Does age matter? Informal learning practices of younger and older adults
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.56105/cjsae.v26i1.2837Keywords:
Informal adult education, Adult learning, Self-help, Age differences, Qualitative researchAbstract
Conventional wisdom in adult education suggests that processes of life cycle change make for differences in the learning experiences of younger and older adults. Popular demographers argue that generational differences exist between those born in distinct historical periods. Outside the realm of higher education, there are relatively few empirical studies of the learning practices of adults of differing ages. In this article, we present the results of qualitative interviews undertaken with 134 readers of self-help books. Half of these readers were thirty years of age or younger. We found modest age differences in learners’ engagement with self-help reading. Relatively older readers were more likely to define explicit learning goals, engage deeply in the learning process, experience linear learning pathways, and express disagreement with authors. We conclude that the modest nature of age differences found supports a maturational or life cycle interpretation rather than a generational interpretation, and that learning processes are more similar than different among people of various ages.References
Becker, C.H. (2009). Student values and research: Are millennials really changing the future of reference and research? Journal of Library Administration, 49(4) 341-364.
Bennett, S. and Maton, K. (2010). Beyond the “digital natives” debate: Towards a more nuanced understanding of students’ technology experiences. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 26(1) 321-331.
Bullen, M., Morgan, T., and Qayyum, A. (2011). Digital learners in higher education: Generation is not the issue. Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology, 37(1) 1-24.
Burton, K. Lloyd, M. and Griffiths, C. (2011). Barriers to learning for mature students studying HE in an FE college. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 35(1) 25-36.
Field, J. (2013). Learning through the ages? Generational inequalities and inter-generational dynamic of lifelong learning. British Journal of Educational Studies, 61(1) 109-119.
Giancola, F. (2006). The generation gap: more myth than reality? Human Resource Planning, 29(4) 32-37.
Holyoke, L., and Larson, E. (2009). Engaging the adult learner generational mix. Journal of Adult Education, 38(1) 12-21.
Jarvis, C. (1999). Love changes everything: the transformative potential of popular fiction. Studies in the Education of Adults, 31(2) 109-123.
Jarvis, C. (2005). Real stakeholder education? Lifelong learning in the Buffyverse. Studies in the Education of Adults, 37(1) 31-46.
Jarvis, C. (2012). Fiction, empathy and lifelong learning. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 31(6) 743-758.
Joseph, G. (1996). Shopping for knowledge: An alternative environment for learning. Canadian Journal of University Continuing Education, 22(1) 7-19.
Jubas, K. (2012). Everyday scholars: Framing informal learning in terms of academic disciplines and skills. Adult Education Quarterly, 61(3) 225-243.
Jubas, K. and Knutson, P. (2012). Seeing and be(liev)ing: How nursing and medical students understand representations of their professions. Studies in the Education of Adults, 44(1) 85-100.
Kasworm, C. (2010). Adult learners in a research university: Negotiating undergraduate student identity. Adult Education Quarterly, 60(2) 143-160.
Keast, D. (2000). Studying part-time at university: from research to policy to practice. Canadian Journal of Higher Education, 30 (1) 57-88.
Kember, D., Lee, K. and Li, N. (2001) Cultivating a sense of belonging in part-time students. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 20 (4) 326-341.
Kliegel, M. and Altgassen, M. (2006). Inter-individual differences in learning performance: The effects of age, intelligence, and strategic task approach. Educational Gerontology, 32(1) 111-124.
Knowles, M. (1980). The Modern Practice of Adult Education: From Pedagogy to Andragogy, 2nd ed. (New York: Cambridge Books).
O’Shea, S. and Stone, C. (2011). Transformations and self-discovery: Mature-age women’s reflections on returning to university study. Studies in Continuing Education, 33(3) 273-288.
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants. On the Horizon, 9(5) 1-6.
Sanchez, J., Salinas, A., Contreras, D., and Meyer, E. (2011). Does the new digital generation of learners exist? A qualitative study. British Journal of Educational Technology, 42(4) 543-556.
Sandlin, J. (2010). Learning to survive the ‘Shopocalypse’: Reverend Billy’s anti-consumption pedagogy of the unknown. Critical Studies in Education, 51(3) 295-311.
Sandlin, J., O’Malley, M. & Burdick, J. (2011). Mapping the complexity of public pedagogy scholarship: 1894-2010. Review of Educational Research, 81(3) 338-375.
Sandlin, J., Schultz, B., and Burdick, J., Eds. (2010). Handbook of Public Pedagogy: Education and Learning Beyond Schooling. New York: Routledge.
Stapleton, J., Wen, H.J., Starrett, D., and Kilburn, M. (2007). Generational differences in using online learning systems. Human Systems Management, 26(1) 99-109.
Stone, C. (2008). Listening to individual voices and stories: the mature age student experience. Australian Journal of Adult Education, 48(2) 63-290.
Stone, C, and O’Shea, S. (2013). Time, money, leisure and guilt: The gendered challenges of higher education for mature-age students. Australian Journal of Adult Learning, 53(1): 90-110.
Swain, J. and Hammond, C. (2011). The motivations and outcomes of studying for part-time mature students in higher education. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 30 (5), 591-612.
Thompson, G. and Devlin, L. (1992). Access by part-time students: A question of openness in Canadian universities. Canadian Journal of Higher Education, 22(3) 57-75.
Wright, R. (2007). ‘The Avengers,’ public pedagogy, and the development of British women’s consciousness. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 115, 63-72.
Wright, R. & Sandlin, J. (2009a). Cult TV, hip hop, shape-shifters, and vampire slayers: A review of the literature at the intersection of adult education and popular culture. Adult Education Quarterly, 59 (2) 118-141.
Wright, R. & Sandlin, J. (2009b). Popular culture, public pedagogy and perspective transformation: The Avengers and adult learning in living rooms. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 28(4) 533-551.
Yum, J., Kember, D. and Siaw, I., (2005). Coping mechanisms of part-time students. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 24 (4), 303-317.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Authors of manuscripts accepted for publication will be required to assign copyright to the Canadian Journal for the Study of Adult Education/L’Association canadienne pour l’étude de l’éducation des adultes (CJSAE). CJSAE requests that, as the creator(s)/author(s) of the manuscript your are submitting assign certain rights to the manuscript to the CJSAE in exchange for undertaking to publish the article in print and electronic form and, in general, to pursue its dissemination throughout the world. The rights the CJSAE requests are:
- The right to publish the article in print and electronic form or in any other form it may choose that is in keeping with its role as a scholarly journal with the goal of disseminating the work as widely as possible;
- The right to be the sole publisher of the article for a period of 12 months;
- The right to make the article available to the public within a period of not more than 24 months, as determined by relevant journal staff of the CJSAE;
- The right to grant republication rights to itself or others in print, electronic, or any other form, with any revenues accrued to be shared equally between the author(s) and the journal;
- The right to administer permission to use portions of the article as requested by others, seeking recompense when the CJSAE sees it as warrented;
- The right to seek or take advantage of opportunities to have the article included in a database aimed at increasing awareness of it;
- As the author(s), the CJSAE wishes you to retain the right to republish the article, with acknowledgement of the CJSAE as the original publisher, in whole or in part, in any other pbulication of your own, including any anthology that you might edit with up to three others;
- As the author(s), the CJSAE withes you to retain the right to place the article on your personal Web page or that of your university or institution. The CJSAE askes that you include this notice: A fully edited, peer-reviewed version of this article was first published by the Canadian Journal for the Study of Adult Education, <Year>, <Volume>, <Issue>, <Page Numbers>.
BY AGREEING TO THE FOREGOING, YOU CONFIRM THAT THE MANUSCRIPT YOU ARE SUBMITTING HAS NOT BEEN PUBLISHED ELSEWHERE IN WHOLE OR IN PART, AND THAT NO AGREEMENT TO PUBLISH IS OUTSTANDING.
SHOULD THE ARTICLE CONTAIN MATERIAL WHICH REQUIRES WRITTEN PERMISSION FOR INCLUSION, YOU AGREE THAT IT IS YOUR OBLIGATION IN LAW TO IDENTIFY SUCH MATERIAL TO THE EDITOR OF THE CJSAE AND TO OBTAIN SUCH PERMISSION. THE CJSAE WILL NOT PAY ANY PERMISSION FEES. SHOULD THE CJSAE BE OF THE OPINION THAT SUCH PERMISSION IS NECESSARY, IT WILL REQUIRE YOU TO PURSUE SHUCH PERMISSSION PRIOR TO PUBLICATION.
AS AUTHOR(S), YOU WARRANT THAT THE ARTICLE BEING SUBMITTED IS ORIGINAL TO YOU.
Provided the foregoing terms are satisfactory, and that you are in agreement with them, please indicate your acceptance by checking the appropriate box and proceed with your submission.
This copyright agreement was extracted with permission from the "Best practices guide to scholarly journal publishing" (2007), produced by the Canadian Association of Learned Journals (CALJ).
