Strategy #2: You're Never Too Old to Learn
Part 1 - Learning in Later Life
Seven Strategies for Positive Aging by: Robert D. Hill, Ph.D.
Summarized by: Justin Hill, M.Ed.
Henry Ford once made an important point about lifelong learning:
Summarized by: Justin Hill, M.Ed.
Henry Ford once made an important point about lifelong learning:
Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young."
When we’re kids, formal schooling provides us with knowledge and skills that make us marketable in society while improving our social standing. In old age, education is different; people use it to preserve intellectual functioning and fight against age-related memory decline.
In fact, researchers (Ball, Berch, Helmers, Jobe & Leveck, 2002) have shown that working your brain can make you smarter and preserve mental faculties.
In fact, researchers (Ball, Berch, Helmers, Jobe & Leveck, 2002) have shown that working your brain can make you smarter and preserve mental faculties.
Why Does This Work?
The process of continuing education helps solidify your social ties while keeping on top of the ever-changing world. Learning is a tested strategy for avoiding personal isolation as a result of intellectual obsolescence.
Intellectual and social renewal allows us to maintain our interests and curiosities as well as seek new ideas. Lifelong learning is needed in the 21st century when so much new information bombards us every day.
It’s also important to understand that there are stereotypes when it comes to old age and learning, like:
These thoughts can undermine lifelong learning.
Even though the typical classroom setting may not cater to the older learner, it is more important to focus on what does work. Like taking learning from the classroom and transporting it into the home.
No matter what age-related biases exist out there, it is good to know that anyone can learn no matter their resource base or intellectual endowment. Other qualities that matter include a sense of appreciation, experiences with the world, inquisitiveness, and flexibility in perception and thought.
Late-life learners also need a medium that caters to their specific learning styles and interests.
A good way for the older learner to learn from the comfort of their home is through an online program like:
Udacity
Coursera
edX
While Coursera is a for-profit platform, Udacity and edX both offer free courses that you can access from a computer anytime - all you have to do is sign up, begin your search and join a course you find interesting. It's a great way to learn from the comfort of your home.
Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCS) are also an option in which seniors are already involved. With a MOOC you can participate as little or as much as you want, whether you take a full-dive into the course, or just a taste. The level of involvement is all up to you.
Intellectual and social renewal allows us to maintain our interests and curiosities as well as seek new ideas. Lifelong learning is needed in the 21st century when so much new information bombards us every day.
It’s also important to understand that there are stereotypes when it comes to old age and learning, like:
- You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.
- Older people can’t learn without help.
- When you are old it’s hard to accept new ideas and ways of thinking.
- The aging brain has no capacity for new learning.
- Alzheimer’s disease destroys your ability to learn.
These thoughts can undermine lifelong learning.
Even though the typical classroom setting may not cater to the older learner, it is more important to focus on what does work. Like taking learning from the classroom and transporting it into the home.
No matter what age-related biases exist out there, it is good to know that anyone can learn no matter their resource base or intellectual endowment. Other qualities that matter include a sense of appreciation, experiences with the world, inquisitiveness, and flexibility in perception and thought.
Late-life learners also need a medium that caters to their specific learning styles and interests.
A good way for the older learner to learn from the comfort of their home is through an online program like:
Udacity
Coursera
edX
While Coursera is a for-profit platform, Udacity and edX both offer free courses that you can access from a computer anytime - all you have to do is sign up, begin your search and join a course you find interesting. It's a great way to learn from the comfort of your home.
Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCS) are also an option in which seniors are already involved. With a MOOC you can participate as little or as much as you want, whether you take a full-dive into the course, or just a taste. The level of involvement is all up to you.
Part 2 - Positive Aging and Learning
Learning is a Positive Aging strategy that capitalizes on one’s motivations to stay intellectually engaged.
A Positive Aging reframe is to think of old age as a time to finally be a free agent and act upon your curiosities.
While children may be caught up in the guiding influence of others and young adults may be caught up with achievement and pursuits of mentors. Older persons, as free agents, have permission to reflect about the world without the fear of concern from others. But, you may ask:
A Positive Aging reframe is to think of old age as a time to finally be a free agent and act upon your curiosities.
While children may be caught up in the guiding influence of others and young adults may be caught up with achievement and pursuits of mentors. Older persons, as free agents, have permission to reflect about the world without the fear of concern from others. But, you may ask:
How do I learn?"
What do I want to learn?"
Just because aging results in deficiencies in a few areas does not mean you cannot pursue further learning.
A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (Wilson, Barnes, Schneider, et al., 2002) showed that intellectual engagement was associated with preservation of cognitive functioning and postponement of the emergence of Alzheimer’s for those who were at high risk for the disease.
The study involved 800 Catholic clergy who were 65 years of age and older and were intensively followed for a 5-year period. The learning that they engaged in involved things like:
Some went to museums, movies, and out to dinner on a regular basis.
That brings us back to the question of what do you do? Well, try some of the aforementioned activities.
Another study conducted at University of California San Francisco (UCSF) found that learning to play a 3D video game can improve cognitive performance in healthy older adults.
A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (Wilson, Barnes, Schneider, et al., 2002) showed that intellectual engagement was associated with preservation of cognitive functioning and postponement of the emergence of Alzheimer’s for those who were at high risk for the disease.
The study involved 800 Catholic clergy who were 65 years of age and older and were intensively followed for a 5-year period. The learning that they engaged in involved things like:
- Viewing educational television
- Listening to the radio
- Reading newspapers and books
- Playing games such as cards and checkers
- Doing crossword puzzles
Some went to museums, movies, and out to dinner on a regular basis.
That brings us back to the question of what do you do? Well, try some of the aforementioned activities.
Another study conducted at University of California San Francisco (UCSF) found that learning to play a 3D video game can improve cognitive performance in healthy older adults.
Mobilizing Resources for Learning
Learning requires you to expend effort on a task. This means that if you want to learn something you have to be motivated enough to want to put effort into the process.
Several steps are involved with motivation and learning.
Beliefs are closely connected to expectations, and expectations bring about behaviors. In fact, like the old saying goes, "you are what you think you are."
If you think you are a learner you will act like a learner and you will want others to think of you as a learner.
The biggest barrier to your pursuit of learning is whether you think that you are a learner or not. If you think you can learn then will.
Several steps are involved with motivation and learning.
- Your belief that learning is possible in old age.
- Identifying your curiosities and interests.
- Knowing your learning strengths and weaknesses.
Beliefs are closely connected to expectations, and expectations bring about behaviors. In fact, like the old saying goes, "you are what you think you are."
If you think you are a learner you will act like a learner and you will want others to think of you as a learner.
The biggest barrier to your pursuit of learning is whether you think that you are a learner or not. If you think you can learn then will.
Learning as an Affirmative Life Choice
Learning is most effective if you develop a habit or pattern of doing it. If you haven’t put a lot of effort into learning and decide to start, it may require some initial effort. With persistence, it will become easier to do and you will gain satisfaction from the outcome.
Although the benefits from learning will come with time, learning almost always involves persistence and patience.
It's just like playing the piano - with any new skill comes practice and mistakes. But with hard work and effort you can recover from setbacks and gain traction.
And just like learning the piano, in order to stay motivated, you must make this decision a life choice.
Although the benefits from learning will come with time, learning almost always involves persistence and patience.
It's just like playing the piano - with any new skill comes practice and mistakes. But with hard work and effort you can recover from setbacks and gain traction.
And just like learning the piano, in order to stay motivated, you must make this decision a life choice.
Cultivate Flexibility for Learning
When a person studies a new topic, the recognition of improvement involves establishing a time-line and noting benchmarks.
Positive Agers use this kind of flexibility as a challenge against ageist stereotypes, while finding ways to give themselves permission to engage in a task of interest.
Instead of assuming:
Positive Agers use this kind of flexibility as a challenge against ageist stereotypes, while finding ways to give themselves permission to engage in a task of interest.
Instead of assuming:
I'm too old to learn."
A Positive Ager may reframe this as:
Because I'm old, I can use new learning to preserve my capabilities to keep myself mentally fit."
Instead of concluding:
I already know what I need to know."
A Positive Ager might say:
Although I know many things, there are always new things to learn."
Below are helpful pieces of advice to examine your own beliefs about learning.
Figuring out what context and environment works for you is part of the learning process as well. As you discover what ones work best, you will develop your own flexibility while engaging in a process of affirming learning as something you can do in later life.
- Identify a learning activity you would like to start, but haven’t.
- Write down two assumptions that prevent you from engaging in it.
- Generate some affirmative statements that challenge these assumptions.
- Come up with an alternative rationale to give yourself permission to engage in this activity.
Figuring out what context and environment works for you is part of the learning process as well. As you discover what ones work best, you will develop your own flexibility while engaging in a process of affirming learning as something you can do in later life.
Focus on the Positives
While you exert effort in the pursuit of learning, it shouldn't be viewed of as "work".
In work, the process may not be intrinsically rewarding, but the outcome of gainful employment yields money, health insurance, and other benefits. Money is rewarding because it can be traded for wants and needs. Many people endure work to acquire money. At the same time, play involves an expenditure of effort but is more intrinsically rewarding. We choose who, where, and how we expend our energy and our money when we play.
How we construe a task influences our motivation to engaging in it. If the task is learning and we view learning as valuable, we will be motivated to engage in it.
Below are a few Positive Aging reframes to turn learning into a meaningful pursuit.
In work, the process may not be intrinsically rewarding, but the outcome of gainful employment yields money, health insurance, and other benefits. Money is rewarding because it can be traded for wants and needs. Many people endure work to acquire money. At the same time, play involves an expenditure of effort but is more intrinsically rewarding. We choose who, where, and how we expend our energy and our money when we play.
How we construe a task influences our motivation to engaging in it. If the task is learning and we view learning as valuable, we will be motivated to engage in it.
Below are a few Positive Aging reframes to turn learning into a meaningful pursuit.
- Learning is how I become more engaged with others.
- I like learning because it opens up new ways of thinking and relating to the world.
- It’s fun to learn new things.
- I enjoy the challenge of acquiring a new skill.
- Learning makes me feel more youthful.
- When I learn, I challenge the saying “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.”
Part 3 - Learning in Long-Term Care
The assumption that learning is no longer possible when a person becomes cognitively impaired is one of the most persistent forms of ageism that exists in our society.
Positive Aging asserts that you can still learn in a long-term care environment even with cognitive and memory impairment.
Consider something like art. Many long-term care facilities have programs involving art as an activity. While engaging in art may be considered just a route task of rehearsed behavior, it can be therapeutic. Therapeutic learning is useful in the presence of disease related cognitive impairment because it opens the possibility to invent techniques and strategies that capitalize on the self-enhancement process.
Cameron Camp (2006), a research psychologist, used an approach known as Montessori, which involves learning mainly for preschool and elementary school children. By using the Montessori method and focusing on a failure-free learning environment and motor skills based on the five senses, he was able to demonstrate increases in positive affect and decreases in problematic behaviors in older people with Alzheimer’s Disease (AD).
The Montessori method he used for older individuals is based on the following five principles:
This type of exercise provides an opportunity to explore the familiar in meaningful ways while simultaneously interacting with others.
There is potential to preserve recognition memory as well as build a sense of achievement and accomplishment in older persons. The ultimate goal is to help older people engage in their world in an interactive and involved way, and in doing so retain unique abilities that distinguish them as meaningful individuals in earlier stages of the life span.
Positive Aging asserts that you can still learn in a long-term care environment even with cognitive and memory impairment.
Consider something like art. Many long-term care facilities have programs involving art as an activity. While engaging in art may be considered just a route task of rehearsed behavior, it can be therapeutic. Therapeutic learning is useful in the presence of disease related cognitive impairment because it opens the possibility to invent techniques and strategies that capitalize on the self-enhancement process.
Cameron Camp (2006), a research psychologist, used an approach known as Montessori, which involves learning mainly for preschool and elementary school children. By using the Montessori method and focusing on a failure-free learning environment and motor skills based on the five senses, he was able to demonstrate increases in positive affect and decreases in problematic behaviors in older people with Alzheimer’s Disease (AD).
The Montessori method he used for older individuals is based on the following five principles:
- Learning is optimized in a cooperative environment that focuses on positive peer interaction.
- The goal is to promote responsibility and encourage individuals who are lifelong learners.
- Learning is done through multiple-sensory mediums that are activated through the physical manipulation of materials.
- Learning involves the integration of people and their social, emotional, aesthetic, spiritual, and cognitive domains.
- Respect and caring are the base of the learning curriculum.
This type of exercise provides an opportunity to explore the familiar in meaningful ways while simultaneously interacting with others.
There is potential to preserve recognition memory as well as build a sense of achievement and accomplishment in older persons. The ultimate goal is to help older people engage in their world in an interactive and involved way, and in doing so retain unique abilities that distinguish them as meaningful individuals in earlier stages of the life span.