"Every day is a school day", the idea that there is something to be learned every day certainly resonates with me. It is how I approach life. There is always something new to notice, something to be curious about, an opportunity to discover.
To me, it seems obvious that we are always learning and developing. It isn't something that stops when our formal education ends. Did I always see it that way? Probably not. My experience of education was a series of hoops to be jumped through and qualifications obtained which would eventually open the door to being 'qualified' to do a job.
It had felt like such a hard slog to get to that point that perhaps the idea there was going to be an ongoing need for more learning was kept under wraps. Maybe back in the 80's and 90's things were very different.
The attitude seemed to be one of compliance and regulation. As a member of a professional body, which I had studied for 6 years, and fulfilled many other criteria to join, I wasn't best pleased to be faced with fulfilling a mandatory "continuing professional development" (CPD) requirement every year.
The culture, as I recall, was one of here's yet another obligation to be met. Bureaucracy telling me what I have to do. It seemed there was a lot of money to be made from providing conferences and training which qualified for CPD hours. The quality of which didn't seem to matter. It was the ability to have the hours spent certified to fulfil a requirement that mattered.
This attitude reflects that instilled by school. Do what needs to be done for the exam. Fulfil the requirement. What happened to learning because we are inspired to absorb new knowledge, develop new skills, be curious about about the world and as a result able to be innovative and creative in the way we approach life.
I have a reaction to the oft used phrase 'life long learner'. To me, it feels patronising. Almost as if it's saying you didn't do well enough yet, keep trying.