Lifelong Learning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words

Lifelong Learning - Essay Example Super's theory included propositions relating to trait-and-factor theory, developmental psychology, and personal construct theory, from which Super derived his ideas about self-concepts and sociological theory. Super proved that the changes in the self-concept develop throughout the person's life as a result of experience. People modify their self-concepts depending on the career choice and new work conditions. The important part of Super's theory is dedicated to the construct of career concerns as divided by the six stages of person's development depending on the age span. Development stages were described by the theorist in the beginning of his career (1954) and are as the following: As we see these stages relate to the life-span dimension of the person: childhood, adolescence, adulthood, middlessence and senescence respectively coincide with career stages of growth, exploration, establishment, maintenance and disengagement. The career stages of adulthood that includes specification stage, implementation stage and stabilization stage describe adults who are looking for stability and advancement in their jobs. Stability referrers to as keeping the same job for a long time period, struggling to meet job requirements but still being concerned about one's competencies. On arrival in the job market, young adults reflect on how to achieve their vocational goals. They then move on to seeking a promising path by questioning their goals and abilities in an attempt to accelerate vocational development. The adult then "grapple with the occupational race", striving to reach a plateau of occupational status (Super, 1969)Once adults reach their late twenties, different aspects of their career choice is combined with the feeling of safety and certainty in their competence and dependability. Advancing in career implies promotions, or moving to a position with more responsibility, and may involve a higher income (Super, 1980). After career has been established, adults become concerned holding on, keeping up and innovating in their careers during the consolidation stage. In the final career stage at the age of around 55 people are sure about tomorrow's day and have no need to keep on working, so they declare retirement. In conclusion, perceived as a well-respected theory, Super's theory of career choice and development it is regarded as one of the most comprehensive approaches describing the crucial factors of person's career. Mezirow and transformative learning Mezirow in his theory of transformative learning focused on the idea of perspective transformation, which he understood as the learning process by which adults come to recognise and reframe their culturally induced dependency roles and relationships. Later he drew on the work of Habermas to propose a theory of transfo