Getting old is scary; getting old in the classroom is also scary. In this article, the authors, both beginning their seventh decade and have been connected to St. Michael's College for more than thirty years, inscribe themselves and others like them within a narrative of aging and pedagogy that mitigates the terror by contesting and refuting…

In last month's "Adult Learning," the authors introduced the notion of "the silver surfer", a third-age learner adept at using the internet and other technologies for a mixture of formal and informal learning episodes. They suggested that neither this image nor its obverse, the truly disconnected older adult, is helpful in understanding the ICT…

Provides a literature-based overview of continuing education for older adults. Addresses the context of older adult education, age and cohort differences in participation, scope of programming, implications of psychological theory and research, and recommendations for enhancing participation and learning. (SK)

This article presents findings from a questionnaire dealing with what young people think about the elderly and aging and how to bridge the generation gap. The role of the young in helping old people to become integrated in society is to encourage contacts in all fields. (UNESCO, Place de Fontenoy, 75700 Paris) (SSH)

This article provides a commentary on a set of five other articles reporting European and Canadian studies of loneliness among seniors. It places those works involving Canadian, Dutch, Finnish, and Welsh samples in the larger context of research on loneliness; offers reflections on the methods and findings reported in the articles; and addresses…

Intergenerational competition promoted by the mass media and by groups like Americans for Generational Equality (AGE) is illogical. Concern should be directed at the unequal distribution of power and resources. Programs geared toward particular age groups contribute to society as a whole. (VM)

Discusses research suggesting that television viewing contributes to negative attitudes and low levels of knowledge about older people. Using the same data set and measurements, concludes that the effect of television viewing on knowledge and attitudes about older people is small and restricted to younger people. (NRB)

Describes seven stages in the poet's life--three periods of great creativity in childhood, early middle age, and ripe maturity and four transitional periods marked by confusion and depression. (MM)

This article draws attention to the importance of the part that ought to be played in society by older individuals. In western countries the importance to society of its older members and the nature of their role has indeed become blurred over the last hundred years. (UNESCO, Place de Fontenoy, 75700 Paris) (SSH)

Briefly explores the role of the elderly in sociolinguistic theory and research. It is determined that speech accommodation theory is a profitable framework for elucidating the sociolinguistic mechanics of and the social psychological processes underlying intergenerational encounters. (Author/CB)

The growing proportion of elderly and rising costs of health care for the aged raise ethical issues about the nature of the social obligation to the elderly as contrasted with the young. Reexamination of health care policy must consider the role of values, social justice, and individual self-respect. (Author/NRB)

Considers traditional approaches to identity across life span, then presents discursive perspective showing how, during interaction, individuals actively construct age-salient identities for themselves and others through talk. Conversational processes of age-identity management are explored in corpus of geriatric medical outpatient consultations.…

Cognitive aging research needs to clarify whether or not there are functional or ability declines with aging and, if so, to understand and mediate these declines. Recent research which has demonstrated declines in cognitive functioning with age has involved episodic memory and rehearsal-independent forms of such memory. It is not known how much of…

Presents several central themes about aging which may prove useful in interpreting art works and increasing students' awareness of the human qualities of aging. Indicates that, when the artist represents the physical changes of aging, he or she equally characterizes cognitive, emotional, social, and spiritual levels of aging. Includes seven…

Biological theories of adaptation are used to generate a model of human cognitive development in which physiological and cognitive change in aged persons can be understood as an adaptive stage of development. Related literature is reviewed that focuses on the elderly as information transmitters and on the psychology of "telling."…