The “Boulevard of Thoughts 50 plus” (“Denk-Raum 50 plus”) is a successful example of self-determined learning in old age. Drawing on this example, the author discusses advantages of self-determined learning and shows success factors of such a format.
The demographic development in Germany will lead to the society servicing more older people than younger people. Against this background the contribution shows in which way institutions of communal adult education are called upon for developing specific offers that consider the different educational requirements and educational necessities of a very heterogeneous age group. By means of examples from the work at adult evening classes (Volkshochschulen) the author clarifies how contents, teaching…
Japan’s population is aging and shrinking at unprecedented speed. One central issue that emerges in the ongoing discourse on how to meet the manifold demographic challenges Japan faces deals with the central role the nation’s senior citizens can take on when it comes to providing and fostering social capital. The concept of lifelong learning in this context has been established as a central means of being engaged in actively shaping the future of Japan.
The study Competencies in Later Life (CiLL) provides for the first time representative data regarding the competencies of older people between the age of 66 to 80 years in three different domains: literacy, numeracy, and problem solving in technology-rich environments. It is shown that there are significant differences between people with different qualification, but also between people of different birth cohorts. Despite major qualification differences between men and women, there are no signi…
Older people often lack the competences for the handling of digital media. This is problematic in a society which is more and more based on digital exchanges. Courses of continuing digital education for older people prove to be successful when they are embedded into their living environments. In this article, the author presents several of these educational formats.
The textbook provides an introduction to the field of education of older adults and lifelong learning. Coming from an interdisciplinary field of research related to ageing, learning abilities and learning needs of older adults are discussed. Additionally, adequate forms of learning and educational arrangements are presented. A special focus lies upon the correlation between competencies and age, taking into account diverse living conditions and biographies. Thus, the textbook offers impulses to…
This article discusses participation of older people from five different perspectives: the perspective of images of old age, the perspective of individual potentials for change and participation, the perspective of the creation of public space, the perspective of social relationships and the perspective of structures of care. Participation is thus understood as a combination of personal, social, cultural, communal and societal factors. Education is seen as a central mechanism for building struc…
Why do senior citizens stop taking part in continuing education? The author tries to find and explain reasons, drawing on a survey regarding courses of scientific continuing education of Ulm University. One key finding is that the biggest impediments are a lack of time and other obligations.
