Education, Poetry, and the Process of Growing Old

Abstract

Should all generations be included in our society's educational project? In PEP (Prosjekt eldrepedagogikk), in Bergen, we argue that the concept of care for old people should be redefined to include an aspect of learning. This learning can have a creative and existential purpose, not necessarily an instrumental one. “To grow old” also has a meaning of growth. Education can strengthen this growth. Old people have mental, spiritual and creative needs. PEP has aimed at stimulating older people's verbal creativity through the writing of poetry and the telling of stories in groups. Many courses of this kind have been held during recent years. This learning activity has had a positive impact upon the life of the participants. The work has served to sharpen the senses, keep thinking alive, support self-esteem, and establish good social relations. Another fruit of the project is the publishing of texts. Both education and poetry can have a function of emancipation. As a consequence of this project, the University of Bergen has started a process where research on the education of the elderly will be put on its agenda.

Notes

¹This article is based upon a paper presented in NERA's (Nordic Educational Research Association) 34th congress: Democracy widens education, education widens democracy, Ørebro, Sweden, 10.03.06.

²Feldman, S. (1999). Please don't call me “dear”: older women's narratives of health care. In Nursing Inquiry. 6: 269–276. Blackwell Science Ltd.

³The first 5–6 years the practical part of the project was financed by the Hordaland County Library.

⁴March 2006: There have been 13 courses for people living at home and in istitutions, with more than 100 participants aged 59–98. Additionally there have been 11 courses for new group teachers.

⁵http://eldreveven. no

⁶By Oddgeir Synnes in particular.

⁷Tonen og glaset, Læring gjennom livsl⊘pet (See list of literature).

⁸Oddgeir Synnes (34) is now a college first lecturer in “Eldrepedagogikk” in Betanien diakonale h⊘gskole in Bergen.

⁹By “elderly” we here mean people over the age of retirement.

¹⁰“Ældrepædagogik” has for many years been a field in DK, and Denmark is also central in Nordisk nettverk for eldrepedagogikk, NOPAN.

¹¹The Bow and the Lyre 1973.

¹²According to Erik Erikson's theory of psychosocial development human development continues during adulthood. The stage of elderly adulthood is charachterized by a conflict between integrity versus despair, and a central question here is: Has my life been meaningful?

¹³For a broader presentation of “results”, see Synnes et al., 2003.