As the number of elderly individuals within society rises, there are serious concerns over an aging population. The presence of a significantly large senior population leads to an increased demand to establish a comprehensive understanding on how aging shapes and defines learning in later life. However, there is little research done observing on what successful aging entails between different cultures. People with different value systems and social backgrounds may visualize and understand concepts differently, which as a result, creates different definitions by those in opposite cultural upbringings. Depending on the cultural norms, beliefs and standards, aging can be seen as a feared phenomenon, one that erases beauty and brings one closer
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At first glance, success and aging seem to exemplify a contradiction; aging conjures a picture of loss, decay and approaching death, whereas success connotes gains and a positive outlook on life. Hence, the association of success with aging appears to be nothing but a paradox. At second glance, however, the association of success with aging might indicate that the obvious contradiction is intended to provoke an investigative analysis of the human nature of old age. To illustrate, “we are asked not only to reflect upon but also to participate in the creation of aging, instead of passively experiencing it as a given reality that is ‘natural’ only for the reason that it exists,” (Baltes & Baltes, 1990). Baltes and Baltes’ model of selective optimization with compensation brings out an important issue with regards onto what successful aging is and what it preaches to live by these means. It recognizes than every individual’s experience with aging is subjective to change which is determined by, but is not limited to, cultural context. Such can be referred to as a continuous process of adaption, or in other words, trial and error. In this paper, successful aging is referred to as a lifelong process of continuous adaption and adjustment that is different and unique to every individual that goes through …show more content…
Lifelong learning is referred to as the participation in learning that takes place in the later years of one’s life. Therefore, learning should not be condensed to a single time period in one’s existence, but rather it should be a repetative, ongoing lifelong process that spans the entirety of one’s life. This paper is most interested in the meaning that individuals give to their tasks or activities, the way they interpret learning as connected to their lives, and how it relates to their self-understanding, experiences and social and cultural contexts. “Self-directed learning is not a random act of older adults who are attempting to fill extra time and empty days. Rather, these personal educational pursuits are motivated by the unique issues of one's life,” (Robertson & Merriam, 2005). The specific personality that each individual is made up of can be greatly influenced by the culture they were raised in. As mentioned before, successful aging is always tailored differently towards people and their unique upbrinigning. Cultural meaning of learning in older people, in particular, the way they understand and conceptualize learning in their cultural and social contexts can bring in very mixed results. Simply put, older persons benefit from maintaining social connections in many ways through participation in
At first glance, success and aging seem to exemplify a contradiction; aging conjures a picture of loss, decay and approaching death, whereas success connotes gains and a positive outlook on life. Hence, the association of success with aging appears to be nothing but a paradox. At second glance, however, the association of success with aging might indicate that the obvious contradiction is intended to provoke an investigative analysis of the human nature of old age. To illustrate, “we are asked not only to reflect upon but also to participate in the creation of aging, instead of passively experiencing it as a given reality that is ‘natural’ only for the reason that it exists,” (Baltes & Baltes, 1990). Baltes and Baltes’ model of selective optimization with compensation brings out an important issue with regards onto what successful aging is and what it preaches to live by these means. It recognizes than every individual’s experience with aging is subjective to change which is determined by, but is not limited to, cultural context. Such can be referred to as a continuous process of adaption, or in other words, trial and error. In this paper, successful aging is referred to as a lifelong process of continuous adaption and adjustment that is different and unique to every individual that goes through …show more content…
Lifelong learning is referred to as the participation in learning that takes place in the later years of one’s life. Therefore, learning should not be condensed to a single time period in one’s existence, but rather it should be a repetative, ongoing lifelong process that spans the entirety of one’s life. This paper is most interested in the meaning that individuals give to their tasks or activities, the way they interpret learning as connected to their lives, and how it relates to their self-understanding, experiences and social and cultural contexts. “Self-directed learning is not a random act of older adults who are attempting to fill extra time and empty days. Rather, these personal educational pursuits are motivated by the unique issues of one's life,” (Robertson & Merriam, 2005). The specific personality that each individual is made up of can be greatly influenced by the culture they were raised in. As mentioned before, successful aging is always tailored differently towards people and their unique upbrinigning. Cultural meaning of learning in older people, in particular, the way they understand and conceptualize learning in their cultural and social contexts can bring in very mixed results. Simply put, older persons benefit from maintaining social connections in many ways through participation in