Social, local and situated: Recent findings about the effectiveness of older men's Informal learning in community contexts

- Golding, Barry

Title
Social, local and situated: Recent findings about the effectiveness of older men's Informal learning in community contexts
Creator
Golding, Barry
Date
2011
Type
Text; Journal article
Identifier
http://researchonline.federation.edu.au/vital/access/HandleResolver/1959.17/45719
Identifier
vital:4032
Identifier
https://doi.org/10.1177/0741713610380437
Identifier
ISSN:0741-7136
Abstract
The informal learning that older (age 50+) men experience in Australia has been the subject of a suite of recent, intensive, mixed methods research projects in community-based voluntary organizations. The purpose of the research was to examine where men are learning in these contexts beyond work and formal education rather than to assume and problematize older men as nonlearners. This article draws together strands of completed field research to suggest that learning is effective for older men in community settings when it is social, local, practical, situated, and in groups, particularly for older, sometimes isolated men who have experienced a range of setbacks in life. While older Australian men tend to be missing from adult and community education (ACE) providers, they are able to informally share hands-on skills from their work lives with other men of all ages, with a range of important benefits to their own well-being, the well-being of other men, and the well-being of their communities. Some future areas for comparative international research are identified.
Relation
Adult Education Quarterly Vol. 61, no. 2 (2011), p. 103-120
Rights
Copyright SAGE
Rights
Open Access
Rights
This metadata is freely available under a CCO license
Subject
1301 Education Systems; Informal learning; Older men; Community contexts; Well-being
Full Text
Reviewed
  • Hits: 1134
  • Visitors: 1335
  • Downloads: 236
Thumbnail File Description Size Format
SOURCE1 Published version 336 KB Adobe Acrobat PDF