FOCUS ON:
Education

The purpose of education is to enable individuals to reach their full potential as human beings, individually and as members of a society.  Education is “any act or experience that has a formative effect on the mind, character, or physical ability of an individual. In its technical sense, education is the process by which society deliberately transmits its accumulated knowledge, skills, and values from one generation (or person) to another.”  In practical terms this acquisition of knowledge takes place in a wide range of contexts including homes, the community, schools, colleges, the workplace and self managed personal development, and involves everyone.

Positive engagement with education is a key part of the LifeWhys framework.  It involves both formal and informal aspects of learning, but above all, is related to the wider factors involving all of us in propagating a positive learning environment, leading to individuals achieving their full potential that maximises their income generation opportunities and helps them become positive contributors to society.

People are the greatest natural resource any society has.  Wealth is created through the application of human effort in adding value to a raw material.  However, in a society which is largely service economy based the maximisation of the latent potential of its ‘human resources’ through effective ‘lifelong learning’ is vital if prosperity is to be maintained and grow.

The challenge in the UK is not small:

• 20% of 11 year olds are not achieving Level 4+ at Key Stage 2 in English and Maths;
  
• 25% of 16 year olds do not achieve 5 GCSEs at grade C or above;
• 10% of 16-18 year olds are not in education, employment or training (NEET)
• 18% of 19 year olds do not achieve any qualifications;
• 20% of 21 year olds do not obtain a Level 2 qualification;
• 23% of 25-29 year olds who do not have any qualifications are unemployed or economically inactive and 56% are in low paid work;
• 10% of the working population (20 to retirement) do not have any qualifications;
• 48% of the working-age population lack basic numeracy skills and 17% lack basic literacy skills

Despite improvements in these figures over the past 10 years, the UK is falling behind in comparison to its world competitors:

The LifeWhys framework is based on building the factors that lead to thriving outcomes, including educational attainment in all contexts.  The framework has been successfully implemented in many countries and shown to significantly improve educational attainment.
 
We have proven programmes that work with educational centres and their stake holders to ensure they achieve their maximum impact.  These programmes include resources, evaluation and survey tools such as Creating Great Places to Learn, which looks at the wider factors that affect educational performance, and the Service Learning programme.

For example, for schools the framework helps directly answers the questions:

• What do we need to do to increase academic success in our schools?
• What does it take for all students to learn and become successful, contributing members of society?
• What will it take to truly ensure that no child is left behind?

The LifeWhys framework for education is part our wider work with other stakeholders and partners.  This partnership approach has been proven to significantly improve educational outcomes for all.  To find out more, get in touch.