OK, in reality Light Black does not exist. That is unless you speak to my father who is creeping up on 90. Light Black was his reference to his hair color when his hair started turning gray. It was, jokingly, his way of not admitting age. Now there is a timely and topically term – age. Appropriately, it is time, actually past time, to talk about age and the graying America.
While reading a textbook for a college course I plan to teach soon, one textbook chapter devoted information to learning and aging. This topic is certainly valid today as politicians continue to discuss entitlements and aging benefits (I use these terms delicately only to reference the conversations from our elected officials.)
The aging topic becomes more significant to me as I move past my 60th birthday and note more and more personal changes. Changes like physical ability, drive (motivation), attentiveness, learning ability, and the big scary monster in the room…memory. That term alone scares the bejesus from everyone, especially if your parents lived/live long enough to experience the changed responsibilities and loyalty in families.
Back to the book and why my jabber will ultimately affect everyone at some point, given you live long enough. In fact, most of the following items apply across the aging spectrum when high school/college is in your rearview mirror. So approach these topics from an awareness position knowing, and realizing some may apply to you today but most certainly at some point.
1. Present new information in ways that are meaningful and relevant. Nothing new you say. In reality no, but suffice it to say many find little patience for information that is nice to have or irrelevant to the moment as they age (of course I am experiencing this more as I move along my time line.)
2. Include aids such as mnemonics, advance organizers, and checklists to help older adults organize and relate new material to prior knowledge. While many seem to think checklists are not an important part of aging, just think about all those pillboxes sold in the pharmacies. Those boxes provide users a medicinal checklist.
3. Present at a pace that permits mastery in order to strengthen long-term memory. Now I appreciate THIS item. I find my reading speed is not nearly the neither previous levels nor comprehension as rapid. I do not have “proof” this issue leads to anything specific except to say this change in older adults becomes fuel for the anxiety and stress levels in older adults.
4. Present one idea at a time and minimize competing intellectual demands. I noticed in conversations with older adults changing conversations or characters in conversations confuse them. It is not strictly an aging issue, but part of this might be internal conflicts with relating information internally then trying to wedge a new conversation in with the previous conversation/material.
5. Summarize frequently to facilitate organization and retention. Again, this issue applies to a much wider age group. In the interest of time, budgets, and production instructors fall from this practice. If our workforce extends more and more, the workforce discharged from previous experiences requiring new training and education demands this return to “Here is what you will learn, here is the material, and this is what we learned.”
6. Encourage taking notes on any item of interest. This recommendation demands more attention from instructors and employers than from student/employee. Many will say learning requires the learner’s decision. I believe learning is a dual responsibility, but I also believe the knowing influences the unknowing. This becomes particularly true in the aging process. Things youngsters do without checklists or instruction guides now require aids for older citizens.
7. Facilitate the application of new information to relevant issues and problem as soon as possible. The “use it or lose it” philosophy reigns as we age. My father can recall many things in his life, but still employs a pillbox for his medication, a calendar for his medical appointments, and were it not for my sister possibly a checklist on how to prepare some of his meals.
I have no doubt you can find alternatives/additives to this list. Given time, many could write a book simply on “how to” for the aging. In fact I would wage someone has. When I read this piece in the text, I felt a need to share and possibly prompt ideas as we prepare for the eventuality of an even more aged workforce.
Adapted from “Enhancing Adult Motivation to Learn.” (Raymond J. Wlodkowski, 2008)
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