Barriers to Lifelong Learning for Third Age Older Adults

Abstract

Lifelong learning provides older adults with the healthy benefits of physical, mental and social activity. The research illustrates barriers as well as motivations that are present for third age older adults who are motivated and able to participate in lifelong learning, but do not. The research study was conducted using critical educational gerontology (CEG) as a theoretical framework and was conceptually informed by the works of Pierre Bourdieu, Paolo Freire and Erik Erikson. CEG states that education for older adults is not always exercised in the interest of all older adults and that lifelong learning is often treated as a novelty. Older adult education can become a means to further the neo-liberalist agendas of the institutions providing the programs and activities. The research was conducted in two phases utilizing both a widely distributed survey and interviews with select participants. Social justice and equity issues were revealed through participant insights around the discrimination experienced by older adults. This discrimination arose not only within the local community, but also within the institutions providing lifelong learning experiences, and manifested as ageism, sexism, classism and racism. Previous research indicated that many formal lifelong learning programs and activities unwittingly cater to a specific demographic that are typically White, well-educated, in the mid-seventies and of a higher socio-economic class. This research illustrates that while educational offerings may meet the needs and wants of some, they do not equitably reflect the needs and wants of all older adults. Direction is provided for lifelong learning program administrators seeking to create more inclusive and equitable programs that are attractive and of interest to older adults of differing ethnicities, classes, ages and education levels. The research was conducted amidst the COVID-19 pandemic revealing many additional barriers and challenges to potential older adult learners such as digital inequality, where only those older adults with the means, abilities and knowledge to engage with digital society are able to do so. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)