The National Silver Academy (NSA) was launched in 2016 as part of the Singapore government's Action Plan for Successful Aging. This paper uses a grounded approach to explore and assess critical geragogical elements that are enabling, empowering and transformative for older learners. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 48…

Adversity has always been a part of life, however, today's hurricanes and earthquakes in increasingly populated areas, violent unrest creating a global refugee crisis, battlefield stress and work-place harassment, and the challenges of aging populations are demanding a better understanding of how individuals cope with adversity regardless of the…

One area that remained off the research radar is that interface between senior centers and learning programs, and hence, their potential to act as community-based learning hubs. Countering such a state of affairs, this article reports on an action research study to investigate the extent that a transformative learning program in a senior center…

In Taiwan, older adults over the age of 65 made up 12.51% of the population in 2015, causing the government to promote older adult education to help achieve active aging. As a result, more elderly people have attended learning activities and applied new skills to volunteering. The researcher conducted focus group interviews with 93 older adults…

Mezirow (1978) applied and used Transformative Learning Theoretical (TLT) processes while studying women who reentered academics during the 1970s. Similar to Mezirow's original 1975 work, we identify "factors that impeded or facilitated" participants' progress to obtain their undergraduate degree during the traditional student…

This article describes the development and evaluation of The Game of Late Life--a novel education activity for the psychology of ageing. The game was designed to provide transformational learning where students imagine themselves as older adults and move through late life via a game board, encountering various life events along the way. One of the…

We present findings from interviews with 17 first-year MSWs assigned to gerontological placements undertaken before beginning--and again as they neared completion--of practicum. All respondents, even those most positive and negative at beginning of placement, report a reduction in stereotypes, improved appreciation of older adults' capacities and…

This paper describes an intergenerational project developed in partnership between a social work degree program and an Older People's Theatre group. Bringing together a small group of students, older actors, and film makers, methods from drama and the arts were utilised to explore the topic of intimacy and sexuality in later life. The project…

Defines the meaning of life as meaning making--filtering experience through basic assumptions. Uses the theory of perspective transformation to explain the relationship between learning and meaning making. Identifies techniques for teaching critical thinking to facilitate perspective transformation. (SK)

Presents assumptions, advantages, and disadvantages of three curriculum positions for teaching gerontology: (1) transmission (conveying facts); (2) transaction (developing cognitive skills and problem-solving abilities); and (3) transformation (facilitating personal and social change). Offers considerations for choosing positions: audience…

Part of an undergraduate introductory aging course was an experiential web-based exercise on calculating life expectancy, which used transformative learning methods. Data from 12 undergraduates revealed the reflective exercise stimulated thinking and increased awareness of and sensitivity to aging. (Contains 11 references.) (SK)