Choosing Learning in Later Life: Constructions of Age and Identity Among Lifelong Learners

• Other Authors: Mcwilliams, Summer (authoraut)
• Format: Others
• Language: English; English
• Published: Florida State University
• Subjects: Sociology
• Online Access: http://purl.flvc.org/fsu/fd/FSU_migr_etd-7504

Lifelong learning programs for older adults are expanding in university communities, given the growing emphasis on successful aging in our society. This dissertation consists of two articles that examine data from ethnographic research in a southeastern lifelong learning institute associated with a state university. Data include observations over six semesters in various courses, content analysis of program materials, and interviews with twenty-nine student members and three staff members. The results of the first article reveal three main strategies through which participants constructed a lifelong learner identity. These strategies included distancing the LLI from older adult programs considered less academic, embracing a love of learning without the need for degrees, and depicting themselves as individuals who have always been lifelong learners. The second article demonstrates how aging talk manifested and reflected stereotypical notions of aging within the LLI. Members avoided direct references to LLI as an age group, focusing on positive connotations of aging when distinguishing the group by age. They only acknowledged the negative side of aging through jokes. However, the themes of retirement and health encouraged more direct discussion of aging and demonstrated gendered orientations. Women's retirement and health talk showed greater resistance to labeling as old, while men's reflected greater acceptance of an aging self. These findings emphasize members' agency in constructing standards for aging that allowed for the maintenance of positive self-perceptions. === A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Sociology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. === Summer Semester, 2013. === April 3, 2013. === Includes bibliographical references. === Anne Barrett, Professor Directing Dissertation; Jean Munn, University Representative; Douglas Schrock, Committee Member; John Reynolds, Committee Member.