Expanding horizons?:
Lifelong learning and older
women
Expanding horizons …
Dr Sue Jackson
Director of Birkbeck Institute for Lifelong Learning
Senior Lecturer in Lifelong Learning and Citizenship
Head of School of Continuing Education
Birkbeck, University of London
London, UK
00 44 20 7631 6625
s.jackson@bbk.ac.uk
Outline:
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About BILL
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Key issues in considering learning for older women
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About the research
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The women in the research
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Learning, community and citizenship: expanding horizons?
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Moving on
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Conclusions
The research of the Institute is located in four main
areas of research, and pedagogies of lifelong learning
form part of each of these areas:
citizenship,
community development and communitybased learning
lifelong learning and the lifecourse
social justice, equality and diversity
in-situ and ex-situ interpretation and learning (for
example museums and heritage sites)
www.bbk.ac.uk/ce/bill
BILL aims to:
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develop and sustain research into lifelong learning
provide a research base for academics, policy makers and
practitioners working in lifelong learning
promote research excellence
develop collaborative research work with individuals, research centres
and other institutions
publish and disseminate results of research activities to academics
and policy makers
provide programmes of seminars, colloquia and conferences to
develop scholarly exchange.
www.bbk.ac.uk/ce/bill
Lifelong learning and older women
Key issues 1
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In around 25 years, half the population will be over
50
Two out of three of those aged 50 or over left school
at 15 or earlier
This is especially true for women, working-class
people and minority ethnic groups
Urban / rural divide
Lifelong learning is essential for older women
The less you have had the less you are likely to have
‘If at first you don’t succeed, you don’t succeed’
Key issues 2
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Women are less likely than men to:
have received workplace learning
received an apprenticeship
hold educational qualifications
have an occupational pension
Key issues 3
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Women are more likely than men to
be poor
live alone
live longer
Key issue 4
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People who engage in lifelong learning are more
likely to:
- be active citizens
- engage in volunteering
- enjoy better intergenerational relationships
- enjoy better social networks
- enjoy better physical health
- enjoy better mental wellbeing
Centre for Research on the Wider Benefits of Learning:
www.learningbenefits.net
Background to the research
National Federation of Women’s Institutes
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The National Federation of Women's Institutes
(NFWI) is the largest organisation for women in
the UK with 215,000 members in England,
Wales and the Islands.
Mission
 The
WI exists to educate women to
enable them to provide an effective
role in the community, to expand
their horizons and to develop and
pass on important skills.
Denman College
Project aims:
i) the impact of and implications for lifelong learning in
constructions of older women’s identities;
ii) (older) women’s engagement as active citizens;
iii) the relationship between civic engagement and
lifelong learning; and
iv)women’s lifelong learning and active citizenship in
and through family lives, networks and voluntary
work.
Objectives:
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increase knowledge of the extent and type of participation in
lifelong learning and in active citizenship by older women;
increase understandings of the motivation for, attitudes towards
and benefits of participation in lifelong learning and in active
participation for older women;
offer direction for planning to meet the needs of older learners and
their communities by identifying and characterizing positive and
negative aspects of participation with regard to social, human,
cultural, identity and material capitals;
increase knowledge of how learning and community involvement is
affected by gender, social class and age, and show how
involvement changes and evolves during the life course;
increase understandings of how gendered identities develop and
change at community, regional and national levels.
The 5 Federations in the project:
1)
The largest Federation, with 248 institutes and 9500 members. It covers a
large geographical area from the industrial south east to the rural villages of
the region.
2)
Large geographical area, sparsely populated and mainly consisting of rural
farmlands and market towns. It has a total of 101 institutes.
3)
The smallest Federation, with 33 institutes. It covers a largely urban area,
including institutes in socially and ethnically diverse communities in on the
outskirts of a large city.
4)
With its headquarters in a city centre, and also including socially and
ethnically diverse communities, the fourth Federation has 45 institutes in
industrial towns as well as in a range of villages.
5)
The fifth Federation has 95 institutes with 4000 members. It covers a
diverse geographical area, from a major city to the Welsh valleys.
Results – Exploring ‘horizons’
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Participation and benefits of lifelong learning
for older women
The impact of and implications for lifelong
learning in the construction of older women’s
identities
‘Older’ women’s engagement as active
citizens
About the women
Participation in and benefits of lifelong
learning for older women
Expanding horizons through learning
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“I think (lifelong learning) is actually more important …. The
speed of changes in community, society, technology, these are
all having an impact on individuals and families and I think it’s
crucial that people keep up to date because if they don’t they
would be out of step with society. Also I think … to keep people
engaged in society, to keep people engaged with other people,
learning brings people together … I think that it’s absolutely
crucial. What worries me now is that funding has been cut for a
lot of these lifelong learning opportunities locally … So I think in
the future it is going to be very much down to community
groups and voluntary organisations ..”.
Activities taking place
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Monthly WI meetings
Invited speakers
Practical demonstrations
WI Visits
Denman College
Campaigns
Traditional skills
The impact of and implications for
lifelong learning in constructions of
older women’s identities
Increasing Confidence
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‘I feel safe here … It’s a safe place to come on one’s own’
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‘I would come on my own, I feel very comfortable, because once you get
here you are not feeling alone at all’.
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‘It’s a non-threatening situation’
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‘We have had members here (who had) never been away from home on
their own before’.
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‘It’s so confidence building …’.
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‘This is an enormous place for building your confidence in lots of ways’.
Following husbands …
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“Suddenly my husband got relocated to a new area … Suddenly my
life was totally different … it was a bit lonely … but then I got to know
someone who belonged to the WI and now it’s terribly busy”.
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“My husband was transferred to (overseas). We spent 10 years living
abroad and decided that our children were becoming too (foreign) …
We moved (back) … and my neighbour encouraged me to join the ..
WI”.
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“I had spent time abroad with my husband in a different country so I
was away … I actually liked going out there and meeting other ladies,
English ladies – who were married to (foreigners). So … when we
came back … I thought ‘I do actually miss the interaction of being with
other females’”.
Benefits of lifelong learning at times of
transition
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‘After the death of my husband I don’t know where I would be if
it hadn’t been for the support from the WI’
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‘when you are newly widowed … you feel certainly vulnerable’.
(The WI is) ‘a good thing and it is a good place to start doing
things’
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‘(A new member) ‘has been widowed within the previous year
and it is the first time she has gone anywhere without her
husband …’
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“ … I thought if ever I am left on my own I am going to be
literally on my own. I was wanting to plan some contingency,
so if I was on my own I would have something to fall back on’
Considering ‘difference’?
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‘you realize that the human race is not quite
so terrifying - you know - speaking to a
stranger of your own sort of calibre’
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‘I joined to get to know kindred spirits’
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‘I joined for the company of like minded
people’
‘Race’ and ethnicity …
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“I think we are probably more open minded (than WIs in rural area)…
For example, we have an Asian lady that comes and she educated us
to their way of life … We did think of setting up a WI in an Asian
community, but because of the way they work men control the money
side of it and they would want the right to come … We are thinking
that perhaps now, because there is another generation that it’s more,
that it has picked up more about our ways, that perhaps we can now
go and have a WI”.
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“I did … make an appointment to see the then Lord Mayor of ….., who
was a Jamaican and a woman, and I implored her to help me set up
some ethnic WIs but I wasn’t successful … We did try very hard to set
up some WIs within the Asian community … and we couldn’t because
the men wanted to control the purse strings and to dominate. And of
course the WI can’t do that”.
Social class …
Focus group 1:
 Researcher: “If I said that the WI is traditionally made
up of middle-class women, what might be your
view?”
 Respondent 1: “I think it’s right!”
 Respondent 2: “It’s not that others are excluded, it’s
just that they don’t join us”
 Respondent 3: “I think people have different values.
We are people with similar values and expectations
…”
Focus group 2:
 Respondent: “I think there is a class distinction. I really do”
 Interviewer: “There is?”
 Respondent: “I think so. If I was poor and needy … I think the
WI would benefit you but you wouldn’t benefit the WI because
they couldn’t cope with this”
 Interviewer: “Explain a little more”
 Respondent: “… They couldn’t cope with the way we do things,
the structure… In that regards there is a class distinction …
because … the lower down the scale you are the less
intellectual you are … They wouldn’t feel comfortable talking to
us”
Focus group 3:
 Interviewer: “And how would you describe your social class?”
 Respondent: “I don’t like this sort of class business. I am
certainly not upper class, and middle class, … things get
distorted … For working class, it’s usually, as I understood it,
it’s the lower class, and I don’t consider I am lower class”
Focus group 4:
 Interviewer: “Do you feel class is an issue? Should it be an
issue?”
 Respondent 1: “I don’t think it should”
 Respondent 2: “I must say I was rather surprised to see the
question (on the questionnaire)”
Older women’s engagement as active
citizens
Formal training –
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Training for officer roles
Training as WI advisors
Accredited learning – eg as judges
Public speaking
Public confidence:
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“We put on training classes … for the presidents, the
secretaries, the treasurers and the press and
publicity officers, so that those people come here to
be trained to do a better delivery within the WI and of
course that gives them confidence … to apply to
become a parish councillor or whatever”
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“We also put on public speaking courses … and it
does give you confidence”
Learning citizenship:
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‘I mean you wouldn’t think two weekend courses on
public speaking - now you cannot shut me up’’
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‘I did, I got there – I am a chairman of my parish
council’
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‘I was president of my WI, I was chairman of the parish
council, that was fine, but then I became treasurer and I
became chief executive …’
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‘I am vice-chairman of the parish council … that’s
where the WI led me’.
“I’m suddenly somebody”
“I was now the President
and on my first day out
in the village…. ‘Hello Vera’;
‘How are you Vera?’;
‘Nice to see you Vera’
– Suddenly I was somebody!”
Campaigning:
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Adult education
Renewable energy
Sport for a healthy
population
Fair Trade
What women want
Campaign
Care of the Environment
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Farmgate milk prices
GM foods
Children’s diet
Save rural post offices
Trafficking
Best lobbyists in the country?
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“I have been to a meeting with the then home secretary talking
about crime … The home secretary said, he said ‘Crime in
rural areas doesn’t matter so much’, and I was on my feet
saying ‘Excuse me sir, but it matters to the people to whom it
happens’!”.
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“I was invited to Birmingham City Hall and we met with the
wives of the G8 summiters … I had a little chat with little Mrs
Yeltsin … I have to say that little Mrs Yeltsin … looked to me
that she would make the perfect sponge cake for the show.
That was how I looked at her. Wearing sensible shoes. And I
thought ‘Yes: she has got it right!’”.
Learning citizenship:
‘I mean every WI does something for the community
even if it’s just a few people going in to help in a
primary school – they get involved in all sort of things.
They are great volunteers which is great – the
community keeps them young and their minds active
and there is also – I think there is a big emphasis now
on health as well and I think that a lot of our members
would be very pro - what’s the thing going on at the
moment – “walking your way to health”? - I think you
will find a lot of women getting involved in that within
their WI’
Conclusions – considering ‘capitals’
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Human capital
Social capital
Cultural capital
Identity capital
Human capital
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Developing the skills to survive into
(gendered) older age …?
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Skills for retirement, financial benefit and
healthy living
Social Capital
The concept of social capital is defined in terms of
networks, norms and trust and draws on its
possibilities for interweaving diverse sets of
relationships and linking community and society (see
Schuller 2001, Schuller et al 2000)
“Communication may not be shared with outsider
groups, and new ideas and skills may be ignored
because they come from outside the network” (Field,
2000: 129)
Identity capital
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‘respectability is one of the most ubiquitous signifiers
of class. It informs how we speak, who we speak to,
how we classify others, what we study and how we
know who we are (or are not)’ (Skeggs, 1997:1)
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identity is understood ‘as the constancy to oneself of
a responsible being that is predictable … in the way
of a well-constructed history’ (Bourdieu, 2000: 299).
Conditions for active citizenship:
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Values and attitudes from influences such as family,
friends and religious and cultural affiliations;
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Critical incidents which trigger more active social
roles;
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Critical awareness of social conditions coupled with
a perception of conditions as oppressive
(Merricks and Edirisingha, 2001)
Jam, Jerusalem and Calendar Girls
Moving on …
“The Older Women's Network NSW
provides support for a number of state-wide
projects that promote the rights, dignity and
wellbeing of older women. The focus of our
projects is on skill development, social
action, empowerment and having fun!”
OWN’s vision:
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The Older Women's Network in NSW
believes in a society rich in social capital,
where mutual respect and trust are
paramount, where diversity and debate are
valued and where people and their networks
have a legitimate voice.
OWN’s Sydney Theatre Group
The Group draws attention to
the fact that older women are
no longer content to remain
invisible and silent about their
lives and political concerns.
Our Theatre Group is currently
made up of fourteen women
between the ages of 65 and
79, most with no previous
stage experience.
OWN performances:
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Showing our OWN age: skits about surviving the health system
Our OWN time of life: skits and songs sending up media portrayals of
older women
Our say: send-up of Hospital Casemix and its impact on older women
Superwoman: critique of superannuation and its effects on older
women
The older person’s show: lived experiences of older women and
emphasises the importance of intergenerational connections
Wow!: skits and songs which highlight current issues that concern
older women. Issues include hospital waiting lists, nursing homes,
GST and banks
Doing our OWN thing: volunteering, mutual obligation, reconciliation
and multiculturalism!
Older women on show: government decisions and ethics, peace, and
company directors who assist their companies to go down the gurgler!
And in conclusion?
“participation in learning sustains active, independent
lives and empowers citizens. … (O)lder people have a
huge contribution to make, from their accumulated
experience, valuable to younger generations and to the
whole community. Real lifelong learning must include
older as well as younger people, learning together”
http://www.niace.org.uk/Publications/L/LngOlder.htm
Final words
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The research with the NFWI and OWN demonstrated the high
impact of lifelong learning for older women in the development
of confidence to participate outside of family responsibilities
and within communities
Lifelong learning and community activity enables many women
to claim back a sense of identity and gives a strong support
network at a time in their lives when they may be more likely to
be isolated, separated from communities of paid work and of
family.
Organisations like the NFWI and OWN enable older women to
continue learning and participating as active citizens through
their older life, expanding horizons for older women