Learning to learn : what is it and can it be measured?

Measuring Learning to learn in Europe is part of a process to establish and monitor the learning processes and outcomes needed to facilitate the development of Lifelong learning in Europe. This report highlights the European political developments that have taken place which have placed learning to learn as a political priority within the Lisbon 2010 Education and Training process. It connects these with the turn to a competence based approach that emphasis the testing of a holistic and real-world based capability that includes values, attitudes, knowledge and skills. The report analyses how the competence learning to learn has been defined. It highlights the different understandings which have been developed from within the social-cultural and cognitive psychological paradigms. It investigates the European definition of learning to learn and how it broadly transverses these epistemological positions. The report also establishes what learning is not by visiting concepts such as intelligence, problem-solving and learning strategies. In a second step the report investigates how learning to learn can be measured. 3 national tests that are combined within the European test are explained: University of Helsinki test, the Bristol University test and the Dutch test. The European framework is then described and preliminary evaluation of the European learning to learn prepilot is briefly given. Existing international tests, in particular PISA, are analysed to see if these tests cover the definition. The results described are that these tests do not cover the full range of aspects of learning to learn and tend only to use the affective questions as explanatory variables for the test results rather than one dimension of the measurable outcomes. Finally, future directions for research to improve the conceptual basis of the European learning to learn test are proposed which highlights the need for more interdisciplinary research in the field of learning.