Emotional Intelligence Quotient

The Power of Minds at Work

People keep changing inline with the movement of the living era. And so as the life style and needs to acquire the fruits of success, also keep changing too with respect to the trends and colours of the behaviour. Talking about behaviourial studies, what came across in mind is the word of EIQ which precisely relates to the determination of emotional intelligence and organisational behaviour. How much degree of benefits can EIQ bring to us as in the majority of the society in its form of application? Hoping some facts and points of my previous readings that I'm willing to share here with those my friend and colleage out there who fond in dropping by visiting my blog for the favour of reading my write ups, may it can be commonly shared among us all with some good purposes outcome.

As the society became more complex, intellectual competences had became more sophisticated. This competence is known as social intelligence and can be defined as the intelligence that lies behind group interactions and behaviours. This type of intelligence as we can see, is closely related to cognition and emotional intelligence, and can also be seen as a first level in developing systems intelligence. Social intelligence in other words is actually "the ability to understand and manage men and women, boys and girls, to act wisely in human relations". It is equivalent to interpersonal intelligence and closely related to Emotional intelligence.

What is Emotional Intelligence (EI)?
Emotional Intelligence in facts explains why, despite equal intellectual capacity, training, or experience, which some people excel while others of the same caliber lag behind. Certain competencies are found repeatedly in high performers at all levels, even from customer service representatives to CEOs. Therefore, we must find ways to build these talents labeled EQ (emotional intelligence quotient) in order to climb ourselves into the pathway of success.

And what is Emotional Intelligence Quotient (EQ)?Emotional Intelligence (EI), often measured as an Emotional Intelligence Quotient (EQ), describes an ability, capacity, skill or (in the case of the trait EI model) a self-perceived ability, to identify, assess, and manage the emotions of one's self, of others, and of groups. It is a relatively new area of psychological research.

Defining emotional intelligence
One attempt toward a definition, it was precisely defined EI as “the ability to monitor one's own and others' feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them and to use this information to guide one's thinking and actions. Despite this early definition, there has been confusion regarding the exact meaning of this construct. The definitions are so varied, and the field is growing so rapidly, that up to the present day, there are three main models of EI:
· Ability-based EI models
The ability based model views emotions as useful sources of information that help one to make sense of and navigate the social environment. The model proposes that individuals vary in their ability to process information of an emotional nature and in their ability to relate emotional processing to a wider cognition. This ability is seen to manifest itself in certain adaptive behaviors. The model proposes that EI includes 4 types of abilities. They are:
1. Perceiving emotions — the ability to detect and decipher emotions in faces, pictures, voices, and cultural artifacts- including the ability to identify one’s own emotions. Perceiving emotions represents a basic aspect of emotional intelligence, as it makes all other processing of emotional information possible.
2. Using emotions — the ability to harness emotions to facilitate various cognitive activities, such as thinking and problem solving. The emotionally intelligent person can capitalize fully upon his or her changing moods in order to best fit the task at hand.
3. Understanding emotions — the ability to comprehend emotion language and to appreciate complicated relationships among emotions. For example, understanding emotions encompasses the ability to be sensitive to slight variations between emotions, and the ability to recognize and describe how emotions evolve over time.
4. Managing emotions — the ability to regulate emotions in both ourselves and in others. Therefore, the emotionally intelligent person can harness emotions, even negative ones, and manage them to achieve intended goals.
· Mixed models of EIThe EI model focuses on EI as a wide array of competencies and skills that drive leadership performance. The model which outlines the four of main EI constructs:
1. Self-awareness — the ability to read one's emotions and recognize their impact while using gut feelings to guide decisions.
2. Self-management — involves controlling one's emotions and impulses and adapting to changing circumstances.
3. Social awareness — the ability to sense, understand, and react to other's emotions while comprehending social networks.
4. Relationship management — the ability to inspire, influence, and develop others while managing conflict.

A set of emotional competencies within each construct of EI were included. Emotional competencies are not identified only as innate talents, but rather learned capabilities that must be worked on and developed to achieve outstanding performance. It is known that individuals are born with a general emotional intelligence which determines their potential for learning emotional competencies.


. Trait EI model
Trait EI is "a constellation of emotion-related self-perceptions located at the lower levels of personality". In lay terms, trait EI refers to an individual's self-perceptions of their emotional abilities. This definition of EI encompasses behavioral dispositions and self perceived abilities and is measured by self report, as opposed to the ability based model which refers to actual abilities, which have proven highly resistant to scientific measurement. Trait EI should be investigated within a personality framework. An alternative label for the same construct is trait emotional self-efficacy.

The conceptualization of EI as a personality trait leads to a construct that lies outside the taxonomy of human cognitive ability. This is an important distinction in as much as it bears directly on the operationalization of the construct and the theories and hypotheses that are formulated about it.


EI, IQ and job performanceBased on some research results of EI and job performance indication, it has shown that results are found mixed: a positive relation has been found in some of the studies, in others there was no relation or an inconsistent one. This led to the offer a compensatory model between EI and IQ, which posits the association between EI and job performance becomes more positive as cognitive intelligence decreases. The results of their study show that this kind of compensatory model does exist: employees with low IQ get higher task performance and organizational citizenship behavior directed at the organization, the higher their EI.
Another definition of emotional intelligence proposes four broad domains of EQ which consist of 19 competencies:
Self-Awareness· Emotional self-awareness: Reading one's own emotions and recognizing their impact
· Accurate self-assessment; knowing one's strengths and limits
· Self-confidence; a sound sense of one's self-worth and capabilities
Self-Management
· Emotional self-control: Keeping disruptive emotions and impulses under control
· Transparency: Displaying honesty and integrity; trustworthiness
· Adaptability: Flexibility in adapting to changing situations or overcoming obstacles
· Achievement: The drive to improve performance to meet inner standards of excellence
· Initiative: Readiness to act and seize opportunities
· Optimism: Seeing the upside in events
Social Awareness · Empathy: Sensing others' emotions, understanding their perspective, and taking active interest in their concerns
· Organizational awareness: Reading the currents, decision networks, and politics at the organizational level
· Service: Recognizing and meeting follower, client, or customer needs Relationship Management
· Inspirational leadership: Guiding and motivating with a compelling vision
· Influence: Wielding a range of tactics for persuasion
· Developing others: Bolstering others' abilities through feedback and guidance
· Change catalyst: Initiating, managing, and leading in a new direction
· Conflict management: Resolving disagreements
· Building bonds: Cultivating and maintaining a web of relationships
· Teamwork and collaboration: Cooperation and team building


There is general agreement that the factors have identified are indeed emerging as a key element of workplace success. This is because the way that most organizations work has changed in the last 20 years. There are now fewer levels of management than there were and management styles tend to be less autocratic. In addition, the move towards more knowledge based, team working and customer focused jobs means that individuals generally have more autonomy, even at fairly low levels within organizations.


Points from this "lessons" are:
• Technology is only a small part of the success of a project, the community is crucial
• Avoid anonymity to reduce the negative side effects of the collective intelligence (the "freeriders")
• Computers are not the best interface devices, but are needed in the background
• User interfaces need to be extremely simple
• Need to take care of public/private boundaries (conflicts of interest)
• Social tagging works very well even for less computer-literate groups • The reasons for tagging are quite different
-- Tags are 'representations' for community members, to themselves
-- Vehicles for social capital
-- Means of communication with others threatening the commons
• Face to face communication is still important for tagging in order to generate effective communication skill and good networking..
Practical applications of these positive psychology include helping individuals and organizations correctly identify their strengths and use them to increase and sustain their respective levels of well-being.


MotivationMotivation is the reason or reasons for engaging in a particular behavior, especially human behavior as studied in philosophy, conflict, economics, psychology, and neuropsychology. These reasons may include basic needs such as food or a desired object, hobbies, goal, state of being, or ideal. The motivation for a behavior may also be attributed to less-apparent reasons such as altruism or morality. Motivation refers to the initiation, direction, intensity and persistence of human behavior.



Psychological Mindedness
Psychological Mindedness (PM) is determining a concept which refers to an individual's capacity for self-examination, self-observation, introspection and personal insight. It also includes an ability to recognize and see the links between current problems within self and with others, and the ability to insight one's past particularly for its impact on present attitudes and functioning. Psychologically minded people have average and above average intelligence and generally have some insight into their problems even before they enter therapy. Psychological mindedness is distinct from intellectualizations and obsessional rumination about one's inner problems. Psychological mindedness be speaks a capacity to tolerate psychological conflict and stress intrapsychically rather than by regressive means of conflict management or resolution. Conceptual definitions of PM have included variant, but related descriptions. Some definitions relate solely to the self, “a person’s ability to see relationships among thoughts, feelings, and actions with the goal of learning the meanings and causes of his experiences and behaviors”.It can also be extended as the concept beyond self-focus, as involving “... both self-understanding and an interest in the motivation and behavior of others”.
· It can reflect on (i.e. observe and experience at the same time) a full range of own and others' feelings or experiences (including subtle variations in feelings). It can also reflect both in the present and with reference to a longer-term view of self, values, and goals. More over, it can reflect on multiple relationships between feelings and experiences, across the full range of age-expected experiences in the context of new challenges.
· It can reflect on feelings or experiences of self and others both in the present and with reference to a longer-term view of a sense of self, values, and goals for some age-expected experiences, but not others. Cannot be reflective in this way when feelings are strong.
· It also can reflect on moment-to-moment experiences, but not with reference to a longer-term sense of self and experiences, values, and goals.
· And unable to reflect genuinely on feelings or experiences, even in the present. Self-awareness consists often of polarized feeling states or simple basic feelings without an appreciation of subtle variations in feelings. Self-awareness is lacking, and there may be a tendency toward fragmentation.



Character Strengths and Virtues (CSV)

The Character Strengths and Virtues (CSV) represents the first attempt to identify and classify the positive psychological traits of human beings. Much like the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) of general psychology, the CSV provides a theoretical framework to assist in developing practical applications for positive psychology. It identifies six classes of virtue (i.e. "core virtues") which made up of twenty-four measurable character strengths.
Positive psychology
The introduction of Character Strengths and Virtues (CSV) suggests that these six virtues are considered good by the vast majority of cultures and throughout history and that these traits lead to increased happiness when practiced. The organization of these virtues and strengths is as follows:
1. Wisdom and Knowledge: creativity, curiosity, open-mindedness, love of learning, perspective
2. Courage: bravery, persistence, integrity, vitality
3. Humanity: love, kindness, social intelligence
4. Justice: citizenship, fairness, leadership
5. Temperance: forgiveness and mercy, humility, prudence, self control
6. Transcendence: appreciation of beauty and excellence, gratitude, hope, humor, spirituality


The today criteria for success at work are now changing. We are being judged by a new yardstick: not just by how smart we are, or by our training and expertise, but also by how well we handle ourselves and each other. This yardstick is increasingly applied in choosing who will be hired and who will not, who will be let go and who retained, who will be past over and who will be promoted…

Has it occur to us how much better the world could be if we can communicate well & understand each other emotionally?

So lets make this happen and put our best EIQ in practise.

Lets strive for our success together.

Surviving Depression

Are you depressed?

What makes you so depressed?

Causes of depression

Ø The High Price of a Broken Heart
Ø Postpartum Depression
Ø Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
Ø Up All Night, Down All Day

What is depression? Depression is an illness that causes a person to feel sad and hopeless much of the time. It is different from normal feelings of sadness, grief, or low energy. Anyone can have depression. It often runs in families. But it can also happen to someone who doesn't have a family history of depression. You can have depression one time or many times.

What Happens
From health wise, depression may begin with symptoms of anxiety (such as excessive worrying) or symptoms such as sadness or lack of energy that last for days or months before the onset of full-blown depression. You may have trouble concentrating or remembering, experience a loss of pleasure in things you used to enjoy, feel hopeless, and have low energy and changes in sleeping and eating patterns. You may withdraw socially from others and lose interest in sexual activity.

The cause of depression varies from one person to another. You might have mild or severe symptoms of depression for a long time, or you may have them for a brief time. A small number of people feel depressed for most of their lives and require ongoing treatment. Most people who have depression can be treated successfully with medication, professional counseling, or a combination of the two.

Depressive disorders are classified according to their severity and duration. Depression may be mild, moderate, or severe. It may start suddenly (acute) or be long-lasting (chronic). Dysthymic disorder, for example, is chronic mild depression. Some people may experience an episode of major depression on top of dysthymic disorder (double depression).

For severe depression, you may need to be admitted to a hospital for a short time, especially if you are having thoughts of suicide. Because depression puts you at a higher risk for attempting suicide, you should seek immediate treatment if you are having self-destructive thoughts.

Recurring illness
Depression often recurs. If you have one episode of depression, you are more likely to become depressed again at some point in your life than someone who has never been depressed. The risk of having another episode of depression increases with each additional episode.

Related illness Depressed people who have a chronic illness such as diabetes or coronary artery disease suffer more from symptoms of their illnesses, are less able to function, have a decreased quality of life, and pay more in medical costs. People with depression are less likely to take good care of themselves, and this may make their health worse.
Sometimes episodes of depression are preceded or followed by periods of high energy (mania). If you cycle between depression and mania, you may have a condition called bipolar disorder. If you have depression only during certain seasons of the year, such as seasonal time of the months, you may have Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).

SymptomsFrom health wise, if you also have a depression, you may feel hopeless and sad or stop feeling pleasure from almost everything you do. You may feel down in the dumps, tearful, or discouraged. You may also be irritable or anxious or have low energy levels. The symptoms of depression are often subtle at first. It can be hard to recognize that symptoms may be connected and that you might have depression.

The two most significant symptoms of depression are:
> Sadness or hopelessness.
> Loss of interest in or pleasure from most daily activities.

Other symptoms include:
> Losing or gaining weight because of changes in appetite.
> Sleeping too much or not enough.
> Feeling restless and unable to sit still, or feeling that moving takes a great effort.
> Feeling tired all the time.
> Feeling unworthy or guilty without an obvious reason.
> Having problems concentrating, remembering, or making decisions.
> Thinking often about death or suicide.

If you have at least five of these symptoms for 2 weeks or longer, and one of the symptoms is either sadness or loss of interest, you may be diagnosed with major depression that needs treatment. Even if you have fewer than five symptoms, you may still be depressed and need treatment. If you have 2 to 4 symptoms for a period of at least 2 years (1 year for a child), you may have a long-term form of depression called dysthymic disorder (dysthymia).

Many women experience mood changes before menstruation. Physical and emotional premenstrual symptoms that interfere with relationships or responsibilities are known as premenstrual syndrome (PMS). However, women who have emotional and physical premenstrual symptoms that seriously interfere with daily life may have a type of depression known as premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD). Many health professionals see people with general symptoms that may be difficult to link to depression. These symptoms, which commonly occur with depression, include:

. Having headaches and other body aches and pains.
. Having digestive problems, including constipation or diarrhea.
. Losing interest in sex or being unable to perform sexually.
. Feeling anxious or worried without an obvious reason.
. Blaming yourself or others for your depression.
. Not moving or talking for hours.

Other symptoms of depression may include:
. Overeating and weight gain (rather than loss of appetite).
. Oversleeping (rather than insomnia).
. Increased tearfulness, anger, and generally not feeling well, along with anxiety and tension.
. Sometimes, a feeling of heaviness in the arms and legs.
. Sensitivity to rejection.

Depression is a serious problem for people of any age, and older adults with symptoms of depression should seek treatment right away. Depression in older adults can cause confusion or forgetfulness (although some medications can cause these symptoms as well). Depression has also been identified as a significant risk factor for death in older adults with heart problems. It is important to recognize the early warning signs of depression so that you can get treatment.

Interactive Tool: Are You Depressed?The symptoms of depression are often hard to notice at first. It can be hard to recognize that symptoms may be connected and that you might have depression. Symptoms of depression in children and teens are sometimes different from adult symptoms, which can make their depression more difficult to diagnose and treat.

Depression can lead to suicide? The warning signs of suicide change with age. Warning signs of suicide in children and teens may include preoccupation with death or suicide or a recent breakup of a relationship. Warning signs of suicide in adults may include alcohol or substance abuse, recent job loss, or divorce. Warning signs of suicide in older adults may include the recent death of a partner or diagnosis of a life-limiting illness.

What Makes Us Happy?
What makes us truly happy? While some evidence suggests that happiness may be linked, in part, to relative wealth, how we’re doing compared to those around us, overall the old adage that money doesn’t buy happiness seems to hold true. If we can ever notice, we are materially so much better off than we were 50 years ago, but we’re not one much happier. Some may say that happiness is as more closely correlated with people rather than things. Its because we humans have a deep need to belong, to connect with others in close, supportive, intimate, caring relationships. People who have such close relationships are more likely to report themselves ‘very happy. Seems like there is list of eight factors that influence rates of happiness and depression. Many of these factors vary from city to city and region to region. Here’s your chance to see how your city compares.

Happily Married
Unhappy marriage may also become a disaster and may further lead to highly tense depression. So, is getting married one of the keys to a happy life? Interestingly enough, the happy halo that shines over married couples isn’t the result of having kids, those with children were just as likely to be happy as those without. Rather, there seems to be something about marriage itself that boosts both men’s and women’s feelings of well-being in life. Recent research may suggests that people become less depressed and less lonely after they get married, After all, it’s harder to be lonely when you’ve got a loved one to come home to every night. Men usually benefit even more than women from having a life-long companion. Women will talk to everyone, but most men tend to rely on their wives as their main confidant. In addition, women are typically the social planners in a relationship and ensure that the men stay connected to family and friends, another source of happiness. And what about all that nagging that wives are so famous for? Turns out it pays off. Men who are married drink less, smoke less, eat better, get more sleep, and engage in less risky behavior than their unmarried peers. The end result: Married men are healthier, and since health is linked to happiness, they’re happier too.

Live a happy and healthy life. Avoid depression. Get yourself tangled with those surround you and rest your soul to the Main Creator. Every one always needs a someone. No matter he/she is to you, always appreciate his/her company and time shared with you for those great sweet time or moments shared with you will carry some spark of hapiness and joy in you. Life is great and full of colours. Enjoy life at its best and appreciate what best God made for you. Its the entire world.

I thank God for this heal.

The fall and the strugle I have inside..

And the faith in the power of the Great Creator...that He never turns His back on me..the blessing He puts on me....

I thank Him for making me see.... the right way and granted me to stand strong on my own two feet again....

Those surrounds you.... how many who could UNDERSTAND you?

For what have you been through...

Lifelong learning...

LIFELONG LEARNING IN A KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY

Learning is PurposefulMost people have fairly definite ideas about what we want to do and achieve. Our goals sometimes are short term, involving a matter of days or weeks. On the other hand, our goals may be carefully planned for a career or a lifetime. We each have specific intentions and goals. Our individual needs and attitudes may determine what we learn. In the process of learning, our goals are of paramount significance.

Definition of Learning
To learn is to acquire knowledge or skill. Learning also may involve a change in attitude or behavior. The ability to learn is one of the most outstanding human characteristics. Learning occurs continuously throughout a person's lifetime. To define learning, it is necessary to analyze what happens to the individual. For example, an individual's way of perceiving, thinking, feeling, and doing may change as a result of a learning experience. Thus, learning can be defined as a change in behavior as a result of experience. This can be physical and overt, or it may involve complex intellectual or attitudinal changes which affect behavior in more subtle ways. In spite of numerous theories and contrasting views, psychologists generally agree on many common characteristics of learning.
Learning is a Result of Experience
All learning is by experience, but learning takes place in different forms and in varying degrees of richness and depth. For instance, some experiences involve the whole person while others may be based only on hearing and memory. It seems clear enough that the learning of a physical skill requires actual experience in performing that skill. Mental habits are also learned through practice. In sound judgement and in developing decision-making skills, we need learning experiences that involve knowledge of general principles and require the use of judgment in salving realistic problems.

Learning is an Active Process
Learning is a process of changing behavior, clearly that process must be an active one.

MotivationMotivation is probably the dominant force which governs our progress and ability to learn. Motivation may be negative or positive, tangible or intangible, subtle and difficult to identify, or it may be obvious. Negative motivation may engender fear, and be perceived by us as a threat. While negative motivation may be useful in certain situations, characteristically it is not as effective in promoting efficient learning as positive motivation. Positive motivation is provided by the promise or achievement of rewards. These rewards may be personal or social; they may involve financial gain, satisfaction of the self-concept, or public recognition. Motivation which can be used to advantage by the includes of the desired for personal gain, the desire for personal comfort or security, the desire for group approval, and the achievement of a favorable self-image. The attractive features of the activity to be learned also can be a strong motivational factor. We are anxious to learn skills which may be used to our advantage. And if we understand that each task will be useful in preparing for future activities, we will be more willing to pursue learning in lifelong.

Learning in a life long process Lifelong learning is a broad, generic term that is difficult to define with specificity. Its overlap, or its interchangeable use, with other closely related concepts, such as lifelong, permanent, recurrent, continuing, or adult education; learning organizations; and the learning society (society in which learning is pervasive), makes this even more true. For some it includes learning from childhood and early schooling, while others treat it as in terms of the adult learning process. It has grown to a global concept, with differing manifestations that vary with national political and economic priorities, and with cultural and social value systems.

Lifelong learning is the development of human potential through a continuously supportive process which stimulates and empowers individuals to acquire all the knowledge, values, skills, and understanding what we will require throughout our lifetimes and to apply them with confidence, creativity and enjoyment in all roles, circumstances, and environments. The definition includes several basic elements of the lifelong learning ideal such as:
(1) a belief in the idea of lifetime human potential and the possibility of its realization;
(2) the efforts to facilitate achievement of the skills, knowledge, and aptitudes necessary for a successful life;
(3) a recognition that learning takes place in many modes and places, including formal educational institutions and non formal experiences such as employment, military service, and civic participation and informal self-initiated activity; and
(4) the need to provide integrated supportive systems adapted to individual differences which encourage and facilitate individuals to achieve mastery and self-direction. Society should make these systems available to learners with flexibility and diversity.

Why do we need to learn through out our whole life?
Why do we need to get ourselves engaged in a lifelong learning? Why can’t the learning process only starts and ends in school days only? What is so important about learning for a lifetime? What sweetness does the fruit bears out of long life learning? We need to ask ourselves and try to get some practical views or answers on those statements imposed below and relates it to the topic here.
Ø The new millennium requires new vision and understanding of learning.
Ø Transition from Industrial Society to Information and Knowledge Society has its impacts on social, economic and cultural aspects of life.
Ø What are the impacts of the transition to Information Age regarding:
o personal fulfilment
o citizenship
o employability
Ø What are the implications of this transition on learning?
Ø What is the vision of future learning?
Ø How can we be prepared for an Information Age and a Knowledge Society?
Ø In a technology-enabled, lifelong learning environment, digital literacy (e-skills), scientific literacy, cultural literacy, in addition to key competencies, are the critical perquisites for access, participation, and learning to live together in peace.
Ø With the advent of “e-learning,” some believed that the panacea for learning had been discovered. But without a holistic approach to learning, technology by itself can’t bring any change.

In a world of active lifelong learning, an individual’s skills portfolio will be built and documented based on a mix of real-life experiences, achievements, and formal learning certifications. While classroom-based learning will continue, especially with early phases of education, it will play a decreased role during an individual lifetime.
In knowledge society, individuals of every age and background are invited to join in logical analysis, technical dissertations, rich and wide knowledge of diverse subject matters. “Intellectual activity is anywhere and everywhere, whether at the frontier of knowledge or in a third-grade class-room.”

Lifelong Learning
A cradle to grave process designed to provide any citizen with a constantly updated personal and professional development. A tools which enables us to face change, to adapt to the requirements of the labour market, to take responsibility for our own life, to attain personal fulfilment and to assume the responsiveness of an active citizen.

Knowledge SocietyIs a society that creates, shares, and uses knowledge for the prosperity and wellbeing of its people. Is what we should be seeking to build in the 21st century through networking, and acquisition of higher levels cognitive skill?

New Approaches to Knowledge
The new approach will strike a better balance between purely formal knowledge, applied knowledge and meta-knowledge. At the present time knowledge is conveyed through speech and the written word. In the future, there will be an extraordinary diversification of its representations, particularly through the new information and communications technology (ICT). Cross cutting themes, interdisciplinary approach will become more important than disciplinary one.

Knowledge will be inclusive and it will involve “higher-level” of cognitive domain via:
Ø analyses
Ø synthesis
Ø evaluation
Learners will be more closely associated with the creation of knowledge and more involved in the learning process.

Learning in Knowledge SocietyImplies to differentiate between:
Ø superficial learning (reception/understanding/application)
Ø deep learning (analysis/synthesis/evaluation)

Implies to construct knowledge, to make meaning, and continuous improvement of mental representation.
Ø Constructivist’s definition of learning
Ø Learning is the process of adjusting our mental models to accommodate new experiences.
Ø Learning is a search for meaning.
Ø Meaning making requires wholes as well as parts.
Ø Parts must be understood in the context of wholes.

Therefore, the learning process focuses on primary concepts and not the isolated facts. The pillars of lifelong learning in 21st century are:-
Ø Learning to know
Ø Learning to do
Ø Learning to be
Ø Learning to live together
Ø Learning to know by mastering cognitive skills & collaboration.
Ø Learning to do by mastering skills & production.
Ø Learning to be by admitting multiple intelligent (MI) and sustainable human development.
Ø Learning to live together by dialogue and tolerance.

While, the main objectives of lifelong learning can be as below:-
Ø Personal fulfilment and development throughout life (cultural capital)
Ø Active citizenship and inclusion (social capital)
Ø Employability (human capital)
Ø Lifelong learning and Competencies

There are three broad types of competencies to be acquired through lifelong learning process. They are:
Ø Communicative competencies: the ability to speak, listen, write, negotiate, and mediate.
Ø Analytical competencies: the ability to operate within systems of formal logic, to create models, and to display a sociological imagination.
Ø Personal competencies - the ability to display “emotional balance,” to accept diversity, to tolerate.

Key competencies
The key competencies mentioned above are neither school nor university topics, but are acquired in social groups or in the family. These competencies could be considered as tangible contribution to the lifelong learning process and to the construction of a knowledge–based society.
Ø Key competencies enable people to pursue individual objectives in a life driven by personal interests, aspirations, and the desire to continue learning throughout life (cultural capital).
Ø Key competencies allow everybody to participate as an active citizen in society (social capital).
Ø Key competencies upraise the capacity of each and every person to obtain a decent job in the labour market (human capital).

Dimensions of a Knowledge Society
The three specific dimensions of knowledge society are:
Ø The political dimension
Ø The operational dimension
Ø The dimension related to the development of Human Beings

The political dimension implies developing a “learning culture” & “learning spaces” in civil society and in a work place.

The operational dimension implies all players in the lifelong learning process (institutions, NGO’s, companies, trade- unions, education and training authorities, practitioners, municipalities, local communities, museums,…) in order to build strategic lifelong learning partnerships and networks to analyze learning requirements and remove barriers to access to learning.

The dimension related to the development of human beings is the heart of the matter, since it implies a focus on people and citizens rather than abstract terms, such as “human resources” or “end-users.”

Best GLOBAL practices in lifelong learning
The best innovative practices in a global community are categorized under the following factors:
Ø Process-oriented innovation
Ø Goal-oriented innovation
Ø Context-oriented innovation

Implications of best innovative practices in lifelong learning
Ø Process-oriented innovation implies development of new methods, tools, or approaches, or improvement of existing methods.
Ø Goal-oriented innovation implies formulation of new objectives. For example, active involvement of local communities in the development of basic competencies.
Ø Context-oriented innovation is concerned with system(s) development and implies political and institutional structures and holistic approaches to integrate to sustainable human development.

Priorities for Actions in Lifelong Learning Valuing learning by, for example, developing tools for assessing competencies and methodologies. Information guidance and counselling are actions taken by orienting people to manage their knowledge. Investing time and money in learning by collaboration between public & private bodies are also part of essential actions in long life learning. Bringing together learners and learning opportunities by showing how “normal” instruments such as TV, popular music and theatre, rituals, arts, books and reading can be used as powerful levers for inclusion through lifelong learning. Innovative and critical pedagogy by adaptability to contexts and constructing knowledge through Constructive socio-cultural and holistic approaches to learning are too part of the practical actions related to life long learning.

Knowledge management: from lifelong employment to lifelong learning
Knowledge management is often thought of as a process by which an organization gets its staff to share their knowledge for the benefit of the organization. Of equal importance to the success of knowledge management is how an organization shares knowledge for the benefit of staff.

The traditional organization made a promise to its staff: Work hard, show talent, and you will have a long and progressive career with us. Downsizing, outsourcing, and a general environment of rapid change, has meant that this promise is less common.

The response of many staff is to no longer expect lifelong employment. In fact, to stay a long time with a particular organization is now seen in a negative light by many people. They want to stay fresh and move on before they are moved out.

The increase in interest in the discipline of knowledge management finds some of its roots in the decline of the lifelong employment promise. The organization sees itself in danger of becoming a knowledge sieve, with knowledgeable staff continuously leaving, bringing their knowledge with them. A key question of knowledge management is: How do we tap this knowledge before it flows away.

Naturally, many staff have taken a cynical view. It looks to them that knowledge management initiatives are a way of draining knowledge from them. Some believe that once their best knowledge has been sucked out, they become even more dispensable.

The way to create a positive and realistic environment is to answer the question: What's in it for me? If you take away the promise of lifelong employment, what do you replace it with? Lifelong learning.
Lifelong learning is a direct response to the decline in lifelong employment. The age of lifelong employment was reflected by gradual change and a formal education for a fixed period that, by and large, lasted you through your career.

The age of lifelong learning is reflected by rapid change and the need to constantly update your skills. Rapid change has brought with it a tremendous rise in complexity. The emergence of the Internet combines access to vast quantities of information with powerful communication and collaboration tools.

Knowledge workers, those who get paid to think, live in a giant network that is constantly in flux. The opposite of a network is an individual. Hoarding of information is a natural defensive reaction, but it doesn't work if you want to succeed in a network. In an Internet-driven economy, it simply pays to share. Getting connected and sharing is one of the surest ways to become a lifelong learner.

The organization can offer a new set of promises to the knowledge worker. Among those set of promises are:-:
Ø Our intranet will be full of useful things that will help us learn smarter and faster.
Ø Those who share and collaborate will be rewarded. The more quality knowledge we share the more our career will progress.
Ø Because everyone in this organization shares, our collective knowledge is a powerful resource.
Ø We will be offered with opportunities to publish and promote our best ideas. This will enhance our reputation.
Ø In essence, we will also be offered a lifelong learning university. We will hence be provided with the tools, content and environment that could makes learning a form of sharing and sharing a form of learning.
Education is life
The notion of learning through life is hardly new, however, with the development of a self-consciously 'adult education' came the view that education should be lifelong. Adult education must not be regarded as a luxury for a few exceptional persons here and there, nor as a thing which concerns only a short span of early manhood, but that adult education is a permanent national necessity, an inseparable aspect of citizenship, and therefore should be both universal and lifelong.
1. Education is life: 'not merely preparation for an unknown kind of future living... The whole of life is learning, therefore education can have no endings. This new venture is called adult education not because it is confined to adults but because adulthood, maturity, defines its limits...'
2. Adult education should be non-vocational: 'Education conceived as a process coterminous with life revolves about non-vocational ideals... adult education more accurately defined begins where vocational education leaves off. Its purpose is to put meaning into the whole of life'.
3. We should start with situations not subjects: 'The approach, will be via the route of situations, not subjects. In conventional education the student is required to adjust himself to an established curriculum; in adult education the curriculum is built around the student's needs and interests'.
4. We must use the learner's experience: 'The resource of highest value in adult education is the learner's experience, in tact that all genuine education will keep doing and thinking together'.
It is not only that education carries on throughout life, but it is also part of living. It requires a shift in our thinking about the fundamental organizational unit of education, from the school, an institution where learning is organized, defined and contained, to the learner, an intelligent agent with the potential to learn from any and all of her encounters with the world around us. There has been a fundamental shift in the behaviour of 'ordinary citizens', 'who increasingly regard the day-to-day practice of adult learning as routine, perhaps so routine that they give it little explicit attention'. Economic, social and cultural changes mean that many now live in 'knowledge' or 'informational societies' that have strong individualizing tendencies and a requirement for permanent learning. As a result, many adults now take part in organized learning throughout their lifespan; that the post-school system is populated by adults as well as by young people; and that 'non-formal' learning permeates daily life and is valued. Typical of the last of these has been a substantial increase in activities such as short residential courses, study tours, fitness centres, sports clubs, heritage centres, self-help therapy manuals, management gurus, electronic networks and self-instructional videos.

The new adult learning is part of a much broader process. As individuals come to rely less on traditional institutions and the authority figures associated with us such as religious leaders, parents and aristocracy, etc in order to guide our behaviour, so we become more self-directed. At least in principle, we can select from a variety of possible role-models; traditional role models certainly do not disappear (indeed, they are an important if little-understood resource for fundamentalist movements), but to select any role model requires that individuals face up to an increasing range of biographical options. Changes in work organization and management (so called 'post-Fordism' involving flatter organizations, multi-skilled and adaptable labour forces, and flexible production), married to a focus on markets, consumption and lifestyle, has certainly drawn policy makers to the rhetoric of lifelong learning.

A knowledge based society is a promising and challenging Global scenario with the advent of ICT in the 21st century. It carries both opportunities for personal advancement and the threat of being ‘left behind.” Opportunities provided to citizens through lifelong learning are a potential tool for empowerment. As pro-active lifelong learners we need to be equipped with new competencies as we construct knowledge personally through social processes and culture. To be equipped with the key competencies for lifelong learning in a knowledge society could be considered as a right and obligation of every human being. It is concluded that, it is a high time to consider lifelong learning as a moral duty and/or ethical value of the Citizen of the world.

I never stop learning myself...as the more you've learn yet the more you want to know.

Its the blessing by the Great Creator to have granted us with the world & life as our learning table & resources.

All we have to do is just learn to be good by it...with it ...and at it....so to make the good benefit and return for the mankind.