I am an American Encore Adult focused on development and enhancement of life long learning. I found the recent PASCAL International Transformative Learning Global Learning Cities Pre-Conference at Columbia Teachers College and City Seminary in New York to be a rich experience of learning and sharing.

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I would like to thank the conference organizers for an excellent meeting. Encore Adults are the demographic over 55 who may be contemplating or are in retirement. The perspective from which I attended the conference is that I am an Instructor at the Osher Life Long Learning Institute(www.osherfoundation.org) at University of Denver. Most recently, I coordinated a Speaker Series focused on “What’s Next for Encore Adults”.

The international conference content demonstrated the progress from which the United States can learn and seek to emulate. The keynote address pointed out that life long learning has a vital role in successful transition to sustainable societies and was a strong beginning to the day.

The conference session on Sustainability, Learning Cities and Transformative Learning presented insights related to my focus on Encore Adulthood and Education. The sustainability of communities in part needs to identify what is ”waste” and are there better uses which communities need to make of it. I believe that failure to use the education and experience of Encore Adults relegates these valuable community assets into a category of unused, talented “waste”. During this session, the key role to be played by Transformative Learning for people and communities was discussed. Encore Adults are often at difficult transition points in their lives and need to transform themselves through education in order to continue to meaningfully contribute to society and to ensure their continued relevance.

Throughout the conference, I recognized that the global initiative to enhance life long learning is a somewhat fragmented tapestry. That reality, pointed out the necessity of global, national, and local conferences in order to share insights and best practices. I also heard the important message of the necessity of collaboration between academia, government and community organizations.

The conference presentation regarding data highlighted the inequality of access and utilization of life long learning opportunities and confirmed my experience of the varied engagement among the Encore Adult population. The presentation on adult learning and education in Australia and Asia Pacific demonstrated the significant progress which the region has accomplished toward meeting the Sustainable Development Goal.

The Speaker Series for Encore Adults in Denver which I coordinated and at which I was also a presenter included many contributors from across the spectrum of life long learning. These knowledge leaders included non-profit leaders, government policy departments and academic experts on adult learning and cognition. My goal was to enhance collaboration and knowledge sharing both among this group and the attendees.

An important component of the Speaker Series was the post series survey and discussion with attendees. Frequent feedback comments included statements that attendees were actively looking for a resource to educate and help guide them through their transition to the next stage of their life. Many felt “irrelevant” and/or “invisible” and wanted to participate as contributors in non-profit, entrepreneurial, or community organizations. All expressed the need to continue to contribute to society. From the attendees, I recognized that the need for “transition learning” is present from those possessing doctorate degrees to those with less education. Many of the attendees wanted their Encore careers to be in a field differing from their work career. The often repeated goal was to “continue to contribute and have a purpose”. Attendees recognized that ageism bias was a reality which they would have to overcome. Many recognized that they would need to improve their technological skills and be able to demonstrate their improvement. I would welcome your insights and comments regarding Encore Adulthood, Education and Transition at [email protected].

The Global Learning Cities Pre-Conference was very informative and enjoyable and provided opportunities for interaction with presenters and attendees. I certainly look forward to attending future conferences.

An American Encore Adult’s Reflections on Knowledge; Shared at the Global Learning Cities Pre-Conference 2018

Written by Edward Leary, M.D., MBA

Please also see the main conference report...