This paper reflects on the ecofeminist educational implications of research findings about Australia's Knitting Nannas' Against Gas and Greed (a.k.a. The Nannas') experiences of peer-to-peer, environmental activist learning. Aspects of this unique and successful suite of informal learning practices devised by the Nannas guided by their Nannafesto,…

Compared with other age groups, the literacy practices and creative outputs of older adults (50+ years) have been seldom researched. Generally, research about older adults has tended to focus on decline and agential passivity, rather than potentiality. In this article, we report on a small ethnographic study of older Australians who were part of a…

Since the 1950s in the USA and a bit later in Europe, researchers have started publishing results of systematic research on the learning of older adults. Some have also contributed to constructing theoretical definitions within this theme of research. The perception of older adults as potential learners is a widely shared paradigm. However, there…

Older adults' engagement with information communication technology (ICT) can enhance their wellbeing and quality of life. However, older adults continue to lag behind their younger cohorts' ICT use, and many remain unconnected. While policy and strategy has tended to focus on the need to equip older adults with technology skills and improve their…

There has not been ample recent research on teaching older adults. However, as described below, there is mounting research in how and why older adults want to learn. This brief discussion is derived from work undertaken for a workshop in Hong Kong on issues in teaching older adults. It combines recent research on learning and teaching in higher…

Learning through life experiences as distinct from learning through the academy and courses have become increasingly important themes in later life adult education research and practice. Whilst the dominant discourse for most younger people is still about education and training for students in standardised and accredited courses, there is…

This paper examines the preferred sexuality education sources of older Australian adults in later life. Drawing on findings from qualitative interviews with 30 men and 23 women aged 60 years and older, we consider the sources that participants currently use, or would like to use, in seeking information about sex. Where relevant, we examine…

In this paper, we explore the concept of Nannagogy, an innovative pedagogy of informal adult learning enacted by the activist 'disorganisation', the Knitting Nannas Against Gas and Greed (KNAGs). The 'Nannas' are predominantly older women who undertake non-violent direct action using fibre craft, knit-ins, lock-ons, and occasional street theatre…

This "Futures" column shares insights about men's learning beyond work, based on several decades of research in men's learning in international community contexts. The article focuses' particularly on men who want and need to learn to re-create and broaden their identities beyond their working lives. This practice, well established in…

This article focusses on later life learning in Neighbourhood Houses in Victoria, Australia, amidst a backdrop of neoliberal education policies impacting on Adult Community Education (ACE) in Australia. This empirical research was conducted in the state of Victoria and charts the learning of older learners (referred to in this article as later…

Several projects relating to older learners have been conducted over the past decade or so, some involving the University of the Third Age (U3A) Whyalla, as well as other groups composed of older citizens. Some provide examples of engagement with the local university campus; others have this potential. Here a wide range of learning activities, as…

This specially themed ""Getting of Wisdom," Learning in Later Life" Edition of the "Australian Journal of Adult Learning" ("AJAL") is not so much concerned with the issue of ageing itself, but more about quality of life regardless of age. It is about taking, but also giving back as best as possible at any…

This article explores older students' perceptions of formal, non-formal and informal learning in regional South Australia. Drawing on earlier studies as well as a continuing one, it compares: the study motivations of students aged 55 and older enrolled formally in university undergraduate programs; the learning motivations of University of the…

Three older Australians' active engagement in music making with children was examined in this phenomenological study. Intergenerational music engagement was explored, focusing on the perspectives of the older Australians engaged in these musical interactions and, in particular, perceived benefits in being part of these musical interactions. Data…

"Research Messages 2013" provides a summary of the research published in 2015 by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER). The research published in 2015 covered a wide variety of the themes, reflecting the relevance of the VET sector to the Australian economy and its increasingly important role in the higher…