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Retirement: Lifelong Learning or Over the Hill?

Through our research, we have met many retired people who tend to fall in one of two camps; those who see retirement as a great opportunity to learn new things, and those who feel they are too old to embark on any new learning. Of course, this is a broad generalisation and not everyone fits into one of these groups - but the majority do. 

Lifelong learning - On the one hand, those who are retired usually have lots of spare time which they can fill with whatever they choose. Therefore they have plenty of time which can be devoted to learning if this is what they want to do. There is a huge range of subjects which are studied by those in retirement, from IT to foreign languages, and theology to Tai Chi. Naturally, the courses chosen tend to be more leisure-based than work-based, but some of the more mature learners wanting to challenge themselves and enhance their skills do find themselves studying alongside those who are studying a course in order to get a job. For example, the following retired man studied a GCSE in electronics at college:

"Because it was of interest, and electronics as a subject was always additional to what my normal standard was, so I was on a learning curve all the time I'm there. I had to pack it in in the end, because it was getting to me that tomorrow I would have to take an exam and with my memory, I just felt that I had to back off. Which was silly because the guy said that even at that stage I knew sufficient to be able to pass it."

Despite not sitting the exam because of fears related to his memory, he is still happy that he did the course because he got what he wanted out of it; new knowledge and skills. Just because someone is uninterested in gaining a qualification does not mean they are uninterested in gaining knowledge!

For some people, being retired gives them the chance to learn about things they never quite grasped when they were younger, to develop skills or to try something new. For example, a retired man who had never learnt German at school was now studying it to GCSE level at a sixth form college alongside teenagers.

The benefits of learning include meeting other people and having a reason to leave the house - this element of socialising is the most important priority for some retired learners, especially if they live alone or don't get out and about much.

"I've enjoyed everything about [the course]...the other people that are on the course 'cos we all throw ideas at each other and you know, have a laugh..."

Many people have told us that they see learning as essential if they are to keep their minds active and their brains young.

"I’ll be learning until my last breath.  It's just, you know, a natural process, well it's got to be a natural process of life, if you don’t you just sit down and die don’t you, turn into a vegetable..."

The majority of the older people who have a positive attitude towards learning also share the above view; that life is all about learning, and if you stop learning, you effectively stop living. Many of them feared that if they did not continue to learn, and to exercise their mental capacity, they would become a "vegetable".

Over the hill - However, on the other hand, a number of retired people feel that learning is irrelevant for them since they are no longer in the labour market, so do not need to keep their skills up to date for a job or in order to get a new job. For example, a retired man describes himself as being "past learning" saying:

"I've studied and learned all I want to learn".

In addition to this, as people get older and potentially less mobile, they may be less inclined to commit to going out to a course every week.

Some people think of learning as only being to do with children in school, and so see it as having nothing to do with them as adults. The sad fact of this is that learning is seen by these people as something which needs to be done and got out of the way. For example, when the following woman (only in her 40s) was asked what came into her head when she heard the word 'learning', she replied:

"Not a lot... because the kids have finished with school and everything so that's it now.  It's all done and out the way now, so that's it."

As well as this, older people have described some of the difficulties of learning at a later stage in life. These include memory loss, and the sense that younger learners can catch on to new things more easily than more mature learners. For some, this is off-putting, but for others, this is just another hurdle to be tackled in their determination to engage in learning.

Overall, people's own definitions of learning and perception of what retirement means to them have a huge impact on whether or not they engage in learning and new activities well into old age. Whilst some people have grown up considering learning to be something formal which relates to compulsory education or employment, others recognise it to be a vital and exciting part of life.

As the nation's retired population swells and grows, there will be increasing numbers of potential learners from older generations - some eager to fill their days with learning new things, others very reluctant to do so. It is up to learning providers to face this challenge and provide learning opportunities which are attractive and engaging to a broad spectrum of people in retirement. Or we'll end up with a country full of old vegetables...

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