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Good for your soul? Adult learning and mental well-being
Abstract
Although there is a widely held view that adult learning has a positive impact on well-being, only recently has this proposition been systematically tested. The paper reviews recent research findings on the influence of adult learning on earnings and employability, both of which may influence well-being indirectly. These are more important for some groups than others: in economically advanced societies, additional earnings produce limited gains in well-being for most groups except the poorest, while employability is most significant for groups that are most vulnerable in the labour market. The author then reviews recent research findings showing that participating in learning in adult life has some positive direct influence on well-being; analyses of cohort studies suggest that the influence is comparatively small, but nevertheless significant. There has been less study of learning’s negative consequences for well-being, and the paper draws on history data to illustrate some of these less desirable influences. It concludes by identifying areas for further research, and outlining a number of implications for policy and practice. These are particularly important in the current context, where environmental movements appear to be challenging the primacy of economic growth as the overarching goal of policy.
... 이러한 연구들은 높은 교육 수준이 반드시 더 큰 행복으로 이어지는 것은 아님을 보여준다. 그러 나 고학력 계층에 비해 학력이 매우 낮은 교육 취약계층의 경우는 삶의 만족도에 미치는 학력의 부적 영향을 더 받는다는 것을 일관적으로 확인할 수 있다. 3. 평생학습 참여와 삶의 만족도: 학력에 따른 격차의 조절 가능성 성인의 학습참여가 삶의 질에 긍정적 영향을 미친다는 견해가 널리 퍼지게 되면서 2000년 이 후 평생학습과 삶의 만족도 간의 관계를 분석하는 연구들이 체계적으로 검증되기 시작하였다(Field, 2009). 역동적인 자본주의 경제는 제도화된 혁신과 변화의 기반 아래 근로자들의 직업 안정성을 감소시키며, 직업이 변화하거나 사라짐에 따라 기술의 향상(up-skilling) 및 재기술 (re-skilling)을 요구하게 되었다(Field, 2009). ...
... 그러 나 고학력 계층에 비해 학력이 매우 낮은 교육 취약계층의 경우는 삶의 만족도에 미치는 학력의 부적 영향을 더 받는다는 것을 일관적으로 확인할 수 있다. 3. 평생학습 참여와 삶의 만족도: 학력에 따른 격차의 조절 가능성 성인의 학습참여가 삶의 질에 긍정적 영향을 미친다는 견해가 널리 퍼지게 되면서 2000년 이 후 평생학습과 삶의 만족도 간의 관계를 분석하는 연구들이 체계적으로 검증되기 시작하였다(Field, 2009). 역동적인 자본주의 경제는 제도화된 혁신과 변화의 기반 아래 근로자들의 직업 안정성을 감소시키며, 직업이 변화하거나 사라짐에 따라 기술의 향상(up-skilling) 및 재기술 (re-skilling)을 요구하게 되었다(Field, 2009). 이러한 사회적 맥락 하에 인적자본론은 성인의 평생학습참여가 더 큰 경쟁력과 성장을 촉진하고 고용가능성을 높일 수 있는 하나의 방편이 될 수 있다고 보고 있으며, 특히 취약계층의 경쟁력 향상을 위한 역량 강화로 간주되었다(Rubenson, 2006). ...
The purpose of this study is to confirm the effect of academic background on adults' life satisfaction and to analyze the moderating effect of participation in lifelong learning. Schooling as a meaningful activity to positively change an individual's life is closely related to life satisfaction. However, the selection and evaluation process in schooling causes a gap in academic achievement, which is a factor that might cause inequality in the quality of life. Therefore, while analyzing the relationship between schooling and life satisfaction, this study tried to empirically examine the effect of participation in lifelong learning as a way to adjust the gap in quality of life according to academic background. Step-wise regression analysis was performed on 9,764 adults between the ages of 25 and 79 using the data of the 2020 Lifelong Learning Individual Survey of the Korea Educational Development Institute (KEDI). There are the results. First, the positive relationship between academic background and life satisfaction was statistically significant, indicating that adults' life satisfaction increased as their education level increased. Second, in the relationship between academic background and life satisfaction, the moderating effect of participation in lifelong learning was found to be statistically significant, indicating that participation in lifelong learning can reduce the gap in life satisfaction according to academic background. Based on the results of this study, the implications for future lifelong education policies for the educationally disadvantaged were discussed as a way to increase life satisfaction.
... The need to address barriers to mental wellbeing applies particularly to distance learning. While literature suggests that part-time adult learning can be beneficial for wellbeing (Field, 2009;Waller et al., 2018), evidence suggests that students in distance learning are more likely to disclose an existing mental health difficulty, may be more likely to need support (Barr, 2014) and that their needs and challenges may be less visible to the university (Coughlan et al., 2021;Coughlan and Lister, 2022). For example, in 2018-19, 9.6% of Open University (OU) students (12,813 in total) disclosed a mental health condition compared to the UK HE average of 2.5% (Advance, 2018). ...
... However, students also reported positive impacts of distance learning as enablers to wellbeing, particularly around building their study skills, the people in students' lives and their curriculum and module content. This aligns interestingly with the literature, which has found learning can have a positive impact on wellbeing, particularly with older adults (Field, 2009;Waller et al., 2018). ...
Student mental wellbeing is increasingly a priority for universities, and this is particularly critical in a distance learning context. Studies have found that studying, academic pressure, university culture and systems can affect students’ mental health. There are increasing calls for universities to take a compassionate, holistic approach to supporting student wellbeing, and identify the barriers that are created by university cultures, systems, pedagogies, curricula, tuition and assessment practices. This study aimed to identify barriers and enablers to student mental wellbeing in distance learning, and students’ recommendations for changes to be made. Using a student survey (N = 584), we identified that assessment and life circumstances were the most significant barriers, while the greatest enablers were building study skills, the people in students’ lives, and curriculum and module content. The study revealed significant demographic differences in how students experience barriers and enablers, and how likely they feel they are to benefit from solutions. Students with disclosed mental health difficulties were consistently more likely to experience barriers than students without a disclosure, while enablers were experienced by all demographic groups. The study concludes that assessment should be prioritised as an area for action.
... It can also strain personal relationships, as individuals may have limited energy and emotional resources to devote to their social connections and leisure activities. On the whole, burnout diminishes the overall quality of life and prevents individuals from fully engaging and thriving in their personal and professional lives [12,14]. ...
Background and objectives: The goal of this study was to evaluate the levels of organizational justice, social support, wellbeing, and lifelong learning associated with the level of burnout experienced by medical and non-medical staff from public and private medical units. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on a sample of 497 healthcare professionals: 367 medical personnel (Mage = 43.75 ± 0.50), including 216 nurses, 97 physicians, and 54 respondents with other medical specialities such as biologists, psychologists, physical therapists, pharmacists, etc., and 130 non-medical staff respondents (Mage = 45.63 ± 0.80), including administrative personnel. The Maslach Burnout Inventory, the ECO System, the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, the WHO Wellbeing Index, and the revised Jefferson Scale of Physician’s Lifelong Learning were used. Results: Burnout was measured in terms of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment. Medical personnel registered higher values of personal accomplishment (38.66 ± 0.39 vs. 35.87 ± 0.69), while non-medical personnel registered higher values of depersonalization (6.59 ± 0.52 vs. 4.43 ± 0.26) and emotional exhaustion (27.33 ± 1.24 vs. 19.67 ± 0.71). In terms of organizational justice, higher scores were observed for medical staff, while non-medical staff recorded lower values (24.28 ± 0.24 vs. 22.14 ± 0.38). For wellbeing, higher scores were also registered for medical staff (11.95 ± 0.21 vs. 10.33 ± 0.37). Conclusions: For lifelong learning and social support, no statistically significant differences were found. In the case of the proposed parallel moderated mediation model, the moderated mediation effects of organizational justice, lifelong learning, and burnout on the relationship between social support and wellbeing were valid for every dimension of burnout (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment), but lifelong learning was not found to be a viable mediating variable, even if high levels of social support correspond to high levels of lifelong learning and wellbeing.
... Adults and children learning together as a family encourages discussion and social bonding through group activities, thereby contributing to social well-being [60][61][62]. A quarter of the sample chose to stay connected to zoos during lockdown because it was something that "the whole household enjoyed"; the majority of these individuals were past/present zoo members, had children in the home, and just under half used the education resources. ...
One of the main goals of zoos and aquariums (hereafter ‘zoos’) is to connect visitors with animals. Unfortunately, COVID-19 lockdowns resulted in these organizations closing around the globe, making this goal exceedingly difficult. During lockdowns, zoos became very resourceful and found alternative means to connect people with animals. Additional social media, webcams, and education resources were offered. What is unknown, however, is the extent to which people used these resources and what factors influenced this. This study, therefore, aimed to explore these questions through an online survey. Of the 302 participants who chose to stay connected to a zoo, the majority (82%) did so via social media, and just over half of the sample used webcams (51%). When asked why they stayed connected, 75% indicated that they did so for their own interest in animals, but some (36%) said they enjoyed sharing the animal information with family/friends. Zoo members were more likely to use education resources, and people with zoo work experience were more likely to share animal information. This study illustrates that zoo resources were utilized during lockdown and that demographic variables were associated with how and why people used them. The findings have implications for zoos post-COVID-19 and may be useful for promoting connections and well-being in certain cohorts of society.
... (Dave, 1973 (고은현･이성, 2014;안은미･허정무, 2015;전국자･정민, 2016;차경선, 2017;한수정, 2016;Escuder-Mollon et al., 2014;Field, 2009;Park et al., 2016 (Diener et al., 1999). 주관적 안녕감은 더 포괄적인 개념으로, 삶에 대 한 개인의 인지적･정서적 평가이다 (Diener, 1984). ...
The aim of this study is to analyze research trends on how Quality of Life (QoL) is conceptualized and measured in lifelong education to diagnose the problem of using the concept of QoL and suggest alternatives. Using a systematic literature review, a total of 35 quantitative research studies published in Korea over the past 20 years were selected. The general characteristics of domestic quantitative studies measuring QoL in lifelong education, the concept of QoL, and the sub-components and questions of QoL were analyzed. QoL was conceptualized based on subjective indicators, and terms such as happiness, satisfaction, and well-being were used interchangeably without being clearly distinguished. The concept of subjective QoL can be categorized into life satisfaction, subjective well-being, and psychological well-being, depending on whether cognitive, emotional, and psychological factors were included, and many have measured life satisfaction. It is necessary to conduct QoL research using complex indicators that include emotional and psychological factors in lifelong education. To do this, national data related to lifelong education should be supplemented.
Universities of the Third Age (U3A), lifelong learning institutes, and "senior universities" are terms used to describe organizations that provide education for older adults, specifically for those who are retired or in the "third age" of life. The purpose of this article is to provide a comprehensive, historical overview of the evolution of these organizations across global settings. This article highlights the importance of older adult education while discussing U3A's structure and models. The article explores the origins and historical development of the U3A model and its influence on recent initiatives like the Age-Friendly Universities movement. It then focuses on the impact of French and British Models of U3A on providing older adult education. There is a general discussion of the expansion of these organizations in several countries and a comparison of each's curricular structure and approach. The article concludes with suggested future directions and potential areas of improvement (e.g. technology access, accessibility, and inclusion of older adult learners; diverse needs and interests) and ways these models can remain relevant to the ever-changing older adult learner population. Through this analysis, the article contributes to the understanding of U3A organizations and their role in promoting lifelong learning for older adults.
Vocational training, aimed mainly at the most vulnerable groups of unemployed, was introduced in Spain during the 1980s, at a time of rising unemployment. Since then, its main objective has been integrating these people into the labour market; however, the results are unsatisfactory. In this regard, the seven focus group interviews carried out in the province of Cadiz (Spain) with different vulnerable groups show how the courses contribute significantly to the psychosocial well-being of the students. The findings are augmented by others obtained from 12 in-depth interviews with representatives of training centres and a survey of collaborating training centres of the Junta de Andalucía. These results are analysed based on Sen’s capabilities approach and the human capital approach. In particular, the interviews with the centres representatives point to the existence of control relations on the part of the administration. Other factors, such as relationships between organisations and training regulations, also play a role. All this leads to the fact that the training for the unemployed does not favour the creation of opportunities for vulnerable groups and for centres to develop initiatives according to their needs and preferences, in line with the capability approach.
The key features which influence mental health both in jobs and unemployment are brought together within a single perspective. Three principal axes of affective well-being are identified as warranting investigation, and it is suggested that nine environmental features are of primary importance. The impact of these features on mental health is viewed as analogous to the influence of vitamins on physical health, with an explicit non-linearity in the relationship. This ‘vitamin model’ is extended to permit examination of individual differences (for example, in terms of baseline values and specific matching characteristics), and empirical evidence is summarized. It is concluded from previous research that job features do not interact synergistically in relation to employee well-being, although this possibility may not yet have been adequately tested. The framework is suggested to be adequately comprehensive, but, as is the case with other models, it requires development in respect of the specific mechanisms operating between environmental features and mental health.
This report concerns a two-part project about the importance for adult health and well-being of (1) broadly defined school success and (2) participation in adult learning. In the first part of the project we examine which aspects of schooling are markers for health and well-being in adulthood, using not only measures of attainment such as qualifications, but also measures of engagement. Our interest is in testing the strength of broad-ranging childhood indicators for adult health in order to help practitioners target appropriate resources. In the second part we consider the potential role for adult learning in improving health and well-being amongst adults generally, and in offsetting the disadvantage associated with not flourishing at school, thereby reducing health inequalities. We use longitudinal data to examine relationships between participation in adult learning and trajectories in health and well-being for adults who did and did not flourish at school. The differences in adult health and well-being between those who flourished at secondary school and those who did not are substantial and pervasive and go beyond the effect of qualifications attained, indicating the importance of engagement at school as well as academic attainment. We also find that patterns established in early life have a more profound effect than those adopted in later life, and the difference in scale and pervasiveness of the results for school and for adult education tend to support this. Our findings underline the importance of understanding why flourishing at secondary school is such an important signal for adult health and well-being. However, it does not negate the value of adult education, which seems to provide real opportunities for transformation of poor health and well-being amongst adults, whether or not they flourished at school.
The term 'social capital' is a way of defining the intangible resources of community, shared values and trust upon which we draw in daily life. It has achieved considerable international currency across the social sciences through the very different work of Pierre Bourdieu in France and James Coleman and Robert Putnam in the United States, and has been widely taken up within politics and sociology as an explanation for the decline in social cohesion and community values in western societies. It has also been adopted by policy makers, particularly in international governmental bodies such as the World Bank. This fully revised second edition of Social Capital provides a thorough overview of the intense and fast-moving debate surrounding this subject. This clear and comprehensive introduction explains the theoretical underpinning of the subject, the empirical work that has been done to explore its operation, and the influence that it has had on public policy and practice. It includes guides to further reading and a list of the most important websites.
How do education and learning really impact on people's lives? The Benefits of Learning is a detailed, systematic and vivid account of the impact of formal and informal education on people's lives. Based on extended interviews with adults of all ages, it shows how learning affects their health, family lives and participation in civic life, revealing the downsides of education as well as the benefits. At a time when education is in danger of being narrowly regarded as an instrument of economic growth, this study covers: the interaction between learning and people's physical and psychological well-being the way learning impacts on family life and communication between generations the effect on people's ability and motivation to take part in civic and community life. Packed with detail from adults' own accounts of their lives, the book reveals how learning enables people to sustain themselves and their communities in the face of daily stresses and strains, as well as sometimes transforming their lives. The book opens up new avenues for debate. It is a valuable resource for education researchers and of particular interest to education policy makers, adult education practitioners, health educators and postgraduate students in education. © 2004 Tom Schuller, John Preston, Cathie Hammond, Angela Brasset-Grundy and John Bynner. All rights reserved.
Although there has been a considerable amount of research relating measures of schooling years, qualifications, or training spells to workers' labour market success, there has been very little assessment of the role of more basic literacy and numeracy skills, largely due to problems with measurement and data availability. Yet it is obviously crucial, in an era of apparently rising demand for skills, that we have evidence on the labour market value of the full range of worker skills, including basic literacy and numeracy. This paper therefore uses data from the National Child Development Study and the International Adult Literacy Survey to fill this gap. Specifically, we use test scores achieved by respondents in both surveys to measure their basic literacy and numeracy skills. We then evaluate the impact of these skills on workers' labour market outcomes, and find clear evidence of a substantial wage return to such basic skills.
Although economic output has nearly doubled in the last 30 years, life satisfaction levels in the UK and other developed countries have remained resolutely flat, with evidence that depression and anxiety are increasing, notably among young people. While governments in the developed world focus on economic development as the key route to well-being, a growing body of research suggests that, once basic needs have been met, this approach is flawed. This well-being manifesto for a flourishing society, produced by the think tank new economics foundation (nef), proposes eight alternative priorities for government action to promote well-being. While the focus is on UK policy and the examples are largely drawn from the UK, the key themes of the manifesto will apply to many developed country contexts.