Learning in Retirement and Old Age: an agenda for the 21^stcentury (original) (raw)

2015, European Journal of Education

Introduction This article is about learning by and for older adults. This is a subject of key importance which has yet to be accorded the recognition it deserves. One reason for its neglect is the sheer dominance of the idea that education is something reserved for the young. That older adults and the elderly might be priority groups for organised learning, including but not only through conventional education offers, goes strongly against the grain of social convention. Another reason relates to what Desjardins (pp.) discusses in his article in this edition: the dominance of economic discourse in education-education as 'consumption', as 'investment', and the calculation of associated 'returns'-which has served to militate against giving priority attention to older learners. For many reasons, this should now change. This article refers broadly to those in retirement; some refer to 'third age' or 'fourth age' using different age boundaries. Such terms and age cutoffs are not fixed categories, however, and cover such diversity of situations that this variety should itself be integral to any treatment of this topic. It is conventional in this context to refer to 'lifelong learning' and indeed this seems especially apposite through taking the descriptor 'lifelong' seriously and literally. However, there are grounds for caution in assuming that responding to the educational and learning needs of seniors is necessarily best done through this wider lens, as discussed in conclusion to this article. It is natural to introduce discussion of education by and for older adults by reference to the rapid ageing taking place in our societies. Trends in longevity and periods of retirement are presented below and confirm a picture of dramatic change. Yet, we should examine the ambition of making all older adults active learners and bring to the fore the broad aim of 'learning to be', whether the 65+ age group represent 5%, 15% or 30% of total populations. The sheer scale of ageing needs radical new social and educational responses, yet our societies should also work towards engaged and active ageing for all (with learning prominent), irrespective of the relative numbers involved. We know that older people actively learn, when they do, for a very wide variety of reasons (see below). Cognizant of this diversity, this article deliberately avoids a predominant focus on older workers-the common preoccupation with labour market preparation and vocational skills that so readily appropriates the discussion, as it does for lifelong learning in general. (Nevertheless, many older adults are now engaged in the labour market for much longer than the conventional retirement age and to this extent vocationally-relevant learning is within our orbit.) It will be argued that the period of our lives referred to here as retirement is one in which 'learning to be' should be central, and, in this, there are important parallels to be drawn with the phase at the opposite end of the life course-early childhood.