The meaning of learning piano keyboard in the lives of older Chinese people

Across the globe populations are ageing and living longer. Older people seek meaningful ways of occupying and enjoying their later years. Frequently, this takes the form of learning a new skill, in this case playing the piano keyboard. From the initial act of commitment to learning comes a raft of related aspects that influence the learner, their family and their community. This qualitative study investigates the keyboard learning experiences of 16 Chinese older amateur keyboard learners who actively participate in group keyboard lessons at Tangshan Older People University, China. This article uses a phenomenological qualitative research approach to explore the meaning of playing keyboard in their later life. This research utilized a case study design. The data were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. The data show how keyboard learning contributes to older adult by providing ways for maintaining emotional well-being, physical well-being, experiencing lifelong learning and realizing their achievement through performance.     

Learning for being: an ontological and existential approach

This paper will investigate the ontological and existential learning experience of a group of laterlife computer learners in Sydney, Australia. The research, undertaken as a PhD project, focused on the interpretation and understanding of the learning experience from the perspective of the learners. Hence, a qualitative method was used because it enabled existential insights into the learning experience and privileged the voices of the participants. A hermeneutic phenomenological method was considered suitable because of its emphasis on understanding the lived experience of people. The research found that participants wholeheartedly believed in the worth of the learning they were undertaking. They felt that the outcomes from learning would lead to greater opportunity for participation in their lifeworld. Without computer skills and knowledge they believed they would be ignored and relegated to a peripheral position as observers in their lifeworld. Their purposes and expectations in undertaking learning were situated in the changing nature of the world and a desire to continue to live their lives authentically, as participants and not spectators. Learning for the people in the study provoked both ontological and existential questions that demanded answers. The author believes that the findings from this particular research could be used to inform other studies involving both adult learners and lifelong learning.     

Existential perspectives on education

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to contribute to the discussion about the relevance of existential issues in contemporary education. Analysis presented in the paper is related to the problems of self-awareness, becoming oneself and self-development. First, the author begins by depicting the meaning of human existence in the light of philosophy. The following aspects have been analyzed: being true to one’s own beliefs and values, recognizing personal truth, making existential choices and finding one’s own voice. A special attention is paid to the language as an essential, constitutive element of being. Second, the article attempts to consider some educational implications resulting from the existential approach to education. Some of the issues discussed are learning to philosophize and to discover meaning, the concept of encounter in education and the role of language in self-development. While describing them the author indicates that the ignoring of crucial existential questions in education contributes to spiritual vacuity in life of young people and reduces educational thinking merely to instrumental, pragmatic problems concerning qualification and transfer of communicative skills.     

The Time Has Come to Create Meaning‐Making Centers on College Campuses

Robert J. Nash and Jennifer J. J. Jang argue that students have a great need to find a “meaning to live for,” à la Victor Frankl, and make a case for creating a space for students and educators to contextualize learning experiences dealing with the universal, existential questions of life.     

Psychosocial learning environments and the mediating effect of personal meaning upon Satisfaction with Education

This article reports the quantitative phase of a mixed-methods study that was conducted to investigate the relationships between psychosocial learning environments and student satisfaction with their education as mediated by Agentic Personal Meaning. The interdisciplinary approach of the study integrated the fields of learning environment research, existential meaning research and positive psychology research. A postulated model was tested using structural equation modeling to determine goodness-to-fit with data obtained from secondary and college students in two progressive private schools in India. Findings indicate that the learning environment variables of Teacher Support, Task Orientation, Cooperation, Student Cohesiveness, Involvement and Equity were significantly correlated with student Satisfaction with Education and with Agentic Personal Meaning. Findings also provide evidence that existential meaning and life purpose mediates the relationships between the psychosocial learning environment variables of Teacher Support, Task Orientation and Cooperation and the outcome variable of student Satisfaction with Education.     

Existential configurations: a way to conceptualise people’s meaning-making

ABSTRACT

This paper introduces existential configuration as a concept possibly used to describe, talk about and discuss peoples’ meaning-making, not least in religious education classrooms. The article builds on an interview study of 21 Swedish young adults from 19 to 29 years of age. Many of these young adults displayed complex methods of meaning-making that challenge some established ways of conceptualising it. Findings showed that the young adults did not all share a single political, philosophical or religious outlook on life. Some had religious beliefs and some did not, but this does not mean that the latter group did not interpret and/or desire to understand their existence. The article argues that a person having any specific outlook on life cannot be assumed if the concept is understood as a cognitive decision in relation to life questions. Based on analysis of empirical material, the article suggests the concept of existential configuration as an alternative way to conceptualise people’s meaning-making. Concepts suggested here are potentially of value for religious educators in helping open classroom dialogue on issues of existential meaning and for enabling deeper understanding of how individuals interpret and understand life in relation to others.     

Towards a better theoretical framework for studying learning from educational television

Drawing in particular on Open University experience, this article attempts to set out a theoretical framework for understanding how people learn through television. The first part of the framework sets out the organisational factors which appear to influence learning from television. The other parts look at the different processes of coding information and meaning which are found in different media, and argue the need to study how learners discriminate between, absorb, and transform these coded meanings.     

论魏晋"气"范畴的美学蕴涵

气是中国美学最重要的范畴之一。魏晋玄学“气”范畴具有特殊的本体论蕴涵,这种蕴涵在王弼、邦象及东晋后期张湛等的阐释中,愈来愈与人生的存在境遇和境界抉择相联结。本文认为,“气”范畴蕴涵在魏晋时期所发生的衍变。深刻展示了人生价值追求的深层次之美,它通过对人生观从执着到解脱的意趣逆转,反映了中国人在魏晋时期实现了超越生死的审美自觉。     

Later life learning experiences: listening to the voices of Chinese elders in Hong Kong

Abstract

Governments’ anxieties about ageing populations are mostly concerned with the costs of welfare, care and health provision which all have to be paid for by an ever dwindling working population. However, research in later life learning indicates the significant role that lifelong learning can play in promoting mental well-being and resilience, and in assisting with maintaining personal self-confidence and self-coping strategies that prevent cognitive decline in an ageing population. This paper draws on the research with a group of Chinese elders in Hong Kong, who provide information about their experiences and views on learning in later life, including the meaning of learning, barriers to participation, learning interests, needs, motivations, and instructional preferences. Both quantitative and qualitative findings are reported to shed light on later life learning experiences, which contribute to the global understanding of later life learning and serve to inform the development of policy and practice geared to the planning and provision of opportunities to keep learning at the later stages of life.     

休闲：生命意义的伦理审思与构建

休闲是人的一种生命存在状态,如何休闲关涉人的生命意义和生命价值的实现,应成为伦理学关注和研究的问题。休闲对于生命的意义在于有助于自然生命的存养、精神生命的提升和价值生命的实现。然而,现实生活中的休闲异化：有休无闲、无主休闲、庸俗休闲、过度休闲造成了生命的消解。培养有道德的休闲主体,提升其休闲道德自觉、加强其休闲行为自律、养成其休闲美德品质,是使人珍惜休闲、善处休闲,实现休闲向生命复归的重要途径。     

基于引元结构分析“V着”汉语存现旬的句法语义属性

汉语中含有非作格动词和及物动词的“V＋着”存现句都仅仅表达事物的存在状态这类单一认知行为。但文章认为,这两类存现句在如何实现存在状态方面有着本质不同,而这种差异可归因于汉语语素“着”具有的两种语义属性：持续性体态义和附着性实质义。文章基于引元结构理论的分析显示,非作格动词存现句具有高位引元结构,而及物动词存现句具有低位引元结构。基于引元结构理论的分析适切地实现了两类存现句在语义蕴含、构词形态和句法推导三方面的完美匹配,因此是兑现最简理念的更优化分析。     

Learning by Interest: Experiences and Commitments in Lives with Dance and Crafts

In this article we intend to contribute to the understanding of interest-driven learning which occurs when people find and choose an interest of their own. This engagement continues over a long time and includes development and learning. The empirical material consists of 14 learning stories written by experienced and skilled informants in folk dance and different crafts. The purpose is to illuminate the diversity and complexity of learning and meaning the informants assign to dance or crafts. This is what we consider to be the perspective of learning by interest. We also argue for the importance of understanding learning by interest as embedded in cultural heritage and social and cultural changes. Theoretically, we draw on John Dewey (1913/2009; 1934/2005). Learning folk dance or crafts is largely a question of learning by doing, which makes experience important. The interest and effort involved can in our interpretation be understood as experiences where expressions of commitment are embedded. The empirical analysis highlights three emphases in this illumination of the learning process. The first considers the individual development of skill in relation to broadened learning of collective tasks. The second perspective focuses on the interplay between learning in a life course and significant learning experiences. The third concerns the interplay between personal meaning and craftsmanship. In sum, this paper contributes to the understanding of learning by interest as a useful concept. In the final discussion we expand our perspective since the contrast is obvious between learning by interest and interpretations of the contemporary society, where individualization and lack of commitment is stressed.     

Simple Analysis of War Scars left to Hemingway——through comparative study of Henry''s and Hemingway''s experiences and sufferings in the war

The First World War and the Second Wodd War brought Hemingway tremendous seam both physically and mentally, which became his nightmares in his later life. To better understand Hemingway's war scars and the masons, this article mainly analyses Henry's (Henry, the hero of A Farewell to Arms) and Hemingway's experiences and suffer-ings in the war respectively, and then makes a detailed comparative study. Another purpose of studying this topic is to help people realize that there should be no wars for mankind and that the whole world needs peace!     

Young Lives,Learning and Transformation: Some theoretical considerations

The term 'learning' is now used to signal a range of political, social and economic aspirations. At the same time, the political, economic and cultural conditions under which learning occurs are changing. In these circumstances, it is appropriate to return to some fundamental questions about what learning is. This paper draws from a four-year longitudinal study of young people and their experiences of learning, jointly directed by Phil Hodkinson and myself. The study was based upon semi-structured interviews commencing with 50 young people in their final year of compulsory schooling. Over the four-year period, it witnessed transformations in their lives, including transformations in their dispositions to learning. In the paper, I draw from a range of theoretical sources for the illumination of these transformations and attempt to ground the work in a critical theoretical framework. I argue that theory must acknowledge the situated, positional, relational and participatory nature of learning if it is to capture adequately the complexities of learning and transformational processes. I conclude, also, that the explanatory power of theory is enhanced when it incorporates a temporal dimension and when it addresses how learning is embedded within the complex and continually changing patterns of other life experiences.     

Exploring the present and projecting the future: people with severe mental illness speaking for themselves

The participation of people with mental illness in research is key to their empowerment and provides them with a highly meaningful experience. The aim of this article was to explore the perspectives, views and experiences of people with severe mental illness (SMI) regarding their present life and projection of the future (desires, expectations related to the illness, their personal, working, relational life, etc.). We present the results of a qualitative study in which two personal interviews were conducted with seven people with SMI, incorporating visual elements produced by the participants themselves (photographs and drawings). The results obtained allow us to take a more in-depth look at these people’s reflections with regard to the present and future, while also opening a working path for professionals in the social education services.     

Learning as Existential Engagement With/In Place: Departing from Vandenberg and the Reams

This article takes Vandenberg’s critique of Ream and Ream’s view on the Deweyan learning environment as a departing point to explore the educational meaning of place. The divergence between Vandenberg and the Reams reminds us that the place is not merely a physical site for learners to be located in but also a horizon to be engaged with. Vandenberg and the Reams provide readers with inspirational understandings of Dewey in different aspects. Yet they both seem to give little attention to the point implied in Dewey’s view that learning is a process of existential—embodied and affective—engaging with the place. Drawing on the philosophy of Merleau-Ponty, this article aims to retrieve and to highlight the significance of existential engagement of place as an element in the Deweyan process of learning.     

Ageing and learning: What do they mean to elders themselves?

This paper is about a quantitative study which has examined and elucidated the conceptualizations of ageing and learning by a group of elders in Hong Kong. In more specific terms, the study has investigated how this group of older people understood the meaning of successful ageing and elder learning in the context of their later lives. Based on the ‘Learning and Ageing Survey 2013’ with a sample of 519 older adults in Hong Kong, the study aimed, first, to describe and conceptualize the meaning of ageing and learning as elders experienced it in later life; second, to investigate why and how elders engaged or did not engage, in organized learning, by comparing the differences between the ‘learning’ and ‘non-learning’ groups in terms of their personal characteristics, conceptualizations of learning, and the barriers to participation; third, to identify important learning issues for older learners, including their interests, needs, motivations, and learning preferences; and finally, to investigate the relationship between learning and successful ageing, and between learning and the overall well-being and satisfaction of elders in their later lives. The research findings and outcomes of the study provide insights into the experience and views of elders concerning ageing and learning, which contribute to the global understanding and knowledge base for elder learning and successful ageing; and which serve to inform the development of policy and practice geared to the planning and provision of programmes for learning in older age.     

英汉语存在句研究:现状、问题和解决思路

本文系统地梳理了英语存在句和汉语存在句国内外研究现状,并从宏观和微观角度,指出英汉语存在句对比研究现存问题。由此,基于系统功能语言学框架,本文发现:意义上,英汉语存在句都表达存在过程,建构存在情形,涉及位置、过程和存在方三个基本语义成分;形式上,二者语义成分的基本配置方式不同。英语存在句通常呈现"There+过程+存在方+位置"形式,而汉语一般呈现"位置+过程+存在方"的形式。总的来说,英汉民族都认识到"某地存在某物"这样的情形,但是二者感知方式不同,英语倾向于先物后处所,汉语则倾向于先处所后物,最终导致存在情形的体现形式有别。     

新手教师如何从“经验”中学习

"经验"是人们日常生活经常使用的词汇,但似乎又用得过于随意;而且其中隐藏了经验与知识、实践与理论的二分式思维模式。本文从杜威意义上的"经验"入手展开讨论,力图破除教育实践界对经验的迷思,指出并非所有的经验都具有教育意义。经验必须是个体亲身经历和体验的过程,必须是个体在所做和所得结果之间建立起联结,其只有在一个连续统合的社会情境下生成和进行反省才有意义。文中对新手教师群体提出建议:在"拿来"他人的经验时,必须完整"打包",把他人的行、知、信、意甚至情境本身都一并考察反思,在透彻理解的基础上学习。     

The Table: Christian Education as Performative Art

Children and young people have the inalienable right to be part of a learning community. Nobody can learn on his/her own. Education is always a communal enterprise. In this article the concept of the “spiritual learning community” is developed as a contemporary answer to the socioeducational issues raised by Martin Buber and John Dewey in the 1930s. Cultural and religious diversity today stimulate education and schooling more than ever before to reconsider the narrative-communicative and spiritual dimension of every learning process. The spiritual dimension of the learning community relates to a specific habitus, namely of de-centration from the self and dedication to the other, and to a specific focus, namely on existential questions as content of the learning process. Insights from philosophy of education and from European religious education theory and concrete experiences of teacher education at the universities of Dortmund (Germany) and Wien (Austria) form the horizon for this reflection.