‘DISTRACTIONS’: CULTURAL INFLUENCES, INCLUSION, AND LEARNING IN LATER LIFE; STORIES OF WOMEN’S LIVES

Abstract

Social gerontologists have paid attention to inclusion and diversity, but only rarely has that lens been applied within education. This is surprising as lifelong learning practice has a long tradition of addressing inequalities and confronting exclusion. Diversity projects have oſten not included ageing. This paper considers the impact of women’s, and particularly lesbian, lives in the UK in the aſtermath of recent changes to retirement and state pension ages and considers lessons for educators. In the field of education and ageing, we sometimes write as though women’s stories are unimportant. Recent projects and research about older women are complemented by analysis of literature in gerontology and education. Examples of later life learning are considered in the light of inclusion and diversity and show how life-story exemplifies the culture of women’s learning. The importance of biography in feminism can be applied to work on the theme of later life ‘transitions’. These transition points are interpreted differently by women and men and used to create a narrative of life-course, important in determining later life learning. Evidence is taken from small scale research with a peer group of lesbians, considering the impact of working longer. The paper seeks conclusions to inform educational practice in supporting women into the new expectations of later life learning, working, earning and living in our multicultural and ageing society.