Autobiographical Methods for Broader Lifelong and Lifewide Learning for All: A Research Based on Original Format

Abstract

Nowadays we are living in hyper-connected and increasingly knowledge-based societies, where their citizens need ever higher skills and knowledge “equipments”. Several recent international surveys agree that it is crucial and strategic what people know, what people know to know and how they can effectively and profitably use what they know to work, live and improve their life chances, not only about earnings and employment but also about health and social active relationships, as i.e. reported in PIAAC by OECD (2013). In this framework, we’re pursuing a qualitative research based on a original format who allow to collect autobiographical writings as well as key-words and key-experiences people lived. Autobiographical writings, indeed, collected through an original format titled “Parole di una vita. Parole per…” and elaborated by the research team allow to remember, focus on and give senses and meanings to all people lifelong and lifewide experienced, to better understand what they lived and did, what are their skills, education attainments and literacy, and even their lack, what have influenced their choices so to better understand past to better plan their future. We will report some interesting results from the survey, whose data have been analyzed through grounded theory principles, which will show autobiographical format is useful in education and self-education, especially in a perspective of lifelong and lifewide learning.