Voices from Pari

Citation

Dempsey, R. (2002), "Voices from Pari", On the Horizon, Vol. 10 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/oth.2002.27410aaf.002

Voices from Pari

Ruth Dempsey

The world is growing old, and its population is graying. One in ten people today is over the age of 60. By 2025, there will be over 1,100 million persons 60 years of age and over throughout the world. Of these, 72 per cent will live in the developing countries. If present trends continue, women will constitute a majority of the older population, most of whom will live in urban areas (UN Commission for Social Development, 2001).

Efforts by governments and society at preparing for the graying of the population have been inadequate. Old age is viewed as a post-productive, no role period leading to depression in the elderly and an astounding loss of energy, expertise and creativity. This, despite the fact that people over age 65 today are better educated and living longer, healthier lives than at any other period in history (Moody, 2000).

Research over the last decade shows attitudes towards aging have profound consequences for intergenerational interactions and the relationships of elderly individuals, affecting both the present generation of older adults and generations to come (Nussbaum et al., 2000).

The UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, has called on the international community to adapt to this demographic revolution. We need, he argues:

A society for all ages … that does not caricature older persons … Instead, it sees them as both agents and beneficiaries of development. It honours traditional elders in their leadership and consultive roles in communities throughout the world (UN Commission for Social Development, 1999).

Education must take the lead in creating a society for all ages through research-based programs that help reimagine aging for the twenty-first century, and chart a new set of potential roles for the extraordinary gifts and untapped resources of mid-life and older persons.

Philosophical approaches to education for older persons

Our approach to education for the elderly is rooted in how we view human life as a whole and, in particular, what significance we assign to the experience of aging. Philosopher, Harry R. Moody, Executive Director for more than two decades at the Brookdale Center on Aging of Hunter College, has identified a number of philosophical presuppositions that guide the development of programs for older persons. While not necessarily chronological in order, the patterns outlined below tend to reflect historical changes in attitudes over time (Moody, 1995, pp. 265-71).

The first stage, the rejection and the neglect of the aged, corresponds roughly to the negative consequences of industrial society on the elderly, which result in mandatory retirement and lead to the segregation of the old in nursing homes and senior citizen complexes. Given as a characteristic of this first stage, an instrumental view of human life that discards human beings when their usefulness ends, there can be no rationale for the education of older persons.

With stage II, the liberal policies of the welfare state and an emerging social conscience help to ameliorate the lot of the elderly through the provision of social services, such as social security, nursing home care and the development of senior centres. These programs, however, soon give rise to an array of government bureaucracies and a complex mix of professionals who set out to "service the client". Typically in this context, educational opportunities add up to a variety of planned activities such as crafts, square dancing, musical productions and trips to local sites. Such activities take place in segregated settings, outside mainstream society, and characteristically place the older person in the role of consumer rather than creator or producer, thus presenting a portrait of older persons as homogeneous and passive, and old age as a time of leisure and curiosity.

Spurred on by the consciousness raising activities of the feminist movement and groups like the gray panthers who advocate for seniors, stage III, participation, marks an effort at normalization (Wolfensberger, 1972). Older persons demand job opportunities, second careers and engagement in the mainstream of community life, rejecting attitudes of passivity and institutional forms of separation. On this view, educational opportunities should be designed to support older adults to articulate their needs, combat destructive stereotypes and carve out authentic opportunities for participation in society, regardless of age. The downside of normalization, however, is that it denies the aging process in the name of continued activity.

This brings us face-to-face with the philosophical question at the heart of education for the elderly. What is the meaning of life's final stage and what is the purpose of education for older persons in the context of the meaning of life as a whole? (Moody, 1995).

Some clues to understanding this question may be found in the concept of old age put forth by scholar and psychologist, James Hillman. For Hillman (1996), the current paradigms for understanding human life, the interplay of genetics and environment end up selling human beings short. Why? Because they fail to honour the particularity, the uniqueness of each person. Thus they drain life of much of its beauty and banish the presence of the transcendent from human life.

Drawing on Plato's Myth of Er, the work of Blake, Wordsworth, the German Romantics and the Renaissance scholars, Marsilo Ficino and Nicholas Cusa, Hillman (1996, p. 7) developed the acorn theory to fill the gap by restoring an ancient idea: Each person enters the world called (p. 7). The acorn theory proposes that every single person is born with a defining image, character, or to use Plato's word, paradeigma (pattern), that is the essence of that life and calls it to a destiny. On life's journey, this innate image acts as a personal daimon, an accompanying guide that bids each of us to remember our calling.

And the meaning of life's final years? Hillman (1999, p. xiii) writes:

Aging is no accident. It is necessary to the human condition, intended by the soul.

In a nutshell, the acorn theory suggests the purpose of old age finds its completion in the development of character. The older we become, the more our true nature emerges. Old age, then, is not just another stage of life to be "filled-up" with activities in common with previous roles and responsibilities. Rather, the final years serve an important purpose: the fulfillment and confirmation of one's character in the call to be an elder. According to Hillman (1996, p. xxx), this task is accomplished through a process of growing down into the world, becoming useful to it and helping shape it.

New images of aging

Hillman's work makes an important contribution to the vision of aging by moving to the background the idea that we are basically physiological creatures and that our thinking about ourselves, therefore, can be reduced to just thinking about our bodies, thus reducing us to victims of aging. In restoring the idea of character which strengthens faith in individual uniqueness, Hillman shifts the priorities of the later years from the physical to the psychological, affirming thereby the values of an inner-directed life which are psychological and spiritual in their orientation. As he notes:

Aging is mediated by the stories told about it. Biology tells one kind of story, psychology another (Hillman, 1999, p. xiv).

To sum up, the philosophical assumptions underlying the acorn theory help distance us from a view of aging as a problem to be struggled against, and posits instead old age as a phase of experience having its own distinctive qualities and demands, which can be summed up in the fulfillment of character. On this view, the guiding principle underlying education for older persons is support for the development of character, in "a therapy of ideas".

This therapy of ideas requires the willingness to take risks and demands a three-way growing down into the world, that lengthens life backwards, downwards and outwards: backwards through a study of literature, biography and events of the past, downwards into the world of descendents through an openness to those seeking inspiration and mentoring, and outwards into family images and the study of shadow personalities (Hillman, 1999, p. 32). To my mind, this is an image worthy of old age; difficult and risky, in common with the demands of life's previous stages and holding out to the end a promise of fullness of life.

Education for older persons

Hillman's theory marks an evolution from earlier approaches to education for the elderly that might be described as entertainment or advocacy. Further, it suggests a departure point for imagining an educational experience from which older persons would emerge as different kinds of people, nourished in the great literature and spiritual traditions of the world, renewed in the beauty and mystery of their personal calling, and on fire with the desire to bring their call to fruition during the years that remain of their lives.

Certainly, higher education has a role to play in this important task but, given reduced budgets and less funding for the arts, this seems unlikely at the present time. This makes the role of not-for-profit educational organizations like the Pari Center for New Learning all the more critical.

Learning opportunities at the Pari Center for New Learning

Nestled in the beautiful mediaeval village of Pari, some 25km south of Siena in Tuscany, Italy, PCNL's setting is one of stunning character and beauty that stretches back over 3,000 years. The architecture of Pari and the beauty of the land have been remarkably preserved. The hot springs located below the village were used by the Etruscans. The people of Pari have retained many of their traditions over the centuries. Learners participate in the life of the village, staying in the small family hotel or in one of the furnished houses, sitting in the square at night and eating traditional meals prepared by the local people. The motto of the center comes from the writer, Caro Levi, who said that "the future has an ancient heart".

At the Pari Center for New Learning, learners find a supportive environment from which to reflect on life's journey and dream new dreams for the middle and late years.

Our programs are framed in the study of literature, religion, philosophy, the arts and the myths and legends of ancient cultures. The faculty are drawn from various disciplines and use a multidisciplinary approach. Two underlying themes characterize our programs: narrative and leadership.

Narrative: we understand our lives through storytelling. Often personal tales tell stories of shifting identities and interrupted paths that show courage, resilience and creativity (Bateson, 1994). Moreover, the use of narrative can provide insights into how the self-story is created as it is lived and the meaning of the pieces rediscovered or changed as new patterns are formed through the later years (Berman, 1994, p. 175). As Betty Freidan notes:

We have to tell each other the way it really is, growing older, and help each other name the possibilities we hardly recognize or dare to put a name to when we sense them in ourselves (Browne, 1998, p. 49).

Leadership: nurturing leadership in older persons is important for two reasons. First, public discussion over the last two decades has primarily focused on changing demographics and the costs involved in funding programs for a growing elderly population. While this is an important issue, analysis of public policy directing the allocation and distribution of resources for older citizens must go beyond the scarcity model to include the impact of differences in gender, class and race at both the individual and institutional levels (Estes, 2001). Furthermore, the scope of research on social policy and aging should be broadened to include questions of meaning and values as a way of opening up alternative understanding of what it means to be old in the twenty-first century.

Second, the findings from research reveal a desire by older persons to reach beyond their own lives to alleviate suffering, create a more just society and restore the health of the planet (Roszak, 1998). However, there is also evidence of a dearth of older people willing to take on leadership responsibilities in their communities (Cusack and Thompson, 1999). PCNL faculty view this as an important challenge and are committed to offering opportunities for enrichment and engagement that empower older persons to become leaders in creating a new old age of meaning and possibility for themselves and generations to come.

Learning opportunities at PCNL include: self-learning, guided independent study, small group inquiries, and a lifelong learning program that combines on-site and Web-based learning modules. Learners also have access to the meetings of the Accademi Dei Pari (a group of scholars involved in the arts, science and humanities who meet regularly).

If as social historian, Theodore Roszak (1998) claims, the triumph of the old is to revolutionize and transform society in the twenty-first century, then education for older persons must move from the margins, to the center of the educational enterprise, and permeate all levels of the system. We hope to play a role in this transformational process. As Dr David Peat, PCNL Director, says: "Pari is a tiny spark, one amongst many, that we hope will illuminate the world".