GOOD PRACTICE IN OLDER ADULT EDUCATION
Marvin Formosa
Paper Presented at the Seminar on Older Persons in the Maltese Islands - with special reference to Gozo, organised by the University of Malta - Gozo Section
1. INTRODUCTION Demographic research reveals that as a result of declining fertility and mortality levels, all countries, indicate a growth in the proportion of people aged over 65 years, an increase in absolute numbers of older people, and improvement of life expectancy at birth (Kinsella and Tauber, 1993). This sudden burst in the ageing population, coupled with older persons' improved health status, ample leisure time, better standards of living, smaller family circles, heightening participation in political activities, a growth of self-awareness of older persons as a group, higher levels of education, and changing attitudes towards lifelong education have all contributed in making a previously unseen large number of older persons available for education classes. 2. THE EMERGENCE OF OLDER ADULT EDUCATION Nevertheless, irrespective of the above declarations, older persons were for much of the subsequent years still left in the cold (Laslett, 1996). Policy-makers still found it very difficult to implement older adult education on a broad scale. Laslett (1984) hits the nail on its head when he comments that in the past it has never been emphasised that older persons have any specific educational needs at all, let alone rights! It is also evident that the juxtaposition of the concepts of education and ageing is unfamiliar and open to misunderstanding since the traditional and established education in the Western world is primarily oriented for the young. | |
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