Guest editorial

In recent times a considerable number of books and articles have appeared internationally on the theme of learning in later life, a phrase I prefer to ‘educational gerontology’. The phrase ‘learning in later life’ has a more open agenda, principally because it allows for learning to take precedence over education. It subsumes education but it also places the learner at the centre of learning experiences, a purported laudable principle of effective adult learning. The phrase is also more readily understood by people on the street. While education is more commonly associated with structures, policies and agencies, it is nevertheless an important component of older people’s lives, a point made by Anne Jamieson, a contributor to this issue. Learning in Later Life (2001), a phrase used by Peter Jarvis for the title of one of his manifold books, includes all learning from formal to informal modes.

As a researcher and student of learning in later life, I was pleased and honoured to be approached by Peter Jarvis in 2014 to consider preparing a special issue in this domain for this journal. At the time I was working with Marvin Formosa in compiling the now published International Perspectives on Older Adult Education: Research, Policies and Practice (2016), bringing together 42 reports/analyses of later life learning across the globe. This experience of bringing together many differing views of what constitutes older adult learning/education in Europe, Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australasia, has alerted me to the fact that while this sub-field of adult education is burgeoning, there is still so much to continue to learn about how learning features (or fails to feature) in older persons’ lives in different cultural contexts. The scope of enquiry is potentially enormous and the significance of governments’ need to recognise the rights of older people to access education has never been more salient. While to some extent learning in later life is an individual responsibility, it is too easy for the state to dismiss education for seniors as someone else’s issue (usually the individual learner). A huge resource for societies overall resides in the human capital assembled by elders, yet older people’s (economic, social, cultural, political) contributions are too readily dismissed as irrelevant to national competitiveness and societal well-being. Learning remains a vital component of what it means to be human and older adults are no exception to the validity of this dictum.

The seven articles within this special issue have several common threads and could be categorised in multiple ways. However, the topics are derivative of a central interest of the authors and do not ‘represent’ any particular theoretical orientation or way of conceptualising the theme of learning in later life. The authors were chosen in a rather serendipitous fashion, connecting with some of my own professional networks and knowledge of people with an authentic commitment to seeking to understand older people’s learning in its myriad forms. An example of this somewhat accidental engagement of prospective authors occurred when I was invited by John Benyon, University of Leicester, very recently deceased, to engage with the European FORAGE project meeting in Hamburg in 2014 while I was on study leave from the University of Waikato (New Zealand) at the Vaughan Centre for Lifelong Learning in Leicester. At this meeting in Hamburg I met Elizabeth Mestheneous whose keen involvement in the connection between older people’s health and learning captured my attention. Liz agreed to contribute to this special issue, complemented by Alex Withnall, well known for her outstanding contribution to educational gerontology in the UK. Hence, there was no ‘master plan’ to the selection of authors but rather a more random invitation to potential authors who were known to me for their involvement in this field. The only conscious criterion I employed was to gather a diverse array of views from different parts of the world though I freely admit to not including sufficient coverage from developing countries.

Some articles are by single authors (Jamieson, Findsen, Tam) but equally groups of authors collaborated to produce exciting new ways of understanding how institutions (especially universities) can foster a greater understanding of how systems can be enhanced to better meet the learning needs of elders in respective communities. For instance, five collaborators from the University of Glasgow use a novel big database to help analyse patterns of older people’s learning in Greater Glasgow. Four authors, two from Europe and two from the USA, provide case studies of how universities can better provide age-friendly environments for older learners. The diversity of the backgrounds of the authors hopefully provides an international dimension as culturally divergent contexts are analysed – European contributions are supplemented by perspectives from Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand.

The first article presents both an evidence-based but also biographical account of the meaning of learning for people in retirement who undertake higher education later in life. Anne Jamieson, previously an academic at Birkbeck, University of London, reflects back on various research which helps to illuminate the significance of formal learning for adults in retirement, including herself as ‘an older adult learner’. Through analysis of questionnaire surveys, and life history interviews, Anne has brought together data on what motivates older people to engage in more formal learning in retirement, how it intersects with their lives and the benefits that accrue as a result. Her own reflections on current and past learning experiences in higher education in London provide us with new insights into this area of learning in later life.

While the theme of learning journeys arises from Anne’s reflections, another perspective of this sub-theme is provided from the Urban Big Data Centre (UBDC) at the University of Glasgow. The five authors have employed a novel technique to examine older learners’ journeys (educationally and physically through GPS) to gain an extensive view of engagement in lifelong learning in the modern urban context of Glasgow. Much data are acquired via the 1500 household survey from which a subset of older adults aged 60+ has been delineated. These authors investigate the broad range of learning contexts from formal to non-formal to informal, including what they see as ‘family learning’. A nuanced understanding of learning patterns arises from older adults’ using analysis of their GPS trails, amid other approaches.

The third article, written by Barry Golding and Helen Kimberley of Australia, explores how older adults develop and use practical knowledge in later life. They argue that such knowledge is often constructed in the relationship between agency and capability, supported by informal life experiences in and through the Company of Others. Everyday events provide invaluable opportunities for older people to develop greater know-how**, especially in 'third spaces', away from work and family. They draw upon two recent empirical studies in Australia, complemented by new international research in cognate fields, to assert the importance of informal learning and the development of social capital for seniors. In particular, men through involvement in men’s sheds (not overtly learning locations), can consolidate their social connections and personal identity.

The connections between learning/education and positive health outcomes has received considerable international interest, especially in the UK. Whenever older people assemble, the topic of health is never far away from discussion. Elizabeth Mestheneos and Alex Withnall explore the connections between ageing, learning and health. They draw upon considerable research to delve into aspects of ‘active ageing’ and educational programmes and policies. They explore questions such as ‘Does later life learning help to improve one’s health in later life?’ However, investigations of this type can be clouded by multifarious nomenclature and conceptual confusion exemplified by the equating of ‘good health’ with ‘well-being’. These two authors point out this confounding factor in research connections of ageing, learning, and health. Nevertheless, they probe areas of interconnection and question whether targeted educational interventions to improve health can overcome lifelong socio-economic inequalities.

The remaining three contributions have a strong consciousness of the importance of culture in influencing older persons’ motivations to learn and engagement with later life learning. Four authors from three countries collaborate to explain the origins of the Age Friendly University (AFU) concept. A case is made, incorporating ten developmental principles, for universities to think beyond their usual young adult cohort and to more actively engage with seniors in a university culture so that both parties benefit. Three universities from the USA, Scotland and Ireland form the case studies which underpin the presumed advantages of a university that seeks to involve older adults in a wide range of events within a university. In my estimation, few universities would readily ‘pass the test’ of the AFU principles in action; as pointed out by Craig Talmage, Richard Knopf, Rob Mark and Maria Slowey, the challenges ahead are considerable but this is no reason not to attempt a change in universities’ visions to truly incorporate a lifelong learning culture.

My own article explores ‘cultures’ within the context of Aotearoa New Zealand and I ponder on how two very different ethnic groups – the Pākehā (European) and indigenous Māori – with such divergent world views, engage in later life learning. The issue of biculturalism in New Zealand remains problematic, especially as new immigrants with no history of the historical interaction of these two primary groups, ask about their place in society. Yet biculturalism has primacy in social and educational policy. In this article, after discussing how these two dominant groups relate to themes of lifelong learning, I investigate two linked case studies of Pākehā and Māori older adult education in a New Zealand university, illustrating the complexities in provision in this bicultural environment.

The final article, written by Maureen Tam from Hong Kong, uses data from research with a group of Chinese elders in this city who provide information about their experiences and views of learning in later life. This includes what learning means to them, what prevents them from participating, their learning and instructional preferences. Tam draws upon both quantitative and qualitative data to illuminate later life experiences from which the development of policy and practice can be further enhanced. In effect, this research provides some baseline data upon which other kindred studies can build, especially in countries strongly influenced by a Confucian ideology.

Overall, these seven articles are testimony to the diverse pathways in which researchers in later life learning have travelled. A host of issues reside beneath the surface – what do we understand later life learning to include (and exclude)?; methodologically, how to fruitfully integrate large-scale and micro research; how to make effective connections about the character of learning between various cultures and across nations; how higher education may be energised into fully incorporating older people into their activities (as opposed to seeing them as a residual category); how to better understand how different learning pathways (e.g. informal learning and credentialed education) can be valued equally for both individuals and wider society. There is no shortage of new avenues to explore in later life learning. It is hoped that these seven articles may be suggestive of new directions.

I wish to express thanks to the authors who have contributed to this special issue and to the editorial team, especially Peter Jarvis for asking me to assemble this set of articles in educational gerontology.

Brian Findsen
Guest Editor
University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand
[email protected]