Education and Older Adults at the University of the Third Age

This article reports a critical analysis of older adult education in Malta. In educational gerontology, a critical perspective demands the exposure of how relations of power and inequality, in their myriad forms, combinations, and complexities, are manifest in late-life learning initiatives. Fieldwork conducted at the University of the Third Age (UTA) in Malta uncovered the political nature of elder-learning, especially with respect to three intersecting lines of unequality—namely, positive aging, elitism, and gender. A cautionary note is, therefore, warranted at the dominant positive interpretations of UTAs since late-life learning, as any other education activity, is not politically neutral.     

Filling up silences—first in family students,capital and university talk in the home

Internationally, research has indicated that returning to education for older learners provides the means for growth and change, for some students this can translate into a sense of ‘empowerment’ and control in their personal lives. However, what is not so well researched is how having a significant ‘other’ present within the university landscape impacts the household and other family members. Exploring how this return to education influences others provides a basis for institutional approaches to engaging with and supporting the lifelong learning of family members, ultimately assisting in the access and participation of current and future generations. This article draws on research conducted with first in family students to explore how their participation in the higher education environment led to conversations in the family around learning. Drawing upon theories of social and cultural capital, this article reflects upon the flow of capitals between home and university.     

Training Older Workers: Implications for HRD/HPT Professionals

In corporations across America, a race is on to find new ways to maximize human capital. An emphasis on lifelong learning will be vital for the success of our future workforce. As demographic shifts occur, the “older worker” will emerge as a primary target for this human development effort. This article explores the implications of this demographic shift for the human resource development and human performance technology (HRD/HPT) professional and recommends strategies for meeting this business need. First, we discuss the realities of this demographic shift and compare our current workforce demographics to those of the future. Next, we examine the common myths about the “older worker,” as well as what current research reports about this special population. Finally, we examine the impact of this trend on our profession. We discuss strategies for modifying the workplace environment, reassessing workforce motivational strategies, and altering training practices in order to serve this older worker population. In conclusion, we look at the implications for the future in HRD/HPT research.     

A Tale of Two Cities: a comparison of the PGCE Secondary English programmes at the Universities of Bristol and Malta,with particular emphasis on the student teachers' school‐based experience and the role of the mentor

In this article, we compare the Secondary English Post Graduate Certificate of Education (PGCE) programme for initial teacher education at the University of Bristol, UK, with that at the University of Malta, with particular attention to the content of the respective programmes and the role of the school‐based mentor. We explore issues raised by the fact that, while Bristol relies on a mentor figure to support all student teachers, the Maltese programme does not yet use this model. Consideration is given to the benefits and challenges of working with mentors and the implications for student teachers and their mentors with the development of the newly‐introduced School Direct programme in England.     

Vocational lifelong learners?

The notion of lifelong learning has become a mantra within educational policies. However these have been strongly critiqued for reflecting an understanding of learning that privileges the economic benefits of participation in formal education. In UK contexts, the importance attached to widening participation in higher education is one manifestation of these policy discourses, which can be interrogated as a form of governmentality. This paper draws upon a recent small‐scale mixed‐method study of different vocational learners’ transition from Level 3 courses to consider how these policy discourses are being mediated by ‘learners’ who were qualified to enter higher education, but decided instead on alternative life courses. The analysis suggests that policy constructions of participation in higher education sit at a disjuncture with respondents’ longer‐term experiences of institutionalised education processes. In other ways, lifelong learning seemed to be willingly embraced in respondents’ different commitments to learning and self‐development, although higher education institutions were not often seen as a source of this learning. The article aims all the same to allow this interpretation of respondents’ voices to speak back and disrupt policy mantras.     

MOTIVATIONS FOR LEARNING AMONG OLDER ADULTS IN A LEARNING IN RETIREMENT INSTITUTE

As the population of older adults increases, the field of adult education needs to respond accordingly. The study reported in this paper examined motivations for learning among older adults actively engaged in formal lifelong learning. One hundred eighty-nine members of a Learning in Retirement institute were surveyed using Boshier's Education Participation Scale. Cognitive interest appeared to be the strongest motivator for learning. Social contact was the second most influential motivator. The findings of this study are consistent with, and add to, our knowledge derived from previous studies pertaining to the participation of older adults in formal learning. Recommendations for future research on older adult learning in different settings are presented.     

DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A TRAIN‐THE‐TRAINER CURRICULUM ON SUCCESSFUL AND PRODUCTIVE AGING

Despite the fact that Japan has developed many exemplary social policies for their expanding older population and programs to foster elderly workforce participation, shortage of personnel with a comprehensive understanding of gerontology has limited these efforts. In response to the need for greater gerontological education among the Japanese who will work in the allied health professions, we developed an intensive training program on “Successful and Productive Aging,” with two associate degree colleges in Japan. Emphasizing lessons learned from the United States experience, the three‐week program covered issues in health promotion/ disease prevention, health maintenance/independence, mechanisms of formal/ informal caregiving, and preparations for retirement. Instructional methods included didactic presentations by a multidisciplinary faculty, case‐based problem‐solving exercises, and field visits to various agencies and geriatric facilities in the greater Boston area. The educational program was field‐tested with 5 faculty from Japan who were asked to evaluate the program based on whether the learning objectives were met, perceptions of relevance of subject matters to students in Japan, and perceptions of teaching methods’ effectiveness. We present the results of this successful cross‐national collaboration, with emphasis on how information gathered is being integrated into teaching plans upon returning to Japan.     

Lifelong learning-attitudes to practice in the rural context: a study using Bourdieu's perspective of habitus

This article compares and contrasts the views of educational policy makers and consumers within Lincolnshire, an English rural county, using Bourdieu's notion of ‘habitus’ as a vehicle for analysis. The article focuses on the relative importance of education as cultural capital in determining the motivational factors affecting participation in lifelong learning. The article considers lifelong learning in the context of ‘continuing education’. If lifelong learning is characterized into three discrete yet connected phases: the first, ‘full-time education’ from the age of 5 until leaving full-time education at age 16, 18 or 21; the second, the ‘transitional phase’ between school and work at age 16–21; the third, ‘continuing education’ beyond the age of 21; it is the policies and attitudes to this third phase described in this paper. Education for adults rather than simply the education of adults. Interviews with small groups of learners and an experienced manager of lifelong learning policies in Lincolnshire are used to illuminate clear differences between the continuing education providers' expectations of lifelong learning and those of the learners. The conclusions reaffirm the importance of community and cultural tradition in education and highlight the importance of family learning within the rural context.     

公众参与、数字赋能:构建高质量的未来社区教育资源建设新生态

未来社区教育将围绕人本化、数字化和生态化的三维价值,满足人民群众对美好生活的向往,其中,优质的社区教育资源供给是重要支撑。贯彻党的十九届五中全会精神,以“公众参与、数字赋能”为导向,通过政策、机制等各方面的推动,让公众参与社区教育资源建设成为一种自觉,让数字化社区教育成为一种样态,最终打造一个学习共同体广泛参与、智慧化学习环境有力支撑、优质教育服务供给良好保障、全域性共建共享的社区教育资源建设新生态,实现未来社区教育的高质量发展。     

The importance of environment for teacher professional learning in Malta and Scotland

Current reforms in the Maltese and Scottish educational contexts can only be fully implemented if teachers radically transform the way they teach. Teacher professional learning is an important mechanism that policy-makers, school leaders and administrators have to achieve this. Teacher professional learning is, above all, situated within the specific social workplace environment of teacher practice. Thus, schools need to be recognised as important sites of professional learning for teachers. In Malta and Scotland teachers were asked about their professional learning to identify how the learning environment within individual schools affects professional learning. In both countries, collaboration and school leadership were key components in determining a school’s learning environment. Data analysis led to the production of examples of expansive and restrictive features. Policy-makers, school leaders and administrators can use these features to examine how schools operate in terms of helping or hindering professional learning in the school environment.     

A Nordic Perspective on Early Childhood Education and Care Policy

The national policies and historical roots of early childhood education (ECE) vary from society to society. In the Nordic countries, early childhood education and care (ECEC) policies have been built in the context of the welfare state. As such, they are closely connected to other welfare policy areas such as social policy, family policy and education policy, in addition to which a close relationship with labour policy is also evident. This article sheds light on the historical roots of Nordic ECEC policies by describing the commonalities and differences between the Nordic countries. The ‘Nordic model’ is commonly described as integrated. Education, teaching and caring form an integrated unit and the term early childhood education and care is therefore typically used when describing the ‘Nordic model’. It is also said to be based on a child-centred, holistic approach with an emphasis on participation, democracy, autonomy and freedom, while its track record of high quality ECE services is considered to be due in part to the use of a well-trained workforce. The Nordic countries are, however, developing and redefining their ECEC policies in the global economic and cultural context, in which governments have to choose their priorities. Pressure to standardize ECE services is also apparent, and signs of erosion of the key elements of the Nordic model have been seen in recent policy debates. This paper discusses the current direction of Nordic ECE policy making and the future of the Nordic model.     

Further Education under New Labour: translating the language of aspiration into a springboard for achievement

In this article, Ann Limb outlines the main elements of new Labour's emerging policy framework for adult, continuing and further education within the context of the debate about lifelong learning. The government has established its coherent purposes for further education and now expects successful implementation by the sector in return for significant funding. Raising standards and widening participation are the keystones of this policy and, as in other areas of government activity, ‘zero tolerance of failure’ and ‘social inclusion’ are at the heart of the agenda for further education. The article suggests that the diverse assumptions underlying the delivery of lifelong learning policies nonetheless remain largely unexplored and that it is too soon to make a sound judgment about the likely effectiveness of the new lifelong learning partnerships     

Busting the myth of low-skilled workers – destabilizing EU LLL policies through the life stories of Danes in low-skilled jobs

In the EU, ambitious objectives have been set for education and training since the adoption of the Lisbon Agenda in 2000. The policies aim among other things to empower the individual through participation in lifelong learning which is seen as both a right and a duty: ‘People need to want and to be able to take their lives into their own hands – to become in short, active citizens’ (CEC, 2000, p. 7). However, not all citizens are taking part in lifelong learning and consequently the EU and its member states have set up policies with a ‘particular focus on active and preventative measures for the unemployed and inactive persons’ (CEC, 2006, p.1). ‘Inactive’ persons comprise different groups which are marginalised in terms of participation in lifelong learning, among others ‘low-skilled’ who have a lower participation rate in education and training activities (Cedefop, 2013). In this article, the aim is to destabilize the political discourse on ‘low-skilled’ through individual narratives of being in low-skilled jobs. Whereas the problem of being low-skilled from a political perspective is represented as psycho-social problems of the individual, the narratives point to the complexity of people in low-skilled jobs and the role of structure to ‘low-skilledness’. The narratives open up issues of power and the historical arbitrary distinctions between skilled and unskilled in the Danish labour market. It opens up for how the educational structures produce ‘low-skilled’ people, especially in the transition from basic vocational education and training into an apprenticeship. The article points to the narrow focus of policies on the ‘supply’ side of lifelong learning and less on the ‘demand’ side of a ‘needy’ global labour market in which precarious jobs are no longer limited to low-skilled. The article draws on Bacchi’s ‘What’s the Problem Represented to Be?’ (1999, 2009) and narrative inquiry.     

Riding on the back of a giant: adding Malta to the 5 Cultures study by Robin Alexander

This paper focuses on the methodology adopted for Malta+5, which builds on Robin Alexander’s work by comparing the five pedagogical cultures he studied to the one in Malta. It reflects critically on the research process adopted in this study, and shows how, despite the very limited experience and resources, applying the methodology, frameworks and learning from Culture and Pedagogy to the Maltese context, enriched this study, by giving it a comparative and international dimension that it would otherwise be lacking. It also analyses the compromises that had to be made, the challenges encountered and, the pitfalls the author attempted to avoid while conducting the study. An exposition of the data gathered shows that the methodology adopted enabled the researcher, an insider, to better understand the pedagogical culture in which he is immersed. It is predominantly teacher-based, solidly underpinned by segmented-collectivism and encourages uniformity.     

The Labour Market of Schooling: Maltese girls in education and economic planning

This article uses the case of Maltese girls and women to examine the relationship between schooling and the economy. It is clear that not only have education and economic planners sought to strengthen the links between school and work in planning for different courses for children of different sexes, but also that the allocation of pupils to subjects has in itself worked as a labour market. Interestingly, private schools have also responded to their interpretations of labour market demand in producing feminised choices for girls. Some Maltese girls do achieve well, compared both to Maltese boys and their European counterparts. This is largely due to a combination of single‐sex and selective secondary education. Nevertheless, these same girls continue to have lower and feminised occupational aspirations which mirror the job opportunities in the labour market. Others are incapacitated by their schooling and have until recently been channelled into the labour intensive jobs on which Malta's economy depended in the first phase of industrialisation in the 1960s and 1970s. Of late it seems as if rising educational standards and social awareness (propagated by women's organisations) have led to reluctance on the part of these girls and women to participate in the same way in the workforce. With struggle, the needs of patriarchy and capitalism will not always be perfectly served.     

Increasing participation of adults in higher education: factors for successful policies

This article contains an analysis of policies aimed at increasing the participation of adults in higher education (HE) in seven countries (NL, DK, SE, UK, BE Flanders, DE and the state of California in the USA). In order to maintain their economic competitiveness, many countries have developed policies to increase the participation of adults in HE. However, the effectiveness of these measures has not been studied to any significant degree as yet. Therefore, the focus of this article is to assess the effectiveness of these measures within their particular context. For this purpose, the research team carried out an international comparative study based on desk research, case studies and interviews with both policy makers and academic researchers in the seven countries. The study shows that there are common ingredients for effective learning environments, such as a high degree of flexibility of HE provision. In short term, in rationalising policies there are a number of issues that need to be addressed, e.g. the issue of what is the primary objective for increasing participation. In the long run, one needs to reconsider broader HE structures within a lifelong learning perspective towards a fundamental revision of the current systems. This is both necessary in combating crises and in dealing with problems encountered by ageing societies.     

Skilling for the Workforce: A tertiary education response to enrich professional development

Tertiary educators are being directed by government policy: to develop a learning environment where participants become more than passive receivers of knowledge and to skill the workforce through technical skills and competency‐based education. Professional development is needed for compliance, and to develop and maintain generic, productivity, and technical attributes relevant to the profession. Profession and career development, for continued employability and professional recognition, involves “skilling for the workforce” through enriched self‐directed and lifelong learning. The article examines what could be a tertiary education response on the part of universities. This is through developing a learning environment which addresses the various motivating policies and common educational drivers in professional practice. It further examines the suitability of Work‐Integrated Learning (WIL), as a recognised integrative learning environment, to provide a foundation for effecting self‐directed professional development.     

英国新工党终身学习政策10年回顾与评述

英国新工党1997年执政之后,终身学习理念成为其教育政策的重要主题。与终身教育理念相关的比较重要的政策包括:技能计划、广泛参与以及教育的公民发展目标。工党执政时期实行的政策多与其执政理念密切相关,同时在终身学习的政策中也有所体现,其终身学习政策扩大了终身学习的规模,更加强调终身学习的重要性,在理念上表现出教育政策的过于官僚化,但从长远角度来看,终身学习的政策在将来能够连续顺利发展。     

马耳他中小学生“SEBD”研究

马耳他中小学生"SEBD"现象正呈上升趋势,这种状况与马耳他中小学采用的以呵斥、顺从、奖惩等为基本手段的专制式管理模式,以竞争、淘汰、成绩等为基本特征的非依附式培养模式,以甄别、归类、定势等为表征的贴标签式管理机制有着密切关系。鉴于现实状况,马耳他创设了一个多层次、跨系统的全国性管理架构,在下上联动、校地结合教育机制的保障下,通过主辅联合、专代协作的运行体系的合力作用,缓解学生的"SEBD"。