Australia has around 1,000 Men's Sheds--informal community-based workshops offering men beyond paid work somewhere to go, something to do and someone to talk to. They have proven to be of great benefit for older men's learning, health and wellbeing, social integration, and for developing a positive male identity focusing on community…

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…

The informal learning that older (age 50+) men experience in Australia has been the subject of a suite of recent, intensive, mixed methods research projects in community-based voluntary organizations. The purpose of the research was to examine where men are learning in these contexts beyond work and formal education rather than to assume and…

This paper reports on research into community-based men's sheds in Australia, focusing on how regular activity in these sheds impacts on the informal learning experiences of the mainly older men who use them. It leads to an exploration and reflection on how men's learning experiences in such sheds might inform adult and vocational education in…

Reports on the agenda of an exemplary teacher as she planned for and implemented a visit to an interactive science center by her class of 12-year-old boys. Describes activity in three sections: pre-visit preparation, post-visit activities and reflections, and during the visit. Focuses on the nature of student learning and participant teachers'…