Fourth Age Learning for Persons Living with Dementia

Abstract

This chapter focuses upon that interface between lifelong learning and older persons living with dementia (PLWD). Reviewing the area of fourth age learning – that is, learning initiatives for older persons living with physical and/or cognitive health challenges – it argues that late-life learning requires a distinctive geragogical perspective that is separate from pedagogical and andragogical principles for children and adults, respectively. This is especially warranted for PLWD who often cannot speak, not in control of their thoughts or body, and in different “irrational” relations to objects around them, and hence, necessitate a theoretical and methodological perspective that makes it possible for facilitators to validate and explore the significance of silence by focusing closely on space and visuals. While learning interventions for PLWD are marked by eclectic curricula – that range from information and communication technology, participatory arts, vocational skills to Montessori-based programming – most are limited by an excessive preoccupation with enabling the participants to restore their old “self” while overlooking how they can engage in creative activities introduced naturally through conversation and/or reminiscence. The post-humanist approach offers much potential for the planning, implementation, and interpreting of lifelong learning in dementia settings as it allows arts-based, visual, sensory, movement, and sonic practices to produce beneficial outcomes for post-verbal participants such as PLWD. Moreover, it acknowledges that successful learning initiatives in dementia care settings are premised on the facilitator’s capacity to skillfully connect with the participants and introduce activities at a pace that suited their abilities and interests.