Older Adults, Learning & Older Adults, Learning & Curriculum DevelopmentCurriculum Development

A Psychological Perspective

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OutlineOutline

TrendsCurriculum modelsCognitive perspectiveSociocultural perspectiveAn example: ICT for older adults

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TrendsTrends Increased from 720,000 (13%) in 1991 to

1,170,000 (18%) in 2001 Changing family structures and responsibilities Higher life expectancy Early / involuntary retirement Access to information (older adults 55-65) using

personal computer has increased from around 1.2% to 13.8% between 2000 & 2002

Mobility Participation in society

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Questions for ReflectionQuestions for Reflection

How would you characterise older adults? Describe these older adults to yourself?

How did you organise learning (curriculum?) for older adults? And why? Was it successful?

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What is a curriculum?What is a curriculum?

A curriculum is…  Systematic learning of a specific subject Established fields of knowledge  Intended learning outcomes  Useful subjects in this society Means for personal improvement and

development

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Important QuestionsImportant Questions

Basic components

What are its intentions? What is the content?What are the methods used to deliver it?How is it assessed?

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Important QuestionsImportant Questions

Technical Aspects How can we plan a curriculum? How is it arranged? Does it work and how can it be improved?

Socio-political aspects Who makes these decisions? Are the decisions implemented? What are the influences on the curriculum? What are the future priorities?

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Conceptions of CurriculumConceptions of Curriculum

Sociology Psychology

Curriculum Developers & Their Conceptions

Curriculum

Philosophy

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Curriculum Model: Objective / Curriculum Model: Objective / Product ApproachProduct Approach

Ultimate Concerns: learning products

Four main questions What are the educational aims? (intentions) Which educational experiences? (content) How to organize educational experiences

effectively (methods) How to evaluate if the aims are achieved?

(assessment)

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Curriculum Model: Objective / Curriculum Model: Objective / Product ApproachProduct Approach

Characteristics:

Scientific / rational Focusing on “how” (not what) Specific & behavioral objectives (structural) Evaluating curriculum with regard to objective

achievement or learning products (behavioral changes)

Education=means Learners=passive / Teachers=authoritative

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Strengths & WeaknessesStrengths & Weaknesses

Strengths: Rationality and logic Providing a clear guide or blueprint (aims,

experiences, outcomes, evaluation) Can be assessed easily Accountable Easy to follow

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Strengths & WeaknessesStrengths & Weaknesses Rigidity Nature of Knowledge: Fixed? or Evolving? Nature of knowledge acquisition: constructing? or

imparting? Differences in understanding among teachers

(experiences, assumptions, values) Separation of objectives and experiences (means-end)

—experiences should be more valued by learners Difficulties in claiming expertise (teachers are learners

too) Difficulties in specifying all the objectives Dangerous in ignoring some important objectives

(hidden values)

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Alternative Model: Process Alternative Model: Process ApproachApproach (Stenhouse) (Stenhouse)

Ultimate Concerns: Learning Processes

Characteristics    learning experiences are intrinsically valuable

(not just a means)    knowledge & skills: not fixed, problematic &

shifting     should focus on enquiry and exploration but not

products

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Characteristics: Process ModelCharacteristics: Process Model content: key concepts & procedures (e.g. ‘causation’ in

history; ‘experimentation’ in science) Focus: classroom processes Evaluation: subjective, qualitative comments Learner=active, participating Learners should participate in designing objectives Focusing on needs, growth and development Teachers’ roles: as facilitators, assistants, learners

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Curriculum Model: Other Curriculum Model: Other ApproachesApproaches

Skilbeck’s Situation Approach: (main concerns: context and needs)

Situation analysis Goal formulation Programme building Interpretation and implementation Monitoring, feedback, assessment &

reconstruction

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Curriculum Model: Other Curriculum Model: Other ApproachesApproaches

Kemmis’ Action Research Model

(evolving curriculum)

  Planning Action Observation Reflection

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Alternative approachesAlternative approaches

Strengths: Flexible Student-centred Take important influences and factors into account Address needs Problems: Hard to evaluate (esp. objective outcomes) Unsystematic: Hard to manage Lack directions: lack measurable or observable objectives Require a lot of skills, attention and effort continuously

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Why model? Why model?

Intention Nature of knowledge Assumptions about teaching & learning

(behavoral, cognitive & sociocultural) Reflective practitioners: no straight rules Indeterminacy=norm Objectives / experiences are problematic Take into account of different values Mind the pitfall: formalizing curriculum

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Cognitive PerspectiveCognitive Perspective

Mental processes; internal statesCognitions: Perceptions, thoughts, values,

beliefsCognitive deficiency research

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Cognitive Deficit / Ageing Cognitive Deficit / Ageing

Decline in learning capacity Slow information processingLimited short term memoriesCognitive loadDistractionLow cognitive flexibility

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CausesCauses

Cognitive slowingSensory deficitsDiminished processing resourcesCoordination abilitiesDiseases

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How would you characterize How would you characterize older adults from a cognitive older adults from a cognitive

perspective? perspective?

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Cognitive EducationCognitive Education

Focusing on declining cognitive needs or maintaining cognitive functioning (i.e. what they cannot do well by themselves)

Effective instruction to improve performance

Accommodative strategies

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Accommodative StrategiesAccommodative StrategiesSpecify actions required for completing a taskArrange practice or repeated trainingBuild on their experiencesBuild on their prior knowledgeShow the most important (no sidestepping)Chunk the knowledge Removed cognitive load (e.g. demonstration &

worked examples)Make them feel good, confident and accepted

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ProblemsProblems

Normal aging does not lead to simultaneously decline in all cognitive functions

For example: no age differences in terms of organization and the use of general world knowledge (Mayhorn, 2004)

Individual differencesIndividualistic approach

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Problematic Image Problematic Image

Conceptualising older adults as deficitAdding conflicts—problematising identity“Give and take”—but how much you can

give? (stricken resources)Cognitive deficit—limited learning support

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Sociocultural perspectiveSociocultural perspective

Lev Vygotsky (Russian psychologist) Learning is situated within specific sociocultural

context Learning is mediated by cultural tools (e.g.

symbols, languages, signs etc) Collaboration and interaction facilitate the

appropriation of cultural tools From interpsychological to intrapsychological;

from other regulation to self-regulation

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Key conceptsKey concepts

Zone of proximal development (ZPD)

=the distance between actual development and the level that can be accomplished with guidance

Scaffolding Interaction and collaboration

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Sociocultural educationSociocultural education

Embeddedness MediationInteraction and collaborationCultural toolsFocus NOT on what one can or cannot do at

the moment but what one can achieve on receiving assistance

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Reflection Reflection

Your achievement? Or ASSISTED achievement

Your solution? Or COLLABORATIVE solution

Your performance? Or MEDIATED performance?

Your own goals? Or EMBEDDED goals

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How would you characterise How would you characterise older adults from a sociocultural older adults from a sociocultural

perspective?perspective?

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QuestionsQuestions

What are their zone of proximal development (NOT what are their problems or what they cannot do)

How should assistance be organized?How can collaboration and interaction be

promoted?What are the important cultural tools?

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A Successful CaseA Successful Case

SKH Western District Centre for the Elderly

Computing literacy program for older adultsPart of their Institute of Continuing

Education for Senior CitizensICT as cultural tools

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Aims and coursesAims and courses

To cope: The development of basic and essential computer skills that enhance older adults’ life skills (sample courses: basic computer skills);

To grow: The acquisition of computer knowledge and skills that meet their own interest (sample courses: web page design);

To contribute: The development of skills and knowledge that help them relate to others and contribute to their well being (sample courses: card design).

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StatisticsStatistics

Initial enrolment: about 20 older adults started a computer course in 1998

Jumped to 609 in March1999 with the formal inception of the Institute of Continuing Education for Senior Citizens.

Further increased to about 2000 in the subsequent years (2100 in 2001; 1993 in 2002; and 2110 in 2003)

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Interview Study Interview Study

10 core membersIn-depth interviewsAbout their experiencesKey questions

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Key interview questionsKey interview questions

Why were you interested in learning computer at the beginning?

Describe a typical computing lesson? Describe any difficulties you had during the

course of learning computing skills? Describe the computing skills you have acquired. How did your family members and friends feel

about your learning of these computing skills? Does the learning of these computing skills affect

your daily lives in any way?

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Evolving motivation in learning ICTEvolving motivation in learning ICT

societal

familial & peer

classroom

Affordance / Constraint

ContextMotivational

scaffolds

values, norms, trends, favors...

encouragement / discouragement

recognition/denial

assistance/resistance

curriculum

learning tasks

pedagogy

collaboration

direction & choice

approval

meanings

identity

relationship

engagement

Level of Motivation

Low

High

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Further StudiesFurther Studies

Participants & nonparticipants & dropoutsInterviewsNon-participatory observationParticipatory observation

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A Typical SceneA Typical Scene“It was a small computer room with 9 computers installed in both sides. On the walls, older adults’ works and achievement were showed. There were greeting cards, bookmarks, and even Chinese paintings, produced by computer technology. It was 1:30 in the afternoon. The group seemed to have just finished their class. However, they were unwilling to leave. One of the students was talking to the tutor about some computer problems. At the end of the room, two female older adults were looking at the websites they have just developed. Two other learners were busy uploading their own files onto the web; one of them seemed to have problems in uploading photos into her web page and called for help. Other students came to her rescue and a discussion on effective ways of uploading photos onto the web was started. The tutor ended his talk and joined in”.

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Contributing Factors: Contributing Factors:

Collaborative curriculum development Negotiating for participation Learning task Tutor assistance Peer support & tutoring Collaboration: learning together, practising

together and socialising together Connection: emails, cards, exhibition, seminars Share of work and resources

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Opening up of ZPDOpening up of ZPD Knowledge acquisition & Increased engagement

“I have become more confident gradually; that’s right, the more I learnt the more confident I became. I am now also, as asked by my friends, learning to writing my own web pages; I am now doing a little bit. Writing a web page, I thought, ‘they can do it, I can do it too’; I have tried these tricks and some of these (showing me his web pages); these pages I designed myself; some of them are not too bad. Right I need to learn these and write some new pages. And now we have not much to learn from the tutor. We are also doing some computer painting; I started it from the beginning, using Little Writer, and we are going to learn about mixing colors; these are for painting, and I’m not doing too bad. I thought to myself, I can do more when I have time, and can have my own pictures and works soon”

“I think we are quite smart, know how to attach a piece of music with an email, like adding a song with some cartoons. Like during the birthday of one of the classmates, I wanted to send her a bunch of flowers, but we are getting old and it’s a bit uneasy for me to take a bunch of real flowers to her, so I sent her an email with some flowers that can bloom with different colours, from red into yellow and with glitters; and I’d asked her if she liked the roses; and she was happy to receive them.”

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Opening up ZPDOpening up ZPD

The development of identity “What is so good (about learning computer)? You know I have been a housewife, and now I can step out of my home and participate in this (computer exhibition), shouldn’t I be very happy. I was like “a lump of rice before” (Cantonese slang, means, stupid), knew nothing, have never stepped out of my home. Now I can join different communities, and it’s fun. Of course, I’m happy” (a 85 old woman)

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An Explanatory FrameworkAn Explanatory FrameworkNovice elderly learners

Community-oriented curriculum and

pedagogy

Zone of Proximal

Development

A community of learners

Other communities

anxietylimited knowledgetechnophobia

participatory curriculum developmenttasktutor supportcollaborationconnectionshare of work

Accommodating needs

Opening up

knowledge acquistionIncreased participationdeveloping idenities

Connecting with Developing into

collaborative cultureshared knowledge and practicenew timers and old comersnew identity

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Curriculum development from a Curriculum development from a sociocultural perspectivesociocultural perspective

Negotiate curriculum aims and development with older adults

Situate the learners within a specific sociocultural context

Identify significant cultural toolsTapping social resourcesEncouraging participation, collaboration

and engagement

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ConclusionConclusion

“Education, in its deepest sense and at whatever age it takes place, concerns the opening of identities—exploring new ways of being that lie beyond the current state” (Wenger, 1998, p.263)