XPERIENTIAL LEARNING AND LIFELONG LEARNING: EXPLORING THE SYNERGISTIC RELATIONSHIP

Learning is a continuous process throughout our lives, rooted in experience. Lifelong learning is also entrenched in the integration of learning and living. Experience plays the most important role in learning through concrete experience, abstract conceptualization, reflective observation, and active experimentation. The present paper aims to explore the relationship between experiential learning and lifelong learning and identify key factors based on subjective experiences following the descriptive phenomenology method. A research gap in experiential and lifelong learning has been identified by reviewing various related studies and literature. The study adopted the phenomenological approach of qualitative research with four steps, i.e., bracketing, intuiting, analysing, and describing by using a purposeful sampling technique. In-depth interviews were conducted with teachers, students, and professionals from education and industrial fields who experienced formal, informal, and non-formal learning related to their professions in the form of professional development courses or programs for upskilling or reskilling. Qualitative data were analysed using transcripts of the interviews following the systematic six-step thematic analysis process. A strong relationship between experiential learning and lifelong learning has been found. The findings have been presented with thematic mind maps. The research also identified the synergies and uncovered the process in which both intersect, complement, and enhance each other. The study also explored vividly the structure of the experiences of individuals who engage in both experiential learning and lifelong learning in their professional lives. The essence of the synergetic relationships between experiential learning and lifelong learning of people from different fields schematizes the key factors of the integration of experiences in lifelong learning, taking into consideration the role of reflection and the impact of contexts.