| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立中正大學 === 成人與繼續教育系高齡者教育研究所 === 105 === People greatly value their quality of life, which gradually become an indicator of human beings’ development and needs. The transformative from the process of elders' learning helped us to understand the connation of quality of life. Therefore, the aim of this study was to discuss the transformation of elder learners’ quality of life from the view of transformative learning. The four objectives of this study are:
1. To examine the transformation of elder learner's physique after participating in learning,
2. To discover the transformation of elder learners’ mentality after participating in learning,
3. To discuss the transformation of elder learners’ social interactions after participating in learning, and
4. To examine the transformation of elder learners’ self-value after participating in learning.
In this study we used transformative theory to explore the objectives which based on the context of the elder learners. The qualitative research was conducted with 66 older adults who were aged above 50 and participated in learning. After analyzing the transcripts of the focus group and face-to-face interviews, the 4 conclusions are summed up as the following:
1. The elder learners improved the quality of their physical health by not simply contemplating about it but by focusing more on obtaining the correct knowledge about health and by applying that knowledge to improve their health, thus decreasing the number of hospital visits.
2. The elder learners believe that being happy improves their late years. Through learning, they sought the path of happiness from others and obtained high-quality positive emotions, leading them to a more optimistic, open-minded, and healthy psychological life.
3. Through learning, the elder learners transformed their living situation from demanding people's company to obtaining support and interaction from their teachers, families, classmates, and staffs. Furthermore, the elder learners were able to initiate engagement with society and contributed what they had learned to it.
4. The elder learners believe that they should enrich themselves. Through learning, they were able to be empowered, change their outlook on life, and recognize their self-value, therefore improving their quality of life.
With the results above, the study can provide some suggestions for the elder learners, the elder learning institutes, and the authorities. The practical suggestions are as follows:
A. The suggestion for elder adults:
They can establish a platform for communication and sharing in order to promote the advantages of learning and encourage other elder adults to participate in activities. Through exchanging information, sharing, and encouraging others to participate, they can gain new perspectives, new behavioral patterns, and enjoy more optimistic and happier late years.
B. The suggestions for the elder learning institutes:
1. The staffs of institutes should be equipped with the skills to encourage older adults to apply what they have learned in their daily life; therefore, regular training for the employees are necessary.
2. The goal of the institutes should be to shape their vision of creating senior learning centers as the second home for the older adults. The principle of avoiding money-related issues involving learning places and instead focusing on learning and exchanging other information should be established.
C. The suggestion for the authorities:
In policy, the Ministry of Education should take advantage of its national position and power to take on the responsibility of promoting elder learning.
1. The responsibility of promoting elder learning: e.g. to assist older adult learners in establishing communication platforms and to develop training systems for the staff of the senior institutions, etc., hence benefitting the aging society of Taiwan.
2. The government should recruit professionals for older adult education and learning, invest in funding, and assist in the development of older adult education institutions and older adult learning. Furthermore, it should investigate to find a more complete and perfect lifelong learning or older adult learning plan that is continuously progressive.
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