EPALE - Electronic Platform for Adult Learning in Europe

Our approach to time is one of the most important core competences in shaping education and learning. "Education is therefore shaped," writes Michel Alhadeff-Jones in his 2017 book competencieson Time and the Rhythms of Emancipatory Education, "by the heterogeneous, complementary, antagonistic, and contradictory temporalities that rhythm the activity and life of learners, educators, institutions, society, and knowledge itself." (Alhadeff-Jones, 2017). It is precisely this absoluteness and complexity in which time and education are interwoven that makes the exploration of their phenomena so fascinating. 

Temporal phenomena and their effects on learning in adulthood are complex and marked by at least five fields of tension, which we will describe in detail in this blog post.

Epochal contexts of (andragogic) education and learning

Education, adult education and lifelong learning reflect historical changing constructions of culture (e.g. the Enlightenment), epochal determinations of its legitimacy (e.g. emancipation) and functional references for (lifelong) learning (e.g. modernisation, self-determination, etc.).

In ancient philosophy, time was associated with change and process. In his lectures on physics, for example, Aristotle (384–322 BC) defined time as the measurement of movement in relation to “before” and “after”. The concept of time is inextricably linked to change. 

Three centuries later, the Roman Stoic philosopher Lucius Annaeus Seneca (4 BC–65 AD) pointed to the influence of the “proper” use of our lifetime, through which we should not "waste" time, but rather turn to a clear (not "scattered") mind, in order to, ultimately, "learn to live" (Seneca, 55 AD_2005). In his little pamphlet On the Shortness of Life (De brevitate vitae), references to meaning are already emerging that point the qualities of the temporal process, in which the ultimate goal is to learn the present. 

Coming to modern concepts of lifelong and life-wide learning, the Faure Report, first published in 1972, Learning to be: The world of education today and tomorrow, was commissioned by UNESCO against the background of powerful demands of student uprisings all over the world. 

Conversely, the emergence of the concept of education, as well as changing concepts of education and learning, reflects the changing understanding of time The transition from passively experiencing time with an uncertain fate, to actively intending to shape it and viewing it as a moral obligation, gave rise to the so-called “modern era” and a variety of educational texts on the responsible use of one's lifetime (cf. Neumann, 1993). The humanistic concept of Bildung is often understood as an act of transformation of change through higher-order learning processes. This implies an expansion of individual possibilities for self-determination, informal learning and reflexivity on one's own learning. Transformative learning is by no means a linear pattern, because education never follows the "assumption of unbroken continuity" (Schäffter, 2012, p. 117). 

Currently, the programme of lifelong learning is legitimized as the "institutionalization of permanent reflection" (cf. Dörpinghaus & Uphoff, 2012) ), based on the idea that modernity is a learning postulate in a dynamic world of increasingly accelerated developments.

Currently, lifelong learning programmes are being legitimised as the 'institutionalisation of permanent reflection' (cf. Dörpinghaus & Uphoff, 2012), based on the idea that modernity is a learning postulate in an increasingly accelerated world.

Individual time resources for learning

Studies, especially those of international comparative adult education research (OECD Education at a glance; AES Adult Education Survey), have indicated for many years that the scarcity of time is the main barrier to participation in formal and non-formal further education, as well as in informal learning. 

“In the EU, the most common barrier to adult learning is a lack of time due to work and family commitments. About 25.9% of adults aged 25-64 reported unmet training needs in 2022, with scheduling conflicts being the primary reason.” (Eurostat, 2022). 

This not only hinders the development of learning interests and motivation but also significantly influences dropout rates. Constraints on individual time resources or time budgets prevent adults from engaging in educational opportunities.

However, beyond these often overemphasised challenges, time as a resource reveals a far more nuanced character, as evidenced in our interviews with learners (Hassinger & Schmidt-Lauff, 2024). Even the so-called "orientation phase," in which individuals seek out the “right” course, constitutes an integral part of the broader temporal pattern of learning; it can create anticipation, which leads to immediate booking; or one or one can allow time to pass and register "relaxed." “Travel time" (the journey to the course) must also be recognised and appreciated in its various forms and the corresponding effects it has on learning. Travel time allows for a departure, a sense of distance, but also a sense of arrival (at the learning location, in the group, in the topic, in the learning process). It can be both a relief and a burden. Learning time as "community time" requires effort, and involves synchronisation, but it creates a foundation for perseverance and success. The "end" of an event can also be longed for, because things can and should come to a conclusion, and learning does not always have to take place, and certainly not continuously.

Time in adult education organisations

In the effort to programme planning and learning-designs (online, onsite, hybrid), the coordination of organisational time patterns and common time slots (digitalised and synchronous or asynchronous) plays a crucial role in adult education. However, adult education organisations often adopt a classically rational economic approach to time, "which is regularly carried out in a planned and reflective manner and utilizes specific procedures and technologies." (Elven & Schwarz, 2023, p.7). Subsequent decisions in the areas of organisational or personnel leadership and control are derived sequentially from (strategic) planning decisions. Need Analysis and (programme) planning thus represents the central form of organizational management of time overall, and in the 20th century, particularly with the future (Sava, 2012). 

The programme can be understood as a future-oriented "performance promise" (Nolda 2018, p. 293) of the adult education organization. Programmes are located at the boundary between adult education organisations and their social environment, representing the pivotal point between organisational practices for dealing with time and the future, and the realisation of adult education in concrete educational offerings. Therefore, Elven and Schwarz (2023) have focused on programme planning as an example of how latent conceptions of the future manifest themselves in organisational future practices. 

The conception of continuing education programmes and concrete educational offerings is not limited to rational planning under the leitmotif of didactic feasibility. Rather, the planning of educational programmes, the search for suitable course times and the temporal organisation of courses ultimately result from processual, predominantly implicit negotiation processes between organisations, professionals, recipients and participants. Only through the "permanent synchronization of different temporal structures" (Schäffter 1993, p. 445) does adult education experience its temporal structuring.

Time as a quality of learning processes

Learning processes differ according to time, temporal extent, total duration (e.g. time spans), temporal intensity, speed and rhythm in the learning process, as well as across different media formats (e.g. virtual availability, digitalisation).

“Time flies when you’re having fun” is one of the most well-known idioms for expressing the subjective acceleration of time during enjoyable experiences (“flow”). Most people are familiar with the sensation of time “flying” when they are engaged in enjoyable or absorbing activities, whether physical or emotional, and conversely, of time dragging during periods of boredom (e.g. boring lessons) or passive waiting (e.g. waiting for a course to start). Models of prospective time perception (i.e., the perception of time in the present moment), explain this by the existence of an “internal clock” (as yet unlocalised). The amount of attention paid to time modulates how many of the "internal clock beats" are registered.

Precisely because time does not simply pass, the exploration of its role in education and learning proves to be an endlessly fascinating endeavour. As my doctoral supervisor once remarked, “Once you begin thinking about time and learning, it will never let you go.” How right he was! Having spent over 25 years researching temporal phenomena, I continue to be intrigued by how individuals experience time in learning contexts, how collective routines and temporal structures shape educational practice, and how such temporal dimensions contribute to the formation of self-identity in modernity (Giddens, 1991). Equally, the ways in which teaching and learning are temporally assessed remain a critical and often overlooked aspect of educational inquiry.

Winkler and colleagues (2017) investigated the causes of age effect on time perception, finding that three factors essentially contribute to the phenomenon: fewer and fewer new life events over the course of life (as it becomes increasingly difficult to experience something truly new); an increasing extent of routines in everyday life (leading to memory contents that are less easily separable from one another); and increasing time pressure (leading to life events being perceived less intensively and fewer new things being tried out).

Time in learning processes as a professional task

Time plays an obvious role for professionals, firstly as a topic (e.g., time and self-management), and secondly because the learning process itself takes place over time, yet eludes direct (temporal) control. It is therefore a core professional task to reflect on and shape the coincidence of different temporal logics in the teaching process. In a small comparative study using data from Italy and Germany, we criticized the dominance of future-oriented, efficiency-driven models of learning that prioritise “rapid adaptation” over meaningful transformation (Schmidt-Lauff & Bergamini, 2017). We called for a professional time-sensitivity in adult education – recognizing that learning requires protected, unburdened time spaces for reflection, maturation, and personal development. Ultimately, we advocate for 

- designing learning environments that value slowness, continuity, and present-focused engagement; and

- developing professional practices that support “time wellbeing” and resist the commodification of learning time.

“Adult education is, in its very conditions of possibility, a profoundly temporal phenomenon.” (Schäffter, 1993) 

We will take a further and deeper nuanced look on it in the next blog post (preview: Interview with Michel Alhadeff-Jones).

References

Alhadeff-Jones, M. (2017). Time and the rhythms of emancipatory education: Rethinking the temporal complexity of self and society. Routledge.

Dörpinghaus, A., & Uphoff, I. K. (2012). Zeit und Bildung. Über die Selbstaffektion in der Erfahrung. In S. Schmidt-Lauff (Hrsg.), Zeit und Bildung. Annäherungen an eine zeittheoretische Grundlegung, (pp. 61–70). Waxmann.

Elven, J., & Schwarz, J. (2023). Fortschritt, Kontingenz, Dissipation: Zukunftskonzepte in Erwachsenenbildungsorganisationen. Debatte. Beiträge zur Erwachsenenbildung, 5(1), 6–22. https://doi.org/10.3224/debatte.v5i1.02

Giddens, A. (1991). Modernity and Self-Identity. Stanford University Press. https://www.sup.org/books/sociology/modernity-and-self-identity

Hassinger, H., & Schmidt-Lauff, S. (2024). Zeitdimensionen des Weiterbildungsverhaltens und seiner Barrieren. forum erwachsenenbildung, 57(2), 19–24.

Neumann, N. (1993). Lerngeschichte der Uhrenzeit. Deutscher Studienverlag.

Sava, S. (2012). Needs Analysis and Programme Planning in Adult Education. https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/id/d2b9548e-51b2-4d26-be18-b497957725c5/9783847403562.pdf

Schäffter, O. (1993). Die Temporalität von Erwachsenenbildung. Überlegungen zu einer zeittheoretischen Rekonstruktion des Weiterbildungssystems. Zeitschrift für Pädagogik, 39(3), 443–462.

Schmidt-Lauff, S., & Bergamini, R. (2017). The Modern Phenomenon of Adult Learning and Professional Time-Sensitivity – a Temporal, Comparative Approach Contrasting Italy and Germany. In R. Egetenmeyer, S. Schmidt-Lauff, & V. Boffo (eds.). Adult Learning and Education in International Contexts: Future Challenges for its Professionalization (pp. 147–159). Peter Lang.

Winkler, I., Fischer, K., Kliesow, K., Rudolph, T., Thiel, C. & Sedlmeier, P. (2017). Has it really Been that Long? Why Time Seems to Speed up with Age. Timing & Time Perception, 5(2), 168-189. DOI: 10.1163/22134468-00002088