Facilitating Education For Older Learners

Peterson analyzes the state of today's adult education, pinpoints weaknesses and offers guidelines to understand the educational needs, wants and characteristics of older learners in various settings -- community colleges, four-year colleges and universities, businesses, public libraries, social centers and churches. He investigates the physical, perceptual and attitudinal changes that older learners experience and suggests ways to tailor the learning atmosphere in light of special considerations. Using actual models, he illustrates how to design and implement a variety of programs -- retraining, second-career preparation, preretirement education and planning for use of leisure, diploma and degree completion, recreation and coping with change. ISBN 0-87589-565-4 : $18.95.

This book provides a critical examination of the myths surrounding adult education and its practice.

Praise for Facilitating Group Learning "In this engaging and accessible book, George Lakey draws on a lifetime's experience to provide a highly practical resource to anyone seeking to understand and respond to the complexities of group work. The book will be invaluable to anyone trying to effect social change through groups while striving to stay simultaneously sane and employed." Stephen D. Brookfield, Distinguished University Professor, University of St. Thomas "I've been working with forms of direct education for many decades, and I found new ideas and inspirations in every chapter. For anyone involved in teaching, training, sharing skills, or leading groups, this book is an invaluable resource!" Starhawk, author, The Earth Path, Dreaming the Dark, and Webs of Power "George Lakey has inspired our union to engage in education in a way that challenges us to redefine social justice and equality in new and exciting ways. This book helps us to continue our journey to touch the souls of union members." Denis Lemelin, national president, Canadian Union of Postal Workers "Facilitating Group Learning will ease the way of all who venture into the white waters of facilitation. George clarifies the most basic, complex, and nagging challenges of facilitation, while honoring the realities of individual and social power dynamics and providing real-life examples from the path of continued growth and mastery. A rare gift!" Niyonu D. Spann, founding president, TRV Consulting and Beyond Diversity 101 "This book is a must-read for people who teach adults of any age, no matter what the subject, and care about doing it in ways that yield deep and abiding learning. Wonderfully well-written and rich with psychological and spiritual insights as well as practical strategies, it represents the fruits of a lifetime of transformational teaching and learning by one of the foremost adult educators of our time." Parker J. Palmer, author, The Courage to Teach, Let Your Life Speak, and The Heart of Higher Education

Learning in later life can help people gain personal satisfaction, development, fulfillment, and it contributes to a sense of well-being. Learning provision should no longer just be a way of passing the time. It must support key measures that contribute to older people's ability to remain independent and active, well into later life. Learning, therefore, should be mainstreamed into the lives of older people. This book provides an introduction to the context and practice of facilitating learning for older adults. Its purpose is to seed debate about learning and stimulate new ideas and directions. The book offers inspiration and practical measures for success while developing new thoughts and ideas that can be shared with others.

This book equips instructors with fresh, practical teaching and training methods to support adult learning in both formal and continuing educational environments. An extensive, how-to guide, Methods for Facilitating Adult Learning covers adult teaching and learning fundamentals, collaborative teaching methods, methods for facilitating autonomous learning, community-based teaching methods, and technology-enhanced teaching and learning approaches. Readers will emerge with an in-depth understanding of each method, made comprehensive by the inclusion of definitions, philosophical and/or theoretical underpinnings, advantages and limitations, practical guidelines for application, and ample real-world examples. Ideal for any educator working with adult learners, this book offers a toolbox of approaches designed to enhance reader understanding and practice of adult instruction.

When teaching and learning are characterized by collaboration, challenge, support, risk taking, and reflectivity, they become a transactional process. This book provides a practical guide for those involved in helping adults learn to critically examine, question, and rethink the teaching and learning encounter. The authors detail the descriptive elements, skills, and guiding principles of the transactional process, what it means to ground teaching in learning, how to individualize the teaching and learning process, and how to foster critical reflection. The book provides specific advice on adult learning methods and techniques most appropriate for facilitating the adult learning transactional process, how technology can be interactive and collaborative, numerous approaches for evaluating the teaching and learning process, and various strategies for improving instruction and resources for one's own professional development.

Practical "brain-aware" facilitation tailored to the adult brain Facilitating Learning with the Adult Brain in Mind explains how the brain works, and how to help adults learn, develop, and perform more effectively in various settings. Recent neurobiological discoveries have challenged long-held assumptions that logical, rational thought is the preeminent approach to knowing. Rather, feelings and emotions are essential for meaningful learning to occur in the embodied brain. Using stories, metaphors, and engaging illustrations to illuminate technical ideas, Taylor and Marienau synthesize relevant trends in neuroscience, cognitive science, and philosophy of mind. Readers unfamiliar with current brain discoveries will enjoy an informative, easy-to-read book. Neuroscience fans will find additional material designed to supplement their knowledge. Many popular publications on brain and learning focus on school-aged learners or tend more toward anatomical description than practical application. This book provides facilitators of adult learning and development a much-needed resource of tested approaches plus the science behind their effectiveness. Appreciate the fundamental role of experience in adult learning Understand how metaphor and analogy spark curiosity and creativity Alleviate adult anxieties that impede learning Acquire tools and approaches that foster adult learning and development Compared with other books on brain and learning, this volume includes dozens of specific examples of how experienced practitioners facilitate meaningful learning. These "brain-aware" approaches can be adopted and adapted for use in diverse settings. Facilitating Learning with the Adult Brain in Mind should be read by advisors/counselors, instructors, curriculum and instructional developers, professional development designers, corporate trainers and coaches, faculty mentors, and graduate students—in fact, anyone interested in how adult brains learn.