Learning - not just for the young
By Jayne Warren - 05/09/2007
Learning matters just as much, if not more, in later life. For many years studies have demonstrated that learning reduces morbidity and delays the effects of Alzheimers - but now, with rising retirement ages, there is even greater incentive to learn new skills and adapt to changing contexts.
Yet year on year surveys by the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) show that not quite one in five of the population over 65 see themselves as learners. And for those people who do continue to learn, there has been little reported on just what it is that older people learn - until now.
As part of its series of annual surveys on adult participation in learning, NIACE asked a representative sample of the UK population a series of questions: what they were learning and why, where they learn, how they heard about opportunities, and who met any costs. And to those who did not see themselves as learners, NIACE asked what reasons prevented them from learning. The results, published in a report entitled "What Older people Learn" on September 6th, are interesting.
Overwhelmingly (51.3%) of all courses that people over 65 are taking relate to computer skills, although interest tails off among the over-75s. For them, the impact of technological revolution has arrived already, or they feel it is not for them. The second most popular subject amongst older people is foreign languages with over one in ten (10.2%) of people aged over 55 engaged compared to just 4.3% of people aged 17 - 44.
The data presented in this paper show a pattern markedly different than that of earlier cohorts of learners. More people in the later stages of working life are actively pursuing studies related to their working lives than would have been true ten, twenty or thirty years ago. The older workforce is expanding rapidly, and for some, at least, continuing to work stimulates learning. But the comparisons between learners in different age-bands show a steady re-assertion of a range of intellectual, social and practical interests well beyond the world of work, as adults settle to the third age.
Motivation to learn changes through the life cycle as well. For older learners a passion for the subject, pleasure in the act of learning, the importance of personal development, a concern to strengthen self-confidence and to meet people are all powerful incentives to learning.
The study also highlights gender differences in the places where older adults look to for information about learning and in their patterns of engagement. While women are most likely to turn to friends and family for information about learning, the data suggest that there may be a need to make more formal learning guidance opportunities available for men at the point of retirement. The data also emphasise the importance of social networks among women and thereby for the need to provide convivial places to learn collectively.
Interestingly, whilst learning at home grows in importance with age, older learners are eclectic in the tools they use - informal contact, reading a book, or following a correspondence course, using the computer, learning using a CD-Rom or through the Internet, all have their place.
Alan Tuckett, Director of NIACE and co-author of What Older People Learn, said, “Older workers count. The age of retirement is increasing, and moving away from paid work is becoming a more prolonged process and less of an abrupt transformation. It is no surprise that computer skills are so popular for older people. The physical distance they have from family and friends is critically important to overcome and getting to grips with ICT helps to reduce isolation, quite apart from satisfying a desire to keep an eye on the latest developments.”
He continued, “Encouraging adult learning in all its forms is under threat; it is important to listen to those who benefit to help us better understand how the complex and broad ways of learning, particularly in later life, is valued. People who carry on learning throughout their lives lead healthier lives. Learning delays the effects of Alzheimer’s on learners’ social interactions. Older people are more civically active, they vote in larger numbers than young people and are usually the mainstay of voluntary organisations.”