Bradley C. Courtenay

The Georgia Centenarian Study

This paper presents the theoretical rationale, hypotheses, models, and methods and procedure of the Georgia Centenarian Study, an interdisciplinary study of the oldest-old.

Learning Style Preferences among Older Adults.

As more older adults are participating in learning activities, educators of this group are beginning to seek ways to improve learning among these individuals. One area that has been extensively researched with children and young adults involves learning style preferences. Very little is known, however, about the learning styles of older adults. Therefore, this study attempted to determine the learning style preferences of older adults and the association of gender, age, and educational level to these preferences. D. A. Kolbs (1985) Learning Style Inventory was used to identify the preferred learning styles of 172 older adults from Northeast Georgia. Results found the older adults in this study fairly evenly distributed across the styles of Accommodator, Assimilator, and Diverger, with fewer preferring the Converger style, which involves thinking and doing while learning. Although no significant effects were found between learning style preferences and gender, age, or educational level, there were some ag...

On Becoming a Witch: Learning in a Marginalized Community of Practice

Much learning in adulthood is informal, social in nature, and firmly embedded in the life context of the learner. It takes place in social groups engaged in a common practice. One model for considering the learning that takes place in social groups is Wengers notion of communities of practice. In a community of practice, learning, practice, and identity development are intertwined. The purpose of this study was to investigate learning in a marginalized community of practice—that of witches. Twenty witches belonging to several different covens, or communities of practice, were interviewed. Data analysis revealed (a) a trajectory of participation representing movement from the periphery to the center of the group; (b) learning in practice that is experiential, that combines formal and intuitive knowledge, and that is spread across the group; and (c) an identifiable process of identity development in becoming a witch. To some extent, the marginality of the community shaped the groups learning and practice.

Perspective Transformation Over Time: A 2-Year Follow-Up Study of HIV-Positive Adults

The purpose of this study was to find out whether HIV-positive adults who had participated in a study of the centrality of meaning-making in transformational learning had maintained 2 years later their perspectives of making meaningful contributions through service to others, or if the advent of protease inhibitors would have resulted in their reverting to previously held, self oriented, and materialistic views of the world. Fourteen of the original 18 participants were interviewed. Two major findings emerged: First, for all 14 participants, the perspective transformations that they had undergone 2 years previously had held. Second, there were changes in meaning schemes that included the adoption of a future-oriented perspective, greater attention to care of the self, and an integration of the HIV-positive status into their self-definition. The life-changing nature of transformational learning, the stability of its outcomes, and ongoing changes in meaning schemes suggest implications for adult educators.

Religiosity and Adaptation in the Oldest-Old

Previous research has yielded mixed results with respect to the relationship between religiosity and adaptation in older adults. Most studies show that religiosity is stable over the life span, but that religiosity may or may not be related to such factors as physical and mental health, life satisfaction, and coping. This study adds to earlier investigations by including centenarians among the sample. The preliminary results of this research project support earlier findings that religiosity does not change significantly as one ages, although there is a trend in the results that suggests otherwise. The results also indicate a significant relationship between religiosity and physical health but no significant relationship between religiosity and mental health and life satisfaction. Religiosity and coping are strongly related, and there is the suggestion that religious coping mechanisms might be more important in the oldest-old.

An Ecological Perspective of Power in Transformational Learning: A Case Study of Ethical Vegans.

Critics have argued for a better understanding of power in transformational learning. This study explored the power of normative ideologies in the transformational learning of ethical vegans. The findings indicate that Mezirows transformation theory does not adequately account for power relations in this case of transformational learning, power was central to the transformational learning of ethical vegans, relations of power operated across interrelated scales of organization and time, normative ideologies regulated emancipatory praxis over time, and transformational learning should be viewed from a more holistic perspective.

Adaptation to HIV Infection: The Development of Coping Strategies Over Time

The purpose of this study was to understand the use of coping strategies in adapting to an HIV-positive diagnosis. Also, the question of whether there was an underlying developmental process, in the sense of movement from less adaptive to more adaptive strategies, was addressed. In-depth interviews were conducted with 18 HIV-positive individuals younger than age 45. Analysis of the qualitative data using the constant comparative method revealed that specific coping strategies were used immediately after diagnosis and differed from those later employed. The developmental process uncovered in this study included a period of transition that served as the testing ground for the following adaptive strategies: humor, faith, altruism, seeking the support of others, and balance.

Are Psychological Models of Adult Development Still Important for the Practice of Adult Education

This article examines the longstanding assertion that psychological models of adult development are useful for practitioners of adult education. Earlier andmore recent psychological models of adult development are described. A critique of these models provides evidence to seriously question their importance in adult education. Concerns over the practical implementation of the models, such as helping practitioners to better understand how adults change, are raised in order to stimulate debate on the subject.

EGO DEVELOPMENT AND THE INFLUENCE OF GENDER, AGE, AND EDUCATIONAL LEVELS AMONG OLDER ADULTS

The influence of gender, age, and education on ego development was assessed among 159 older adults in Northeast Georgia using Loevingers theory of ego development and a shorter version of the Sentence Completion Test. Results found older men and women similar in their ego development levels. And, although there was a trend for increased ego development up to age 74, the findings as they related to age were not significant. However, educational level was found to have a significant influence on ego development even into later years. The authors offer several explanations and suggestions for the findings of the study.

Managing Older Worker Training: A Literature Review and Conceptual Framework.

This article reviews literature on educational gerontology, adult education, and training and identifies factors that may encourage or discourage older workers from participation in training. Previous research has emphasized models based on either motivation or deterrent factors. This article offers a unique exploratory model combining five motivational and two deterrent factors that hold the potential for predicting older workers participation in training. Research based on the proposed model can help explain older learners participation in work-related training and, thereby, provide practitioners with clues to enhance training programs for older workers.