Making the Best of Life

This book explores how one group of aged women spokeof themselves as learners across their life span. Thenine women who made up the group were born in thefirst quarter of the twentieth century, had generallylimited formal education and spent most of theirlives in Australia. In their life times theyexperienced world war, economic depression and familycrisis as well as periods of apparent stability andpeace, and across these eras they have been exposedto a range of discourses that impacted on theirunderstanding of themselves as women and as learners.Their stories show us how this group drew on thediscourses available to them in an enabling andempowering way in a time when women were typicallyseen as 'just a wife and mother'. By showing thesepersonal narratives as socially shared, dialecticallycreated, culturally embedded and personally mediated,our understandings of learning and development areenriched. These women's stories make visible theplaces, spaces and processes of life-long andlife-wide learning.

Autorentext

Barbara Pamphilon is the Director of the Australian Institute for Sustainable Communities at the University of Canberra. Her community education work has focussed on infant health, youth health, sexuality, HIV/AIDS and disability. Her continuing passion is the development and application of participatory narrative methodologies and practices.

Klappentext
This book explores how one group of aged women spoke of themselves as learners across their life span. The nine women who made up the group were born in the first quarter of the twentieth century, had generally limited formal education and spent most of their lives in Australia. In their life times they experienced world war, economic depression and family crisis as well as periods of apparent stability and peace, and across these eras they have been exposed to a range of discourses that impacted on their understanding of themselves as women and as learners. Their stories show us how this group drew on the discourses available to them in an enabling and empowering way in a time when women were typically seen as 'just a wife and mother'. By showing these personal narratives as socially shared, dialectically created, culturally embedded and personally mediated, our understandings of learning and development are enriched. These women's stories make visible the places, spaces and processes of life-long and life-wide learning.