We have the pleasure of sending you a link to the online version of the fourth ASEMagazine titled “Lifelong Learning & the Force of Comparison”, which can now be found on the ASEM LL Hub website.

In the article “Education for better skills, better jobs and better lives", the Deputy Director for Education and Skills and Special Advisor on Education Policy to the OECD's Secretary General, Andreas Schleicher states that there is no shortcut to equipping people with the right skills and to providing people with the right opportunities to use their skills effectively. Furthermore, he maintains that if there’s one lesson the global economy has taught policymakers over the last few years, it is that we cannot simply bail ourselves out of a crisis, that we cannot solely stimulate ourselves out of a crisis and that we cannot “just print money” our way out of a crisis. Instead, in today’s world economy, education and skills are the driving forces for progress.

In the article “Successful states are investing in education”, Professor Andy Green from the Institute of Education, University of London compares not only the importance of education for the formation of the Western states in the 19^th century, but also compares the educational significance of education in the formation of the East Asian states. A main conclusion is that if a state wants greater growth rates than other countries, then it must invest in education.

Professor SongHee Han from Seoul National University and Professor Atsushi Makino from University of Tokyo give an Asian view on learning cities in the article  “Is the idea of the learning city too European?”. In their view, the differences between the two continents of Asia and Europe, in this sense of learning cities, need to be mutually respected and explained with different theoretical models. The two professors believe that the distinctive features of the Asian type of learning city can be characterised as a community relations model, in contrast to European learning cities which are basically built on the belief that learning is an individual process and learning city programmes aim to enhance individual competency.

There are also great contributions from the two ASEM LLL Hub members, Professor Tom Schuller and Dr. Pier Paolo Pasqualoni, and a book review of Karen Evans’ new book.

You can also access the magazine on the Facebook page of ASEM LLL Hub.

Happy reading!

Kind regards,

Anders Martinsen
Head of the ASEM LLL Hub Secretariat
www.asemLLLHub.org
E-mail: [email protected]

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