Older Adult Education: A Guide to Research, Programs, and Policies / Edition 1

by Ronald J. Manheimer, Diane Moskow-McKenzie, Denise D. Snodgrass

Overview

This very first comprehensive book-length reference guide dealing with older adult education synthesizes current information about theoretical developments with specific practical details about the latest programs, policies, and research in the field. It is unique in placing the subject of lifelong learning into historical perspectives, discussing ways in which programs have been transformed over the last 15 to 20 years, and in considering the impact of institutional policies on older adult education.

This guide points to demographic trends relating to aging and older learners; discusses older learner motives in relation to program missions and rationales; describes new opportunities for retirement-age people and the special role of education today; reviews the history of 12 different types of programs; compares five community-based model programs in college and universities, senior centers, shopping centers, and churches and synagogues; considers computer and electronic learning programs; reviews research and programs dealing with intergenerational education; and assesses future prospects in the field. Appendices describe important organizations, programs, sources of information, state tuition waiver policies, and other guidelines and data. Relevant statistics, research findings, numerous tables, original documents, and anecdotes about the experiences of older learners further enrich this state-of-the discipline reference guide for academic, professional, and public libraries and broad audiences of teachers, students, professionls, and general readers concerned with older Americans.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780313288784
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	10/30/1995
Series:	Surfactant Science
Pages:	268
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.62(d)
Lexile:	1430L (what's this?)

About the Author

RONALD J. MANHEIMER is the executive director of the North Carolina Center for Creative Retirement at the University of North Carolina at Asheville where he is also Research Associate Professor of Philosophy. He is the author of Older Americans Almanac (1994) and Developing Arts and Humanities Programming with the Elderly (1984). Formerly he was director of Older Adult Education for the National Council on the Aging, Inc. He has designed and directed educational programs for and with older adults through universities, museums, libraries, and community centers. Currently he also chairs the Older Adult Education Network of the American Society on Aging.

DENISE D. SNODGRASS is assistant director of the North Carolina Center for Creative Retirement. She specializes in leadership development among retirees and organizations working with older adults. She has coordinated numerous humanities projects funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities and North and South Carolina Humanities Councils conducted by the NCCCR. She is also adjunct NCCCR instructor in the Department of Literature and Language at the University of North Carolina at Asheville where she teaches freshman composition.

DIANE MOSKOW-McKENZIE has over 15 years of work experience in the field of adult education. While with the North Carolina Center for Creative Retirement she completed a national study of planning stages of over 250 older adult educational programs. She has authored articles, chapters, and directories dealing with older adult education.

Table of Contents

Tables
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Lifelong Learning in an Aging Society
An Emerging Generation of Retirees: A Case Study
The Purpose of Education in an Aging Society
Attitudinal and Institutional Changes
Motivation for Education in Later Life
The Problem of Institutional Rationales
The New Paradigm: Lifelong Learning
Leadership and Community Service
Conclusion: The Politics and Promise of Older Adult Education
Older Learners and Programs in Historical Perspective
The Concept of the Third Age
Emergence of Older Adult Education in the United States
Intellectual Functioning of Older Adults
Adult versus Older Adult Education
National Policies and Older Adult Education
An Institutional History of Older Learner Programs
Support of Older Learners
The Transformation of Older Learner Programs
The Changing Picture
Five Models of Older Adult Education
A National Research Project on Older Adult Education
Research Findings
Determinants of Success
Prospects for the Future
The Impact of Institutional Policies on Older Adult Education
Public Policy and the Greying of the United States
Motivations of Major Stakeholders in Older Adult Education Policy
Governmental Policies Before 1965
Public Policy Responds to Older Americans
Effects of the Older Americans Act: National Policies after 1965
State Initiatives
Policies of Institutions
Policies of National Aging and Education Organizations
Implications and Trends in Older Adult Education Policy
Older Adult Learning in the Technological Age
Education in the Computer Age
Seniors and Technology
Computers and the Older Learner
Informal Learning and Communication
Distant Learning
Prognosis for the Future
Generations Learning Together
Intergenerational Learning
Rationales for Intergenerational Educational Programs
Transforming Effects of Intergenerational Education
Intergenerational versus Age-Segregated Programs
The Intergenerational Impulse and Imperative
Appendix: Introduction
Appendix A
Appendix B
Appendix C
Appendix D
Appendix E
Appendix F
Appendix G
Appendix H
Appendix I
Index

Editorial Reviews

Provides a broad overview of education by and for people who identify themselves as associated with the later stages of life, whenever they believe that begins. Traces the changes over the past 10-15 years; describes specific programs now operating; profiles some of the people; and considers how education fits into the larger life of older people and how senior programs fit into education as a whole. Not a guide to setting up a program, but background for researchers and administrators of both education and elder programs who see the flood of baby-boomers just cresting the hill. Published in association with the Center for Creative Retirement at the University of North Carolina, Asheville. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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