NEW LEARNING FOR OLDER AUSTRALIANS, OR JUST THE SAME OLD EDUCATION?

Abstract

There is much discussion in education circles in Australia about the impact of the aging of society. Not much of this discussion, however, has made its way past political rhetoric to the more productive world of political policy and programs. Healthy older people are still largely left to their own devices to develop educational responses to their needs —the highly successful University of the Third Age movement being a case in point. Organizations that try to provide creative alternatives for the older learner are still treated as though that work is not real work. Changes in society suggest not only that community members will be older on average in the future, but that they will be thrown more and more onto their own resources in order to survive. Such a situation requires more than political pleasantries. It requires active intervention to provide new curricula and new directions. We explore the reality of learning for the older person in Australia and suggest policy directions for the future.