Our research programme brings together perspectives from learning sciences and
analytics, educational psychology and sociology to advance knowledge and
innovation at the nexus of lifelong learning, cognition, and wellbeing.
In
our increasingly VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous) world,
education must prepare students for multiple changes in social and work
conditions throughout their lifetimes. Lifelong learning refers to all learning
activity undertaken throughout life, with the aim of improving knowledge,
literacies and competencies for productive engagement in personal, social,
civic and professional spheres. By focusing the lens on the natural propensity
of human beings to continue to learn, we foreground the nature of learning and
cognition as connected and continuous processes that are personally significant
and socially transformative.
A lifelong learner is motivated and
self-regulated. By taking ownership of learning, students experience a sense of
autonomy and the joy of mastery that is inherent to lifelong learning. But these are far from static ‘inner’ states of learning and being that can be easily measured and quantified. These are
malleable and highly sensitive to complex processes and contexts of identity
formation and sense-making in relation to significant others in families,
schools, communities and broader society. Sociocultural, historical, economic and political coditions and influences are paramount. To this
end, our research programme advocates for the expansion of what counts as
learning to transcend the instrumental goals of improved test scores, and
towards the development of essential 21st Century lifelong learning
competencies, motivation, self-regulation, metacognition, resilience and
wellbeing spanning the individual student to that of society.
We
are committed to internationally-relevant and locally-embedded research-practice
partnerships with schools, policy and industry that inform the design and
enactment of innovative pedagogies, curricula and assessments that can better
prepare future-ready learners.