Learning across Generations in Europe: Contemporary Issues in Older Adult Education

221 Pages·2014·7.331 MB·English

by  Bernhard Schmidt-Hertha, Sabina Jelenc Krašovec, Marvin Formosa (eds.)

Learning across Generations inEurope
RESEARCH ON THE EDUCATION AND LEARNING OF ADULTS
VOLUME 2

Series Editors

(On behalf of the European Society for Research on the Education of Adults)
Emilio Lucio-Villegas (University of Seville, Spain)
Barbara Merrill (University of Warwick, United Kingdom)
Marcella Milana (Aarhus University, Denmark)
Henning Salling Olesen (Roskilde University, Denmark)

Scope

‘Research on the Education and Learning of Adults’ aims at providing an in-depth
insight on the diversity of current research on adult education in diverse
teaching/learning contexts in both geographical and cultural terms in Europe.
Research on adult education has been characterised by different intellectual
traditions, theoretical and methodological approaches and which are still alive
today in Europe from the north to the south and from the west to the east. This
book series is edited by the European Society for Research on the Education of
Adults (ESREA). The content of the series reflects the wide range of research
activities undertaken by ESREA’s members and networks such as: access, learning
careers and identities; active citizenship; the professional development of adult
educators; working life; the history of adult education; gender; local development
and adult learning; ethnicity; older learners; adult education policies and
biographical research. This book series will appeal to an international audience as
it engages with current and relevant empirical research, a range of theoretical
perspectives and knowledge thus stimulating debate, discussion and knowledge
dissemination in the field in a democratic and heterogeneous way.

Editorial Advisory Board

Michal Bron Jr. (Södertörn Univ. College, Sweden)
Anja Heikkinen (University of Tampere, Finland)
Francoise F. Laot (University Paris-Descartes, France)
Linda Morrice (University of Sussex, United Kingdom)
Joanna Ostrouch (University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Poland)
Angela Pilch-Ortega (Graz University, Austria)
Andreas Wallo (Linköping University, Sweden)
Georgios Zarifis (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece)
Learning across Generations in Europe
ContemporaryIssuesin OlderAdultEducation
Editedby
BernhardSchmidt-Hertha
UniversityofTübingen,Germany
SabinaJelencKrašovec
UniversityofLjubljana,Slovenia
and
MarvinFormosa
UniversityofMalta,Malta
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This book is dedicated to all older learners who are curious and proactive in their
own way of searching for knowledge and engaging in educational pursuits.

CONTENTS
Foreword by Brian Findsen ix

Acknowledgements xiii

The European Society for Research on the Education of
Adults (ESREA) xv

1. Introduction: Older Adult Education and Intergenerational Learning 1
Bernhard Schmidt-Hertha, Sabina Jelenc Krašovec &
Marvin Formosa

SECTION 1: THEORY AND POLICY ISSUES

2. Lifelong Learning in Later Life: Policies and Practices 11
Marvin Formosa

3. Older Men’s Learning and Conviviality 23
Barry Golding

4. Education and Empowerment in Later Life 35
Esmeraldina Veloso & Paula Guimarães

5. E-learning: An Opportunity for Older Persons 47
Veronika Thalhammer

6. Older Adults as Active Learners in the Community 59
António Fragoso

SECTION 2: PARTICIPATION AND PROGRAMMES

7. Conceptual Basis for Learning: Frameworks for Older Adult
Learning 73
Dominique Kern

8. Temporary Exit from Employment: Possibilities for Lifelong
Learning in Early Retirement 85
Alfredo Alfageme

9. Lifelong Learning and Skills Development in the Context of
Innovation Performance: An International Comparison 95
Tarja Tikkanen

vii
CONTENTS
10. Learning for Disadvantaged Seniors: Issues of Outreach, Access
Provision and Delivery 121
Georgios K. Zarifis

11. Voluntary Work as the Seniors’ Space for Learning 131
Małgorzata Malec-Rawiński

SECTION 3: INTERGENERATIONAL LEARNING

12. Different Concepts of Generation and Their Impact on
Intergenerational Learning 145
Bernhard Schmidt-Hertha

13. What Grows in Gardens? Perspectives on Intergenerational Learning
in Urban Spaces 155
Barry J. Hake

14. Intergenerational Learning in Different Contexts 167
Sonja Kump& Sabina Jelenc Krašovec

15. Older Adults as Active Members of Non-Governmental
Organisations 179
Irena Žemaitaitytė

16. Intergenerational Learning and Social Capital 191
Ann-Kristin Boström

17. Conclusion: Policy Futures in Older Adult Education and
Intergenerational Learning 203
Marvin Formosa, Sabina Jelenc Krašovec &
Bernhard Schmidt-Hertha

About the Contributors 213

viii
BRIAN FINDSEN
FOREWORD
I welcome the opportunity to provide commentary on the advent of this important
book, not only from a perspective of the European context, but also in terms of its
likely impact further abroad. While the content of the book addresses the growing
area of interest globally in inter-generational learning, the issues have resonance in
places as far away as New Zealand. Older adult learning/education is fast moving
as an interdisciplinary force into territory with which adult educators and other
professionals are being forced to acquire more familiarity because of ageing
population structures in many countries, especially within Europe. What is less
understood, and where this book provides fresh insight, is the way inter-
generational learning intersects with older people’s learning.
The common ground for dialogue is that of lifelong learning/education. When
we look at the full range of learning opportunities open to different groups of older
adults, we come to appreciate, as identified by authors in this volume, that there is
considerable diversity. This diversity of conceptualisation and practice relates to
informal learning contexts (e.g. families), to non-formal (as exemplified by
voluntary organisation participation and non-governmental organisations) and
informal (e.g. gardening circles in urban allotments). Many older adults learn more
from informal and non-formal contexts but this does not exempt formal education
institutions from providing equal learning opportunities to seniors. Inter-
generational learning (which itself can be categorised from less to more formal)
has the potential to allow marginalised groups of older people to engage in relevant
learning in non-threatening contexts.
The three major strands in this book align with major pre-occupations of
theorists, practitioners, researchers and policy-makers within educational
gerontology. In the first section, ‘Theory and policy issues’, the importance of
conceptualising lifelong and life-wide learning comes to the fore. While the
economic imperative for lifelong learning is never far from our consciousness in
neo-liberal contexts, among older adults other objectives for learning usually
assume prominence (personal fulfilment; education for effective citizenship;
learning for social inclusion).Throughout this book these multiple threads of
lifelong learning permeate discussion, as exemplified by reference to widening
participation (to more explicitly address the learning needs of older adults), how
higher education (universities) structures and processes may better relate to
seniors’ aspirations and to the paucity of provision for people in the fourth age of
learning. The underpinning notion of empowerment is nearly always underpinning
this discussion, particularly because significant numbers of older persons live in
poverty and tolerate poor objective living conditions. While e-learning may
provide a partial answer to getting greater numbers older adults to engage in
ix