Critical geragogy: A framework for facilitating older learners in community music

Abstract

The principal aim of this paper is to address the question of whether and how professional practice within an informal teaching and learning context (music) may be understood through a critical-geragogy lens. Secondly, we consider whether critical geragogy has relevance to and potential applications for enhancing practice among facilitators of older learners in community contexts. Geragogy refers to the management of teaching and learning for older adults and has become a well-known term applied to teaching and learning in later life. Critical geragogy retains the focus on older adults, but challenges the beliefs, practices, and structures related to ageing, supports older learners in overcoming alienation and developing a sense of powerful agency, and offers resources for purposeful collective action. In this paper we analyse the narratives of 13 facilitators of musical activities for older people, interpreting their reflections on practice within a critical-geragogy framework. The interviews, focusing on good practice in facilitating older learners, were carried out as part of the second phase of the Music for Life Project, funded by the UK Research Councils. A thematic analysis was undertaken, using a framework that was structured around person-centred, fellow-centred, and matter-centred goals. The interviews revealed that musical groups provided informal learning contexts where facilitators aspired to empower their participants through developing a positive interpersonal climate, valuing participation, using the participants' prior experiences as a resource, and guiding their groups towards creative expression as well as progression.