.
Reflection of Learning and Personal Development
Learning has made tremendous changes in my life for it has significantly improved my personal development. Throughout my academic life, I have strived to acquire essential knowledge and improve my skills and competencies so that I can keep abreast with the epistemological trends. According to Laal and Laal (2013), learning is a vision that guides people to acquire knowledge, skills, and competencies, which are pertinent in the achievement of personal development (p. 1562). Evidently, study skills have contributed significantly to my personal development. Therefore, this reflective essay critically assesses my learning and personal development in reference to this module.
Study Skills and Personal Development
Assessment of my learning experience attests that study skills are indeed necessary for personal development. Armitage (2012) recommends learners to improve their study skills for them to optimize their personal development (p. 25). The study skills that have contributed to my personal development are time management, reading, note taking, and rehearsing. Time management is important skill that made me optimize opportunities of learning through scheduling learning activities. Reading is a skill that enabled me to grasp the content of my notes by reading several times. Note-taking is a skill that summarized the content of my notes, and hence, it enhanced memorization of key points. Ultimately, rehearsing my notes and key points is a skill that is central to my learning. Moreover, this module has made me appreciate that study skills are integral in personal development. In essence, my personal development improved after studying this module. London (2011, p. 23) asserts that the nature of study skills determines the extent of personal development among learners. In the course of learning my module, I noted study skills and personal development are inseparable elements of learning. Hence, I owe the extent of personal development that have I achieved to my study skills.
Strengths and Weakness
Reflection of my learning experience revealed that I have some strengths and weaknesses. The strengths relate to my study skills and lifelong learning attributes. In the aspect of study skills, my strengths are that I can manage time well and read intensively. Time management is critical in learning because it has enabled me to apportion time to various tasks according to their priorities. Intensive reading is the strength that has enabled me to grasp complex contents in my notes and comprehend them effectively. Self-efficacy, adaptability, and open to experience are my strengths, which relate to lifelong learning. Self-efficacy drives the learning process, and thus, it determines lifelong learning and personal development (Kurbanoglu, 2013, p. 639). In this view, my lifelong learning attributes and personal development stem from self-efficacy. The strength of adaptability made me internalize knowledge, skills, and competencies. Moreover, the strength of open to experience created an urge for continuous learning and made me optimize every learning opportunity. Despite the fact that this module has improved my personal development, I have some weaknesses. One weakness is that I dislike learning in a group through discussion and dialogue. Another weakness is that I get tired of searching relevant learning materials in diverse libraries.
Lifelong Skill Development and Employability
In the reflection of my personal development, I have noted that it is dependent on my strengths of study skills and lifelong learning attributes. Moreover, I have also learned that employers are using lifelong learning attributes in recruiting employees. According to London (2011), employers look for employees with lifelong learning attributes because they perform better than employees without lifelong learning attributes (p. 182). In this perspective, I perceive that my employability is dependent on the attributes of lifelong learning that I possess. In the competitive society, employers continually train their employees to improve their knowledge, skills, and competencies with the objective of improving their performance in the workplace. Thus, by having skills of lifelong learning such as self-efficacy, adaptability, and openness to experience, I have boosted my employability in the corporate world.
Academic Study, Self-reflection, and Personal Development Planning
The academic study requires numerous skills because the learning process is complex and multifaceted. In the academic study, I have learned that I need communication, reading, writing, and presentation skills. These skills have enabled me to undertake my studies effectively and attain commendable grades. Self-reflection is also an essential skill in personal development since learning process requires continual assessment. Leone (2013) advises learners to reflect on their learning experience so that they can understand aspects of personal development that they need to improve through the acquisition of more knowledge, skills, and competencies (p. 45). Self-reflection stemmed from personal development planning, which entailed setting of goals and periodic assessment of achievements. I made a simple and clear plan that is achievable after learning this module and reflecting my personal development plan.
To achieve my personal development, I set goals and periodically assessed my progress towards achieving them. The goals that I made are to acquire effective study skills, boost my writing skills, gain presentation skills, and adopt group work. Assessment of study skills shows that I have made significant progress for I can read intensively, make notes, and memorize key points. Given that I have been experiencing challenges in writing, this module has boosted my writing skills in that I can now write reports, essays, and research papers. Moreover, I can search resources in the library and cite them accurately without plagiarizing. Currently, I have gained enough presentation skills for I can research on a given topic and present to the class effectively without relying on my notes or the PowerPoint presentation. Before the commencement of the module, I disliked group work; however, I have developed an interest in discussion groups and debates.
Conclusion
Personal development is the ultimate objective of the learning process that learners undergo. Essentially, personal development transforms the learning process and empowers learners to achieve their goals in an effective manner. The nature of learning process determines the extent of personal development among learners. Analysis of the key elements that that are necessary for effective lifelong learning revealed that self-efficacy, adaptability, and openness to experience are the three major elements.
Reflection of my learning experience in this module shows that it has improved my personal development for I have acquired extensive knowledge, skills, and competencies that my career requires. Study skills and lifelong learning attributes coupled with goals have contributed to my progress in personal development. Thus, the reflection shows that I have skills that are essential for lifelong learning and personal development.
References
Armitage, A. (2012) Teaching and training in lifelong learning. Maidenhead: Open University Press.
Kurbanoglu, S. (2013) ‘Self-efficacy: A concept closely linked to information literacy and lifelong learning’, Journal of Documentation, 59(6), pp. 635-646. Web.
Laal, M. and Laal, A. (2012) ‘Lifelong learning: Elements’,Social and Behavioral Sciences, 47(1), pp. 1562-1566. Web.
Leone, S. (2013) Characterization of a personal learning environment as a lifelong learning tool. New York: Springer.
London, M. (2011) The Oxford handbook of lifelong learning. Oxford: Oxford University Press.