Paper presented at the European Conference on Educational Research, University of Crete, 22-25 September 2004
(Open Learning Contexts, Cultural Diversity, Democracy (OPENet) network)

Population’s Learning-related Attitudes as the Premise for the Realization of the Idea of the LearningCity

Stanisauskiene Vilija

Institute of Educational Studies, KaunasUniversity of Technology, Lithuania. Email:

Abstract

The object of the research – is population’s learning-related attitudes.

The aim of the research – to study the population’s learning approaches as the premises for the realization of the idea of the learning city.

The empirical base and methods of the research. The main source of empirical information in the research was the opinion of people on the matters of lifelong learning. This information source conditioned the choice of the main research method, namely – anonymous survey in written.

In the process of statistical analysis of the data the methods of the descriptive statistics and factorial analysis were applied. The data were processed applying the software Statistical Package for the Social Sciences SPSS.

There were 1701 respondents in the survey. The survey took place in November 2003. The sample of the study was formed aiming at the inclusion of the representatives of all age groups, various levels of education, and professional and social status.

Foundation of research instruments (questionnaires). The questionnaires consisted of two blocks: thematic diagnostic and a demographic block. The questionnaires contained structured questions, nominal and Likert scales. The format of five-rung response was chosen, the respondents evaluated the statements expressing their approval-doubt-disapproval.

Introduction

The learning community (Longworth, 1999) is a community in which business and industry, schools, universities, professional and other organizations, and the municipality are closely cooperating in the physical, economical, cultural, and intellectual sense, thus creating a place that is pleasurable for people to live.

The creation of the learning city requires the knowledge of the population’s learning-related attitudes. The influence of these attitudes in the process of the realization of the idea of the learning city may be essential: positive learning-related attitudes may be seen as supporting factors, while the negative ones – as an impediment.

The article presents the analysis of the problem expressed through the following questions:

  • Do the population’s learning-related attitudes reflect a new approach to learning related not to the systemically organized learning at an educational institution, but rather to the usage of modern methods and forms of learning in various learning environments?
  • What is the difference between the learning-related attitudes of the inhabitants of Lithuanian cities (Kaunas, Siauliai, and Utena) that are on different stages of development aimed at the learning city?

Background

The concept of “lifelong learning” is important for this research. Knasel, Meed, Rossetti (2000, P. 6), when analyzing learning for life and career, offer to differentiate the answers to the question “why is continuous learning important?” into three major fields (three Es): Economy, Empowerment, and Enjoyment:

  • Economy. You need to learn – and to learn well – to be employable. And organizations need to be a good at learning if they are to remain competitive.
  • Empowerment. Learning can help you to unlock your full potential and pay a more active part in shaping your own life.
  • Enjoyment. Learning is fun and willingness to learn allows you to gain pleasure and enjoyment from more of the things that you do.

On the basis of this “3E” principle, the questions of the research were raised:

  • Do the inhabitants of the cities understand learning as a factor of success in career?
  • Do they associate continuous learning with enjoyment and the harmony of life?

In the wide context of the study, when thinking about the inclusion of all citizens (not excluding any social group) into the creation of the knowledge and learning city, another relevant question arose:

  • What do the inhabitants think about the learning of the socially secluded? Do they consider it to be the premise for the re-socialization of the disabled and the marginal groups?

Data Collection

Sample.The size of the sample is N = 1701, out of them 1021 women (60%), 680 men (40%). The sample was formed with the aim to include:

  • Representatives of all age groups (the average of the respondents age is 36 years; the maximum age of the respondents - 85 years, minimum – 14 years);
  • People with various levels of education;
  • Representativesof all employment statuses;
  • Representatives of various social status according to the occupied post;
  • Inhabitants of various microdistricts (centrum city and outskirts) in the territorial sense;
  • Representatives of various social groups, necessarily including the socially secluded (the homeless, the unemployed, the ex-convicts, and the disabled) in each city.

Measures. The survey was carried out applying the original questionnaire consisting of 20 statements reflecting the inhabitants’ approaches to learning in the three aforementioned aspects. The respondents valued these statements expressing approval-doubt-disapproval. The research was performed in three different cities of Lithuania that were on different stages of development towards the learning city: Kaunas in this respect is the city that progressed furthest – the processes of creation of the learning community in this city started in 2000, while Šiauliai and Utena are currently joining the processes of the creation of the learning city.

Results and Discussion

The research results were processed applying the software Statistical Package for the Social Sciences SPSS. A concrete calculation of the values of the descriptive statistics, as well as a factorial analysis were performed (Table 1).

Table1

Explanation of the statistical indices used in the analysis of the study data

Marking of the index / Name of the index / Explanation of the index
M / Arithmetic mean of the estimate / Arithmetic mean of the set of scores, obtained by adding up all estimates and by dividing the sum by the number of responses.
N / Number of responses / The value N shows the number of the subjects who responded to a concrete question.
Mo / Modal value of the estimate / Mode (Mo) is the most frequently occurring score or dimension in a group of scores.
SD / Standard deviation / Standard deviation (SD) is a constant measure with respect to the mean of the dispersion. The lower the SD value, the more unified the opinion of the respondents concerning the analyzed question. On the opposite, the higher the SD value, the less unified the opinion of the respondents concerning the analyzed question.
Ln / Factorial weight / Factorial weight (Ln) is a statistical measure determined during factorial analysis. It shows how strongly a concrete variable correlates with the factor determined using the SPSS software.

Factor analysis

In order to determine the general characteristics of attitudes towards learning, in the populations of Kaunas, Siauliai, and Utena, the factorial analysis was performed in three subsets with the aim of the identification of similarities and differences in the attitudes of these respondents. Three factors emerged during this analysis (Table 2).

Table 2

Factor analysis of item

Number and name of the factor /
Statement
/ Constituent weights of the factor (Ln)
Kaunas /

Siauliai

/

Utena

F1:
“street businessman” position / Talks about continuous development are the hobby of people incapable of successful activity. / 0,716 / 0,673 / 0,704
All those qualification courses do not make much sense to a mature person. This is just a waste of time and money. / 0,661 / 0,594 / 0,698
If you are able to do well in life, this is hardly needed. / 0,638 / 0,691 / 0,555
One can become a successful businessman/woman even without sophisticated studies. / 0,636 / 0,525 / 0,518
If you have to take pains and learn, it is better to choose some very useful and prestigious specialty (e.g. a lawyer) / 0,618 / 0,632 / 0,646
F2:
position of those who “learn to survive in today’s society” / In any conditions, even in poverty, exile, or captivity, and educated person is superior to others / 0,693 / 0,639 / 0,634
A person who is learning strives for continuous improvement and as if staves off senility / 0,665 / 0,649 / 0,667
Tik nuolat tobulėjantis žmogus gali išvengti bedarbystės / 0,627 / 0,528 / 0,650
People who learn continuously orient themselves better in life and less frequently experience setbacks in their career. / 0,591 / 0,682 / 0,716
Learning gives a person self-confidence and makes him/her stronger / 0,297 / 0,589 / 0,639
Every person has a lot to learn to feel secure in today’s society / 0,305 / 0,551 / 0,591
F3:
position of those who are “inclined to “save” at the expense of the secluded ones” / It is simply maddening to see that felons even in prison are able to reach university diploma, while university education is inaccessible to children of many decent people / 0,705 / 0,419 / 0,751
The state is unreasonably wasting finances for various “third age universities” for pensioners and elderly, while the youth is forced to pay for their own studies / 0,650 / 0,761 / 0,697
Why teach the homeless or drug addicts and finance their education? This will not change them anyway / 0,548 / 0,597 / 0,656

Note: Cronbach-α = 0,69; KMO=0,794; p = 0,000. The method of Principal Components, VARIMAX rotation after 6 iterations; total explained dispersion 56,7%.

The factorial analysis of the learning attitudes of the inhabitants of Kaunas, Siauliai, and Utena cities showed that analogous factors emerge in all cities, embracing the same statements. The only difference lies in the constituent weights of the factors. Some statements correlate with the factor not as strongly as should in case of an ideally “pure” factor (their Ln in Table 2 are indicated in white cells); however, their ‘removal” only insignificantly adjusts the emerged structure of the evaluation of statements. This proves, first, the reliability of the instrument of the study, and, second, the similarity of the learning-oriented attitudes of the inhabitants of all cities.

The first factor includes statements that obviously illustrate the position of a “street businessman”. This position manifests a negative approach to formal education and improvement in general, emphasizing the significance of practice and a very practical view of life. The second factor (the position of those who “learn to survive in today’s society”) includes statements that reflect a new understanding of learning and a much wider and global view of learning and life in general. The third factor may be called the position of those who are “inclined to “save” at the expense of the secluded ones”. This factor includes statements that reveal a negative approach to the learning of the representatives of the secluded groups (the elderly, the homeless, the drug addicts, and the convicts), placing special emphasis on the fact that their education is free and financed by the state.

The concept of learning as a condition for successful career

In order to elucidate the opinion of the inhabitants of cities towards continuous learning as a condition for success in career, six statements were formulated and presented for the respondents’ evaluation (see Table 3). The respondents were asked to express their approval (or disapproval) of these statements in the five-point scale (ranging from “totally disapprove” to “totally approve”). The obtained results are presented in the table. Statements representing the positive approach towards the learning concept are parked green, and those representing the negative approach – red.

Table 3

Learning as a condition for successful career

Statement / N / M / SD / Percentage of the approving respondents
If you are able to do well in life, this is hardly needed. / 1701 / 2.56 / 4.26 / 21
People who learn continuously orient themselves better in life and less frequently experience setbacks in their career. / 1701 / 3.85 / 2.55 / 64
One can become a successful businessman/woman even without sophisticated studies. / 1701 / 3.15 / 4.85 / 33
Having gone to a foreign country, an educated person adapts faster than others, he or she experiences less problems and gets a better job. / 1701 / 4.06 / 3.44 / 70
All those qualification courses do not make much sense to a mature person. This is just a waste of time and money. / 1700 / 2.23 / 1.26 / 17
Talks about continuous development are the hobby of people incapable of successful activity. / 1699 / 2.57 / 4.23 / 17

The analysis of the results presented in the table shows that the approach of the general population towards learning in the analyzed aspect is quite positive. Statements that highlight the approach that learning is a premise for success in career are approved by, accordingly, 64% and 70% of the respondents. Meanwhile, statements reflecting the negative attitude were approved by less than one-third of the respondents. Especially strong disapproval was expressed towards the statement “All those qualification courses do not make much sense to a mature person. This is just a waste of time and money” (M=2.23, SD=1.26).

What is the difference between the attitudes towards learning as a factor of success in the career between the inhabitants of Kaunas, Siauliai, and Utena cities? For this purpose, a comparative analysis was performed (see Fig. 1).

It turned out that the attitudes of the inhabitants of Kaunas and Šiauliai were more progressive than those of the inhabitants of Utena. For instance, the statement “Talks about continuous development are the hobby of people incapable of successful activity”, showing a negative approach towards the concept of continuous learning, was supported by two times as many inhabitants of Utena, compared to Siauliai. The significance of the qualification improvement courses is also devaluated by more inhabitants of Utena (23%) compared to Kaunas (14.3%) and Siauliai (13.2%). When evaluating the statement “Having gone to a foreign country, an educated person adapts faster than others, he or she experiences less problems and gets a better job”, a strongly positive attitude of the inhabitants of all three cities emerged, but in this case the number of positively-thinking inhabitants of Kaunas and Šiauliai was greater compared to Utena.

It is interesting to note that the statement reflecting a negative approach to learning - “One can become a successful businessman/woman even without sophisticated studies” – is supported by more inhabitants of Utena (39%) compared to people living in Kaunas (28%) and Šiauliai (30%). This can be related to different business conditions in cities differing in the size and the traditions and extent of business. This assumption is supported by the evaluation of another statement reflecting a negative approach to learning (“If you are able to do well in life, learning is hardly needed”): this statement is supported by only 14% of people living in Šiauliai (16% - in Kaunas), and twice as many (30%) inhabitants of Utena.

Approaches to the concept of learning as the premise for ensuring the harmony of life

Seven statements reflecting the attitude towards learning as the premise for ensuring the harmony of life were formulated. The results of the research are presented in the table 4.

Table 4

Learning as the premise for ensuring the harmony of life

Statement / N / M / SD / Percentage of the approving respondents
Learning gives a person self-confidence and makes him/her stronger. / 1702 / 4.40 / 2.46 / 83
If you have to take pains and learn, it is better to choose some very useful and prestigious specialty (e.g. a lawyer). / 1698 / 2.62 / 1.31 / 25
Every person has a lot to learn to feel secure in today’s society. / 1693 / 4.23 / 3.41 / 76
A person who is learning strives for continuous improvement and as if staves off senility. / 1699 / 3.79 / 1.12 / 63
In any conditions, even in poverty, exile, or captivity, and educated person is superior to others. / 1700 / 4.05 / 2.55 / 72
Without education and endeavor to develop continuously, a person soon starts feeling rejected, uninteresting and unneeded. / 1700 / 3.52 / 2.59 / 48
Learning from life is frequently more valuable that learning at a university. / 1702 / 3.52 / 1.12 / 49,9

The results of the study show that the approach of the general population towards learning as the premise for ensuring the harmony of life is highly positive (M > 3.6).

The highest approval was shown to the statements “Learning gives a person self-confidence and makes him/her stronger” (approved by 82.8% of the respondents), and “Every person has a lot to learn to feel secure in today’s society” (approved by 76.3% of the respondents). An especially positive approach to learning in the discussed aspect of ensuring the harmony of life is demonstrated by unanimous disapproval of the statement “If you have to take pains and learn, it is better to choose some very useful and prestigious specialty (e.g. a lawyer)” (approved only by 24.7% of the respondents, SD=1.26).

What is the difference between attitudes towards learning as a premise for the assurance of life harmony? In order to answer this question, the comparison of the evaluations of statements reflecting attitudes to learning between the inhabitants of the aforementioned cities was performed (Fig. 2).

It must be noted that the difference between the learning-oriented attitudes of the inhabitants of these three cities is insignificant. However, here again the difference between Utena from Kaunas and Šiauliai in this aspect emerges. For instance, the statement reflecting a negative approach to learning (“If you have to take pains and learn, it is better to choose some very useful and prestigious specialty (e.g. a lawyer)”) is supported by as many as 33% of the inhabitants of Utena compared to Šiauliai and Kaunas (respectively, 19% and 21%). The evaluation of the statement reflecting a positive approach to education (“In any conditions, even in poverty, exile, or captivity, and educated person is superior to others”) also showed a difference: this statement was supported by significantly more inhabitants of Šiauliai (79%) and Kaunas (76%), than those of Utena (61%). Nearly one-half of people living in Utena do not think that “A person who is learning strives for continuous improvement and as if staves off senility”.

Approaches to learning as the premise for the re-socialization of the disabled and the marginal groups

The activation of citizens for the participation in the creation of the learning city requires the knowledge of their attitudes towards the learning of secluded groups. Citizens’ negative attitude may be considered as a socio-cultural barrier for learning (Wenger, 1998).

The evaluation of statements reflecting the inhabitants’ approaches to learning in the studied aspect is presented in the table 5.

Table 5

Learning as the premise for the re-socialization of the disabled and the marginal groups