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Social outcomes of learning have far reaching implications that extend beyond narrow economic measures. First, economic activity is interdependent with social and political activity; and therefore, the relevance of learning is broader and more complex than its direct impact on the former. Learning experiences that have an impact on health, civic activity or social tolerance, for example, may have an economic dimension that is neglected when policy decisions are based solely on narrow return to education measures. Second, learning has an impact on our standards of living other than in terms of increased production and consumption of goods and services. Social and personal wellbeing are ends in themselves, and the effect of education on them is an important policy issue.
The scope of social outcomes of learning is potentially large, but it is not at all clear exactly how great they are. The pathways that link learning experiences with outcomes are not always well understood and the inter-relationships between learning, outcomes and other variables throughout the life course are enormously complex. Moreover, not all social outcomes of learning are positive – although the negatives are unlikely to outweigh the benefits. In general, a great deal is known about how much more people earn after having completed an additional year’s schooling, but a lot less is known about some of the other outcomes that society and its institutions intend for education to provide, and even less is known about the unintended outcomes of learning experiences.
At the same time there is a growing body of research that is documenting the relationship between learning experiences and various social outcomes. But the theoretical and conceptual setting surrounding SOL is not robust. Accordingly, we need to develop coherent theories and models for understanding better these relationships and their implications for policy, and to think of how to measure the relationships in ways that are valuable for both policymakers and researchers.
Overall, the SOL project intends to generate policy relevant information concerning the links between learning and well being. This will involve an in depth investigation into the nature of the link between learning and well being, and how such linkages could be used as policy levers to improve wellbeing through education, and to achieve greater equity in the distribution of well being. The project also seeks to:
• Develop a framework that can be used to satisfactorily discuss what these various links are and what they actually mean.
• Contribute to the development of more well-integrated policies across education and other policy domains.
• Improve the knowledge base about the full extent of private and public benefits, which are needed to make good policy decisions, and for governments to determine the kinds of interventions they can or should undertake in education systems.
The overarching objectives of the SOL project are to:
• Create a framework of reference that can be used to inform the policy debate surrounding the social outcomes of learning.
• Document extensively the methodological issues surrounding the assessment of the impact of education and other learning experiences.
• Propose and develop policy indicators from existing data sources and create a framework of reference for further indicator development.
• Support and encourage empirical research and analyses so as to advance the theoretical and conceptual setting of SOL.
• Suggest a research and development strategy to understand better the impact of learning on economy and society.
The first phase of the SOL project is scheduled for activity between January 2005 and December 2006. During this period, task work will be commissioned to achieve the following:
• Produce a comprehensive and synthetic review within select SOL domains (i.e., health, civic and social engagement), including:
- Review of concepts and theories.
- Review of empirical evidence.
- Review of empirical issues and limitations.
- Recommendations for addressing empirical problems.
• Identify, review and prioritize policy issues.
• Identify possible policy implications of relationships and basis for intervention.
• Produce a portfolio of conceptual mappings that depict the complex web of relationships between specific learning experiences and specific social outcomes determined to be of policy relevance and high priority.
• Assess empirically the impact of education and other learning experiences for a small number of high priority and specific outcomes - physical and mental health (e.g., obesity, depression), and civic and social engagement (e.g., civic participation, social tolerance).
• Compile a list of relevant data sources that can be used to conduct further empirical analyses as well as explore the potential use of these or similar data for developing indicators relating to SOL.
• Suggest and develop policy indicators where possible with existing OECD and non-OECD data, and identify ways to improve existing or planned data collections (e.g., PISA, PIAAC, EU adult education survey, Literacy Assessment and Monitoring Program) in order to meet the requirements for producing good policy indicators relating to SOL.
Although there are a large number of areas to pursue, the SOL project will initially focus its research and development (R&D) efforts in two domain areas identified as high priority, namely health and civic and social engagement (CSE). Additionally, two cross-cutting themes identified as high priority will also be considered in the first phase, namely the intergenerational effects of learning via the family and home environment, and distributional effects of learning. Other areas will be included as resources permit.
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