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“Learning is Like a Preservative”: Lifelong Learning as Leisure
... Faber et al. (2024) highlighted the significance of lifelong anomaly detection in dynamic environments, arguing that it addresses unique challenges in maintaining adaptability and retaining knowledge, ultimately leading to more robust anomaly detection models. Lee et al. (2024) explored the concept of lifelong learning as leisure, highlighting its significance in the lives of middle-aged and older adults and the multiple benefits it provides. Ye and Nylander (2024) examined the complexities of higher vocational education in Sweden, revealing that participation is driven by employment goals and as a response to market constraints and personal challenges, highlighting the need for a flexible approach to vocational training. ...
... However, both studies fail to incorporate long-term tracking data, which is essential for understanding the enduring effects and adaptability of these policies over time. Table 1 provides a concise overview of the key theoretical contributions that support the role of lifelong learning and vocational education in fostering entrepreneurial skills, creativity, and adaptability (Lee et al., 2024). Kim (2024) provided new insights into the differences in attitudes and perceptions towards lifelong learning between participants and non-participants, revealing distinct factors influencing participation rates. ...
... This study provides a novel framework for understanding the role of lifelong learning in shaping entrepreneurial behaviour, offering a critical perspective on how lifelong learning programmes can be refined to support both innovation and strategic risk management in an increasingly uncertain global economy (Lee et al., 2024). ...
Lifelong learning within vocational education significantly influences innovation and entrepreneurship decisions. This is particularly pivotal in developing countries where bridging the gap between entrepreneurial talent demands and the supply from vocational institutions is vital. This study develops a tailored game-theoretic model to examine the interactions between government, entrepreneurs, and vocational education providers. It delves into how lifelong learning shapes entrepreneurial strategies, emphasising institutional innovations by the government and adaptability in enterprises. The model suggests that governments provide lifelong learning policies and support, entrepreneurs adjust their needs strategies in response to business developments, and vocational education institutions deliver skill enhancement programmes. The methodology encompasses analysing how lifelong learning initiatives impact entrepreneurial decisions, risk-taking behaviour, and innovative potential. The study's findings reveal that lifelong learning lowers entry barriers, augments adaptability, and fosters innovation. However, it may also lead to heightened risk aversion, slower decision-making, and over-reliance on external support, potentially hindering bold innovation. To mitigate these challenges, governments should devise lifelong learning support schemes that foster innovation and risk management. This study contributes theoretical insights for possible latecomer advantages in developing countries.
This study examined whether there were significant differences between traditional and non-traditional students and gender on six experts-based employability competencies. The study was anchored on social cognitive theory and obtained data from 405 students using simple random sampling and analyzed using an independent T-test. The study established significant differences between traditional and non-traditional students on employability competencies—emotional regulation, lifelong learning, and efficacy beliefs—but not in social competence, metacognitive and oral and written communication. Significant differences were also observed based on gender with emotional regulation, lifelong learning and oral communication but not in social competence, meta cognitive and oral, and written communication. The study established the fact that employability competencies are not universal but contextual and provides the bases for HEIs in emerging economies to re-examine curriculum to prepare students for the world of work.
The article presents a systematic review of scholarly papers referring to everyday creativity in times of COVID-19. We reviewed 30 papers published between May 2020 and June 2022. We searched in SCOPUS, Google Scholar, JSTOR and PsycINFO, using combinations of the following keywords: Creativity, Pandemic and COVID-19. We follow the PRISMA guidelines for conducting systematic reviews. We established four general inclusion criteria and selected quantitative, qualitative, or mixed-design empirical papers. Three experts evaluated whether the papers met the established criteria. We analyzed the selected research qualitatively through encodings and method of constant comparisons. We built four general categories whose purpose is to systematize the main results of the papers: Creativity and Health, Increase in Creative Actions, Motivations, and Creative Growth. The analyzed papers show relationships between creative actions, well-being, and coping. The data showed increases in creative actions in times of pandemic. Enjoyment, seeking contact with others, and coping appear as the main reasons for the development of creative actions. The results highlight the importance of creative adaptation in the construction of new personal and professional development projects.
This paper aims to examine how self-regulated learning strategies (SRLS) can foster the enhancement of digital literacy in digital learning to increase efficiencies in human capital for sustainable development in lifelong learning. Digital disruption in the education sector is unavoidable. The results of this study will be useful for educators and students to establish guidelines on how to utilize SRLS to enhance digital literacy competence and hence lifelong learning as developing human capital for the future workplace is crucial. Since research supports the fact that digital natives lack digital literacy, this paper look at how SRLS can foster digital literacy because it assists students to manage their learning independently online. Furthermore, there is a dearth of evidence on the effects of SRLS on digital literacy. How SRLS can elevate digital literacy is still rudimentary. To fulfill the purpose of the study, four hypotheses were formulated. A cross sectional survey of full-time undergraduates from IT or Multimedia programs to examine the relationships between the use of self-regulated learning strategies towards digital literacy in digital learning within from selected private universities with blended learning environments in the central region of Malaysia.A total of 563 respondents were analyzed via Structured Equation Modelling using Partial least Squares (PLS) to obtain the final results. The results of the hypotheses revealed three out of four hypotheses were supported corroborating that three domains of SRLS (metacognitive knowledge, resource management, and motivational beliefs) showed a significant positive influence on digital literacy.
This study aimed to investigate the emotional impact of technology use in an Italian adult population and to detect technophobia. This cross-sectional study was conducted with 117 Italian participants (age range of 50–67 years). Measured variables were computer anxiety and technology use ability. The results revealed technophobia features in the Italian adult population related to inadequate management of technology. One-way analysis of variance and Bonferroni’s post-hoc analysis showed that non-autonomous (p < 0.01), low-frequency (p < 0.01), and feeling-a-need-for-help users (p < 0.01) had higher levels of computer anxiety. Based on our data, although lifelong learning is a powerful digital need, a considerable proportion of the adult population is not digitally skilled, enlarging the gap between young (native digital) and adult (digital and non-digital adults and seniors) populations. Adult inclusivity in digital living is inadequate and likely affects their quality of life. Thus, our findings highlight technophobia as a possible new risk factor for Italian adults because it can affect their daily life through low adherence to digital living; rather than aging successfully, they could develop fragile aging.
This paper explores the intersection between migration, aging and lifelong learning with the aim of expanding our understanding of how lifelong learning enhances older migrants’ active aging in a foreign land. Our study also offers insights into the learning activities of older immigrants in general. In 2002, the World Health Organization (WHO) proposed a conceptual framework of active aging, which has greatly influenced aging policies and seniors’ everyday practices. Yet, there is a paucity of research that explicates and fully integrates lifelong learning into active aging discourse, and focuses on senior immigrants’ lifelong learning in an aging society. Based on interviews, textual materials, and participatory observation in five Chinese seniors’ immigrant associations in Toronto, we explore how Chinese senior immigrants’ learning has been (re)shaped and practised through re-settling in Canadian society. Five categories of learning are explored, including a) learning language and computer skills, b) learning culture and history, c) learning civic engagement, d) learning leisure, and e) learning health. We argue that ‘active learning’ can be used as a dynamic conceptual framework that interacts with active aging theory, demonstrating how senior immigrants actively participate in the lifelong learning project for participation and integration in Canada. This paper provides insights to the understanding of culturally sensitive policy-making on integration, health, and lifelong learning of older immigrants in Canada and beyond.
Lifelong learning is a social and cognitive process that helps individuals build on their knowledge, skills, and abilities throughout their lives. This process is transformational for older adults. This study examines the social and cognitive transformation of older adult women involved in a large lifelong learning institute in the United States. Sense of community and gerotranscendence are used as measures of social and cognitive transformation, respectively. The relationships of these concepts with life satisfaction and quality of life are quantitatively and qualitatively investigated. Findings indicate that sense of community positively relates to life satisfaction and quality of life, while gerotranscendence only relates to life satisfaction. The qualitative findings support these connections as well as demonstrate the transformative effects of lifelong learning. This study concludes that a social and cognitive perspective on transformation will be beneficial to future investigations of life satisfaction, quality of life, and other measures of individual and community well-being.
This paper examines the relationship between the academic self-efficacy of an adult learners group in an online learning context with their actual performance. Our study aims to evaluate the relationship between self-concept of a group of students in online context and their academic achievement. Data were collected from 63 students of both genders, with average age of 42 years old, selected from the first years of their undergraduate studies. We analyzed their performance in academic course specifies. An adapted questionnaire was used to measure self-efficacy (α=.908). The data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The Pearson correlation coefficient was used to see the relationship between self-efficacy and academic performance. The analysis of the data indicated that students' level of self-efficacy is high (average=45) and a significant relationship exists between self-efficacy and academic achievement (r=0.286, at 0.05 level).
The Active Ageing Framework has been adapted as a global strategy in ageing policies, practices and research over the last decade. Lifelong learning, however, has not been fully integrated into this discourse. Using survey data provided by 416 adults (aged 60 years and above) enrolled in non-formal general-interest courses in a public continuing education programme in Canada, this study examined the association between older adults’ duration of participation in the courses and their level of psychological wellbeing, while taking their age, gender, self-rated health and vulnerability level into consideration. An analytical framework was developed based on the literature of old-age vulnerabilities and the benefits of lifelong learning. Two logistic regression and trend analyses were conducted. The results indicate that older adults’ participation is independently and positively associated with their psychological wellbeing, even among those typically classified as ‘vulnerable’. This result provides additional evidence that suggests the continuous participation in non-formal lifelong learning may help sustain older adults’ psychological wellbeing. It provides older learners, even those who are most vulnerable, with a compensatory strategy to strengthen their reserve capacities, allowing them to be autonomous and fulfilled in their everyday life. The result of this study highlights the value of the strategic and unequivocal promotion of community-based non-formal lifelong learning opportunities for developing inclusive, equitable and caring active ageing societies.
Learning in later life (citizens over 65 or retired) is becoming common; job related needs or labour market qualification requirements are replaced by more personal aims such as curiosity, understanding the environment, feeling more integrated, pleasure or keeping active. These personal aims can be seen from the quality of life (QoL) perspective, where education increases well-being and understanding of self and society, and helps senior learners to feel they are participating in and form part of society. The thesis presented in this paper is that education increases QoL. Taking into account that QoL has both objective and subjective facets, and education is a complex long-term process, this article shows the relation that exists between a lifelong learning activity in senior citizens and the impact on their QoL. This research has been conducted within the QEduSen project (supported by the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Commission) using quantitative and qualitative research methods.
Lifelong learning is the lifewide, voluntary and self-motivated pursuit of knowledge for not only personal but professional reasons as well. It does not only enhance social inclusion, active citizenship and individual development, but also increases competitiveness and employability. The importance of Lifelong Learning has been increasing for some important reasons. These are increasing of life expectancy, increasing the "old-age dependency" ratio, to desire for increasing the life quality, and trying to keep themselves in good physical and mental condition by humans. Due to these reasons, the importance of Lifelong Learning has been increasing.
Innovation theory asserts that the adoption of new leisure activities in later life (leisure innovation) may facilitate healthy ageing through personal growth, interest renewal, identity reconstruction and increased sense of meaning in life. The purpose of this study was to explore innovation theory among retirement-age women. Thirteen women aged 60–70 completed in-depth interviews and focus groups. Data were analysed through open, axial and selective coding. Themes emerged regarding the nature of newly adopted leisure activities, triggers of innovation and outcomes of innovation. Participants attributed meaning to innovation within established interest areas and to innovation related to taking advantage of previously unavailable opportunities. Participants also identified innovation catalysts including additional resources, increased perceived freedom, purposive life changes and health concerns. Outcomes of innovation included feelings of joy, self-confidence, independence and improved social connections. Findings support and extend innovation theory and suggest that acknowledging and exploring the adoption of new leisure activities can extend existing theory and improve future research related to leisure and ageing.
Successful aging and lifelong learning are value-laden concepts that are culturally determined. To this effect, people with different value systems and cultural backgrounds may perceive and understand these two concepts differently, resulting in different definitions and conceptualizations by people in diverse cultural contexts. There have been studies of successful aging and lifelong learning that considered what role culture plays in these two constructs separately. However, there is a lack of research studying successful aging and lifelong learning alongside each other, using the same culturally relevant approach to examine the impact of culture on how these two constructs are understood and conceptualized. The aim of this paper is, therefore, two-fold. First, it will examine the concepts of successful aging and lifelong learning and consider the role that culture plays in the understanding of these two constructs. Second, it will present a culturally relevant theoretical framework to theorize and explain older people's own value systems and the predominant cultural values that have influenced their understandings and conceptualizations of what successful aging and lifelong learning mean to them in old age. Considering and examining the theoretical framework from the perspectives of elders themselves is necessary if we are to understand the ways in which culture shapes the experiences of aging and learning in later life.
Social innovation of work and employment are prerequisites to achieve
the EU2020 objectives of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. It covers labour
market innovation on societal level and workplace innovation on organisational
level. This paper focuses on the latter. Workplace innovations are social both in
their ends (quality of working life, well-being and development of talents together
with organisational performance) and in their means (employee participation and
empowerment). Complementary to technological innovations they regard innovations
in social aspects of organisations such as work organisation, HRM and
work relations. Workplace innovation – or innovative workplaces as it is sometimes
called – deserves to be better incorporated in EU policies, as also has been
recommended by the European Economic and Social Committee and the OECD.
Some countries have experienced the benefits of national campaigns already.
The use of information and communications technology in distance education is an increasing and widespread phenomenon, crossing physical and temporal boundaries. Distance learning provides the flexibility needed for adults to continue their education or training while working or fulfilling family responsibilities. The rapid growth of knowledge in the area of health requires operators to continue to study and learn, just to keep up with the knowledge base of the job and to develop their careers.
This study aimed to explore, in the context of distance education, the role of some of the main psychological features involved in learning achievement, such as self-efficacy (Zimmerman, 2002) and locus of control (Fazey & Fazey, 2001). This survey analysed the relations among training goals achievement (based on distance education), self-efficacy (Bandura, 1997; Schwarzer, 1993), and locus of control (Rotter, 1954; Perussia & Viano, 2008) in a group of 115 health professionals. The results show a significant relation between internal locus of control and learning achievement in distance training. Furthermore, a significant relation between self-efficacy and locus of control was found.
Many social scientists believe the future will offer significantly fewer opportunities for most adults to gain and maintain a job in the way they are used to doing today. A smaller number of jobs and a substantially reduced number of work hours are in store for many employees in the postindustrial society. Whether or not their jobs ever provided such things, they will increasingly be searching the world of leisure for ways to express their abilities, fulfill their potential, and identify themselves as unique human beings. Serious leisure is a main route open to people with these goals. Its three types--amateurism, hobbyist pursuits, and career volunteering--are defined, described, and interrelated. They are contrasted throughout with unserious or casual leisure, on the one hand, and work, on the other. The intermediate position of serious leisure between these two extremes relegates its current participants to the status of marginal men and women of leisure.
The University of the Third Age [UTA] has developed into a global success story.
Whether holding a ‘top-down’ administrative arrangement or embodying a culture of self-help, there can be no doubt as to the triumph of UTAs in meeting the educational, social,
and psychological needs of older persons. However, on the basis of fieldwork conducted
at the UTA in Malta a cautionary note must be warranted. UTAs may also function as yet
another example of glorified occupational therapy that is both conservative and oppressive.
At the same time, UTA models seem to be running the risk of becoming obsolete as societies
embark on a ‘late-modern’ model of the life course in which the sequential division
between learning, work and retirement is becoming increasingly blurred. This article calls
for the UTA movement to go through a cultural revolution to remain relevant to
contemporary ageing lifestyles. Six key directions are forwarded: embracing a trans formational rationale, ensuring that access overcomes class, gender and ethnic biases, guaranteeing that teaching and learning strategies are skilfully suited to older persons, making greater use of eLearning techniques, extending its activities to frail and physically dependent older people especially those in residential/nursing homes, and organising activities that promote intergenerational learning.
This paper seeks to examine the extent to which post-compulsory education can be viewed as a serious leisure activity. Such links between the fields of leisure studies and adult education have yet to be fully explored, especially from a UK perspective. Although Stebbins (1998) has explored the concept of learning serious leisure through adult education, the concept of adult education as serious leisure has yet to be examined. Since 1995 successive UK Governments have engaged in high profile policy initiatives to encourage ‘lifelong learning’, a somewhat controversial concept which has attracted criticism as well as a significant bandwagon. The principal impetus behind the policy is the perceived need to skill the workforce so that industry can operate in an increasingly competitive global market. Emphasized to a much lesser extent, however, is the wish to create a ‘learning society’ in which continual learning, (including that for non-vocational purposes) becomes integral within society, with a subsequent enhancement of social capital. It is argued that it is through learning as ‘serious leisure’, rather than as vocationally oriented that will be most appropriate for such a policy. In this paper the authors have sought to concentrate on this non-vocational dimension of lifelong learning and to explore the links between the concept of serious leisure and lifelong learning. The paper then draws upon literature from the fields of leisure studies and education policy to examine the implications of ‘lifelong learning as leisure’ for the individual, the community and society as a whole.
This study centres on a little‐examined question: the inclination to participate in serious leisure activity, in particular, stressing the social side, as manifested in appeal of the grassroots association or voluntary organization in which the activity occurs. Forty‐one people were interviewed to explore the costs, rewards, and lifestyles underlying their decision to become and remain a participant in a grassroots association or voluntary organization and to participate in the serious leisure it makes possible. Interviewees were members of a hobbyist or self‐help group or volunteered for one of three voluntary organizations. The goal of this exploratory study was to generate grounded theory on the role of organizations in developing an inclination to leisure engagement. It revealed a reasonably broad range of organizationally based cost, reward, and lifestyle considerations that serious leisure participants experience and that, altogether, constitute a substantial push to embrace and stay with such leisure. Nonetheless, these inclinational forces were unevenly felt across all organizational forms.
In her recent contribution to the British Educational Research Journal, Pauline McClenaghan identified the link between social capital and community development, particularly community development education, as a core area where scholarly and policy interests overlap. She concluded that the concept of social capital is unable to grapple with the complex social divisions that characterise contemporary Europe. The authors of this article question her account on three main grounds: the definition of social capital, which they hold is overly narrow, and does not deal with what Woolcock calls the 'linking' role of social networks; the presentation of the theoretical foundations of community development, which they believe is flawed in certain key respects; and a lack of clarity in the relationship between the research and the findings reported. The authors then present their own theoretically informed account of social capital as a means of understanding the role of community development, the challenges that it can face and the role of adult education for community development.
Adjustments in work, family, and health are a normal part of each person's life and especially for the older adult. Self‐directed learning is one way of negotiating these changes. Self‐directed learning often occurs during leisure time and is a reflection of meaningful and personal choices. There is a need for more research about older adults and personal learning, and there is a lack of research concerning the role of leisure and self‐directed learning. The purpose of this study was to understand how older, rural adults utilize self‐directed learning in their adjustments to late‐life. This study employed a general qualitative design that used in‐depth, semi‐structured interviews for data collection. The sample of ten purposively selected older adults from a rural area reflected diversity in gender, race, education, and employment. The age of the participants ranged from 75 to 87. Three research questions guided this study: (1) What is the nature of the self‐directed learning of these older adults? (2) What are the late‐life adjustments of these older adults? (3) What is the role of leisure in their personal learning? Data analysis guided by the constant comparative method revealed various findings. The primary findings of this study are that self‐directed learning was a highly engaging process; the adjustments of older adults encompassed time, family, and loss; and leisure played an integral role in one's self‐directed learning activities. Older adults were involved in multiple projects of learning, while this leisurely style of learning enabled the individual to adjust to change.
This book confirms the significance of social capital as an analytical tool, while challenging the basis on which current policy is being developed. It offers a wealth of evidence on a topic that has become central to contemporary government; provides a detailed empirical investigation of the relationship between social capital, knowledge creation and lifelong learning; relates the findings to wider policy debates; questions the dominant theoretical models of social capital; and confronts the assumption of many policy makers that the obvious solution to social problems is to 'invest in social capital'. The book is aimed at researchers in education, policy studies and urban studies, as well as those concerned with an understanding of contemporary policy concerns.
The purpose of this study is to explore the lived experiences of older adults who have been performing Korean traditional dance as volunteers. Thirteen volunteer dancers participated in in-depth interviews. The analysis of qualitative data showed that the participants of this study demonstrated six experiential characteristics of serious leisure including: (a) the practice of perseverance, (b) volunteer career development and career contingencies, (c) commitment to the team activities, (d) subculture, (e) a strong sense of leisure-related identity, and (f) enhancing a positive sense of self. Our findings provide empirical evidence that voluntary dance performance as serious leisure can offer durable benefits and play an important role in successful ageing.
Subjective well-being is a major psychological construct in the research tradition. Along with literature, authors have distinguished between hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. The aim of this study is to determine the role of some psychosocial variables plays in the perceived well-being is conceived from a hedonic or a eudaimonic perspective. The sample consisted of 1016 people of 55 years and older in a Spanish sample and 277 people of 55 years old or older from a Costa Rican sample. Both samples were part of the Longitudinal Older Learners (LOL) study. A structural model with latent variables was estimated with Mplus. The results point out that, the traditional variables included on successful aging models are relevant for explaining older adults' well-being in both countries with some differences on the hedonic and eudaimonic approach of successful aging on the Latin cultural context studied.
The World Health Organization defined ‘active ageing’ as the process of optimising opportunities for health, participation and security in order to enhance the quality of life as people age. Whilst initially active ageing was hinged upon the three pillars of health, participation and security, in more recent years lifelong learning was posited as an emergent fourth pillar. Lifelong learning in later life refers to the process in which older adults, individually and in association with others, engage in direct encounter and then purposefully reflect upon, validate, transform, give personal meaning to and seek to integrate their ways of knowing. Universities of the Third Age (U3As) can be loosely defined as sociocultural centres where senior citizens may acquire new knowledge of significant issues, or validate the knowledge which they already possess, in an agreeable milieu and in accordance with easy and acceptable methods, with the objective of preserving their vitality and participating in the life of the community. The U3A movement has not only withstood the test of time but is also marked by an extensive increase of centres and members all over the continents, as their activities have been found to be instrumental to improving physical, emotional and social well-being in later life. This chapter ends by highlighting lacunae in the global U3A movement as centres tend to operate in a way to attract older women, healthy older persons and older persons with higher-than-average levels of socio-economic status.
The current study uses structural equation modelling to examine the relationships between serious leisure, the flow state, and travel intentions among motorcycle tourists. Serious leisure contrasts with casual leisure in that its participants are more committed to their pursuit, which can result in a more sustained benefit, achievement of a flow state, and enhance intention toward future travel. The findings reveal one's serious leisure orientation predicted their durable benefits, which then produced a positive relationship with flow and travel intentions. However, flow did not mediate the relationship between durable benefits and travel intentions, as hypothesised. This research provides empirical evidence of the value of using the serious leisure construct to capture the multi-faceted and complex experience that is motorcycle tourism and can augment comprehension of other high involvement tourism markets.
In this article, I identify actions that promote positive attitudes toward people experiencing oppression. The article highlights strategies designed to reduce or eliminate social, psychological, and physical barriers to experiencing inclusive leisure services.To reduce these barriers, educators are encouraged to teach professionals to facilitate social, psychological and physical engagement. Professionals facilitate social engagement by working to enhance attitudes of leisure service providers, improve attitudes of community members, use sensitive terms demonstrating respect and instilling a sense of dignity, nurture positive contact among participants, and act as allies and advocates. To promote psychological engagement leisure service providers help people become self-determined by teaching them ways to experience leisure via leisure education. Strategies to foster physical access include implementing principles of universal design and making adaptations that create opportunities for leisure.This article also contains descriptions of several salient factors affecting people’s chances to experience leisure including culture, economic resources, age, ability, and family environment. Such factors influence attempts to negotiate, reduce, or eliminate social, psychological, and physical barriers to leisure engagement. A way to promote human rights is to offer people of diverse cultural backgrounds a chance to experience leisure together and to welcome them into our programs. To facilitate leisure for people who have limited economic resources we work to improve safety, make programs affordable, and facilitate access. Leisure service providers are in a position to promote healthy aging, respond to desires of older adults, and facilitate meaningful leisure experiences. To promote inclusion of people regardless of their abilities, we become responsive, emphasize the person first, encourage autonomy, and involve participants. Finally, to create inclusive leisure services we involve families in our services by creating family-centered leisure services, developing crosscultural competence, becoming aware of overprotection, relieving family stress, and communicating with family members.The model provides structure to assist administrators, educators, and researchers to design educational opportunities and study effects of such programs. Administrators can use this model to provide organization to in-services designed to promote inclusion. Educators can integrate this model throughout a curriculum or develop a course focused on inclusive leisure. This model can help researchers identify areas in need of further study. Ultimately, the model is designed to encourage development and implementation of inclusive leisure services. For a more detailed presentation of the model please refer to the book, Inclusive Leisure Services (Dattilo, 2017).Subscribe to JPRA
In addressing the EU2020 goals, skills shortage combined with increasing unemployment rates is to be primarily tackled in Western Europe; the common factor here is education. Education and lifelong learning (LL) are the key strands governing employability in the European labour market. Overarching concepts capable of addressing social challenges within education and LL that contribute towards better practices are seen as social innovations (SI). While SI in education is well founded in the developing countries, Europe is still in the process of gaining progressive momentum in this direction. In addressing various societal challenges, this study looks at observable trends in SI for education across Western Europe. About 30 innovations have been recorded across 11 countries that are essentially focussed on: social integration, alternative/new forms of education, digital learning, new learning arrangements, new LL strategies, early career planning, youth employment, quality improvements and new education standards, transition management, and entrepreneurial education.
Education, lifelong learning activities, and well-being are positively associated. However, significantly less is known about types of learning activities such as participation in organized adult education programs and self-learning among older adults in the same context. Data from 420 older adults from the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) were analyzed. Results showed that additional participation in organized education programs was positively associated with life satisfaction among OLLI members. Given the beneficial effects of additional participation in organized adult education programs on life satisfaction, older learners are encouraged to be engaged in more learning activities.
Background
The aim of this study is to explore the indirect effects of dispositional hope in the life satisfaction of older adults attending a lifelong learning program at the University of Valencia, Spain. We examine the mediating impact of dispositional hope regarding its ability to impact life satisfaction while considering affective and confidant social support, perceived health and leisure activities, consciousness and spirituality as predictors.
Methods
Analysis were based on survey data (response rate 77.4%) provided by 737 adults 55 years old or more (Mean age = 65.41, SD = 6.60; 69% woman). A structural model with latent variables was specified and estimated in Mplus.
Results
The results show the ability of just a few variables to sum up a reasonable model to apply to successful aging population. All these variables are correlated and significantly predict hope with the exception of health. The model additionally includes significant positive indirect effects from spirituality, affective support and consciousness on satisfaction. The model has a good fit in terms of both the measurement and structural model. Regarding predictive power, these comprehensive four main areas of successful aging account for 42% of hope and finally for one third of the life satisfaction variance.
Conclusions
Results support the mediating role of dispositional hope on the life satisfaction among older adults attending lifelong learning programs. These findings also support the MacArthur model of successful aging adapted to older adults with high levels of functional, social and cognitive ability. Dispositional hope, perceived health, and social support were the strongest predictors of satisfaction with life.
This article examines the relationship between the participation of older adult learners in educational activities and successful aging. In partnership with seniors’ organizations, focus-group interviews were conducted on seniors’ involvement in learning and their perceptions of its influence on successful aging. Successful aging is defined in terms of health, life satisfaction and happiness, and physical and cognitive functioning (Menec, 2003). The study was exploratory, but the results suggest that participation in educational activities has positive effects on successful aging and potentially contributes to both physical and psychological well-being. Connections are also made to activity-theory studies (Menec, 2003), lifespan theory (Baltes, 1997; Heckhausen & Schulz, 1995), and adult education studies on older adults (AARP Survey on Lifelong Learning, 2000; Thompson & Foth, 2002; Withnall, 2002). The authors conclude by suggesting a framework for thinking about older adults’ participation in learning activities and successful aging.
Varying philosophical and theoretical orientations to qualitative inquiry remind us that issues of quality and credibility intersect with audience and intended research purposes. This overview examines ways of enhancing the quality and credibility of qualitative analysis by dealing with three distinct but related inquiry concerns: rigorous techniques and methods for gathering and analyzing qualitative data, including attention to validity, reliability, and triangulation; the credibility, competence, and perceived trustworthiness of the qualitative researcher; and the philosophical beliefs of evaluation users about such paradigm-based preferences as objectivity versus subjectivity, truth versus perspective, and generalizations versus extrapolations. Although this overview examines some general approaches to issues of credibility and data quality in qualitative analysis, it is important to acknowledge that particular philosophical underpinnings, specific paradigms, and special purposes for qualitative inquiry will typically include additional or substitute criteria for assuring and judging quality, validity, and credibility. Moreover, the context for these considerations has evolved. In early literature on evaluation methods the debate between qualitative and quantitative methodologists was often strident. In recent years the debate has softened. A consensus has gradually emerged that the important challenge is to match appropriately the methods to empirical questions and issues, and not to universally advocate any single methodological approach for all problems.
Research into serious leisure has grown since the 1980s. Despite the popularity of the serious leisure perspective, some embedded concepts remain conceptually underdeveloped, specifically costs and perseverance. Consequently, this paper commences by highlighting the ambiguity surrounding these two concepts. In addition, this paper explores potential overlap between costs and perseverance and the concepts of constraints and constraint negotiation from the broader leisure literature. In doing so, this paper makes a case for enhancing the serious leisure perspective as a theoretical framework by substituting the concepts of costs and perseverance with the concepts of constraints and constraint negotiation. The paper is intended to stimulate dialogue around these concepts that underpin the serious leisure perspective, providing a solid theoretical grounding to guide future inquiry. Future research should focus on the implications of potential substitutive action between these two seemingly parallel, yet conceptually similar, bodies of knowledge within leisure studies.
Learning is ongoing, and can be considered a social activity. In this paper we aim to provide a review of the use of social media for lifelong learning. We start by defining lifelong learning, drawing upon principles of continuous professional development and adult learning theory. We searched Embase and MEDLINE from 2004-2014 for search terms relevant to social media and learning. We describe examples of lifelong learners using social media in medical education and healthcare that have been reported in the peer-reviewed literature. Medical or other health professions students may have qualities consistent with being a lifelong learner, yet once individuals move beyond structured learning environments they will need to recognize their own gaps in knowledge and skills over time and be motivated to fill them, thereby incorporating lifelong learning principles into their day-to-day practice. Engagement with social media can parallel engagement in the learning process over time, to the extent that online social networking fosters feedback and collaboration. The use of social media and online networking platforms are a key way to continuously learn in today's information sharing society. Additional research is needed, particularly rigorous studies that extend beyond learner satisfaction to knowledge, behaviour change, and outcomes.
Member checking continues to be an important quality control process in qualitative research as during the course of conducting a study, participants receive the opportunity to review their statements for accuracy and, in so doing; they may acquire a therapeutic benefit. The authors of this article suggest that this benefit is similar to some of the components of group therapy, especially in normalizing the phenomenon being ex perienced. Even if the participants never meet, they can feel a sense of relief that their feelings are validatedand that they are not alone. © 2012: Melissa Harper, Pat Cole, and Nova Southeastern University.
Latest statistics show that the number of elderly individuals has increased in Romania but little is known about their perceptions of ageing and their strategies in coping with this issue. The present study set out to explore representations, experiences and perceptions of aging in Romanian elders. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 11 men and 11 women, aged 65 to 90 years old. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Participants had predominantly negative representations of old age, associating it with illness, loneliness, disability and lack of purpose in life and needing a high amount of social support. However, elders talked about how one could be happy in old age by undergoing a continuous learning process, planning for a future and accepting one’s past and present. Findings show that the elderly have a negative view of ageing and old age but also have representations of how to age well. Results can inform interventions for promoting health assets for successful aging.
Most previous research concerning serious leisure has focused on testing the nature of activities using six distinctive qualities proposed by Robert Stebbins. Viewed from a different perspective, our study treats serious leisure as a type of personal characteristic. We tested the causal relationships between serious leisure and recreation specialization. This paper describes how serious leisure has a positive relationship with recreation specialization. Having a career in a recreational endeavor, making significant personal efforts and identifying strongly with the activity are the major predictors of recreation specialization. All of the qualities of serious leisure that were evaluated with the exception of the unique ethos were found to be positively related to past experience and centrality-to-lifestyle.
Reviews the book, Handbook of Adult Development and Learning , edited by Carol Hoare (see record 2006-04435-000 ). It is rather astonishing that adult development and adult learning are so separated as fields; clearly, they are twins separated at birth. Adult development is studied mostly through psychological theory and research, and adult learning has been studied mostly in the areas of educational psychology and adult education. The differences in language, methodologies, and communities are such that the two fields barely speak to each other. Hoare's Handbook has as an explicitly stated goal to form an interstitial discipline that brings adult development and adult learning together. Like many handbooks, this one is hefty (579 pages). It is intended mostly for scholars and practitioner-scholars in different fields. It contains 22 chapters written by experts in different specialties, all related to adult development or adult learning, but seldom to both. The chapters provide superb updates in each specific area, excellent bibliographic information, and brief summaries of theories, research approaches, and applications. Some chapters are more theoretical, others more applied; some are formal, others chattier; some authors are excellent scientists, some are almost poets. They provide a comprehensive and current overview of research, casting a broad net that considers biological, social, policy, emotional, intellectual, and cultural factors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)
A detailed investigation of Plato's dialogues reveals that he believed leisure was a central purpose for teaching the liberal arts. Schools should teach citizens not to escape leisure by choosing to work excessively and to turn instead to virtue, embodied in the state in the day‐to‐day practice of the liberal arts. But play was Plato's teaching method. Children learned best in playful activities that attracted their enthusiasms, that “turned the eye of their souls” to the Good and True. Similarly, play was the best way for adults to learn and do philosophy, and it was the only way to discover new truth. Play was also central to the Socratic method. Plato discovered that the dialogue, at its highest and most serious levels, was playing for teacher and student alike. Even though the main thrust of playful teaching was to turn people toward the truth and cause them to do philosophy themselves, somewhat paradoxically Plato offered conclusions based on the realization of playing. Experiencing “this is play,” we know more about ourselves (that “we are toys of God"); about Being (that It is in play); about the nature of the cosmic game (it is a variant of “hide‐and‐seek").
This paper explores the ways in which people with lifelong chronic illness engage with learning, and how learning impacts on the ways in which they learn to live with their illness. It considers their engagement with and changing focus of learning at different stages: prior to diagnosis, at about the time of diagnosis, and as their understanding of their condition deepens. It asks how knowledge of their illness affects people’s learning, and whether (and in what ways) learning enables them to deal with their condition. Questionnaires were distributed through the Primary Immunodeficiency Association (PiA) website; via immunology nurses; and through personal contact. Although I had a small rate of return on the questionnaires (22 returned in total), several respondents who completed questionnaires gave their contact details so we could explore the issues further, and I interviewed eight people in greater depth.In exploring connections between bodily experience, emotion, learning and cognition, and asking whether these connections differ according to gender, age and other differences, this paper argues that individual experience can never be understood outside of social, cultural and collective experiences. The relationship between lifelong learning and lifelong illness is complex and multi‐faceted, but clearly learning has been an important element in the respondents’ ability to cope with lifelong illness. In the words of one respondent, ‘I spent so many years feeling vulnerable and at the mercy of an illness that I didn’t understand, I have found learning about it to be very empowering. It gives me a way of taking control over something which previously controlled me completely’.There are several issues that could be further developed. I did not, for example, ask what definitions of disability respondents were using when they replied to my question ‘do you consider yourself disabled?’, nor did I gain sufficient information to explore gendered or classed experiences in the way people gained information about their condition, including the sharing of experiences with each other. There are also differing engagements with learning regarding age, geography and so forth which could be further developed. In addition, the responses to the questionnaires represent current thinking about past memories and actions, and do not represent a longitudinal study. Nevertheless, the findings in this paper could have implications for the role of learning in the management of lifelong illness.
This paper is primarily concerned with self-efficacy in the context of information literacy. The focus is first on the concept of self-efficacy, followed by attainment of self-efficacy beliefs. Finally, findings of the research, the aim of which was to explore students’ (who enrolled in the Department of Information Management, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey) perceived self-efficacy for information and computer literacy, are scrutinized. Results of the research indicate no significant year-to-year changes, although the students have a positive perceived self-efficacy for information literacy. Students’ self-efficacy beliefs regarding information literacy and computers are correlated.
Important issues addressed regarding the education of workers include the type of worker groups to be educated; their different educational needs (for work or leisure); the corporations, unions, and public institutions involved in education and their purposes; and the types of programs offered. (JMD)