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Learning society is an educational philosophy advocated by the OECD〔OECD. (2000). “Knowledge Management in the Learning Society”. Paris: OECD Publishing.〕 and UNESCO that positions education as the key to a nation’s economic development, and holds that education should extend beyond formal learning (based in traditional educational institutions – schools, universities etc.) into informal learning centres to support a knowledge economy (known as a “world education culture”).〔Spring, J. (2009). “Globalization of Education: An Introduction”. New York: Routledge.〕 A learning society regards the actual process of learning as an ‘activity, not a place’〔Cisco Systems Inc. (2010). “The Learning Society”. Retrieved September 14, 2010, from Cisco Systems Inc.: http://www.cisco.com/web/about/citizenship/socio-economic/docs/LearningSociety_WhitePaper.pdf〕 – that is, it takes place outside of regular educational institutions, and is thus also decentralised and deregulated, a tenet of globalisation theory. Learning societies are broader in context, drawing on elements of systems to facilitate the ability for lifelong learning in the individual. If lifelong learning is about the ability of the individual, then this is enabled through a Learning Society. It is the ‘socialisation’ 〔McClellan, J. (n.d.). “Envisioning Learning Societies Across Multiple Dimensions.” Retrieved September 13, 2010, from Learning Development Institute: http://www.learndev.org/dl/VS3-00g-LearnSocMultDim.PDF〕 of individual lifelong learning, and is currently aided through technologies and the increasing focus on social networking, by using the shared learning experiences of individuals as a basis for a larger network of education that exists formally and informally (schools, universities, job-training, support, collaboration, feedback etc.). == History and theoretical framework == The history of the concept of the learning society can be traced through the chronological development of its theoretical framework. As the framework has developed overtime, so has the sophistication of the idea of the learning society as it applies to an inter-connected 21st-century model, particularly in relation to the shift from state-based educational institutions to more decentralised organisations. In 1973, Donald Schön〔Schön, D. A. (1973). “Beyond the Stable State. Public and private learning in a changing society.” Harmondsworth: Penguin.〕 developed the idea that change is constant in a modern state (‘loss of the stable state’) and thus to adapt to this change, there must be a constant state of learning within the society of that state. Further, Robert Hutchins〔Hutchins, R. M. (1970). “The Learning Society”. Harmondsworth: Penguin.〕 also argued that given the ever-changing nature of states, particularly in business organisations, it wasn’t possible for educational institutions to keep up, or even be expected to. Later, Torsten Husén〔Husén, T. (1986). “The Learning Society Revisited.” Oxford: Pergamon.〕 and Stewart Ranson〔Ranson, S. (1998). “Inside the Learning Society.” London: Cassell.〕 emphasise that learning has a certain ‘fluidity’ (with no start or end points) that exists outside of formal systems and this seems to reflect a liberalised market model of free movements of knowledge as required by organisations and systems.〔 Developing this framework to a more contemporary basis, it is seen that the requirement for a ‘learning society’ is a response to the broader issues of globalisation whereby richer countries have then become increasingly dependent on “knowledge workers” rather than traditional manufacturing industries (now often outsourced to developing nations), and thus need their workforces to become adaptable, particularly in light of new technological developments which are seen as central to the knowledge economy.〔Jarvis, P. (2000). “Globalisation, the learning society and comparative education.” Comparative Education , 36 (3), 343-355.〕 With this model the concept of the learning society will be transplanted to other countries globally, much like any other product on a global market. This is in keeping with the philosophy of the World Bank that learning and education is central to improved development, justice, the environment and eradication of poverty (and thus global terror threats).〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Learning society」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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