ABSTRACT
Education for older adults is a new concept in educational philosophy and in educational provision. It is still rare for those in Britain who write about the theory and practice of adult education, and indeed the nature of lifelong learning, to include any appraisal of educational gerontology. By educational gerontology the authors meant that field of study and practice which has recently developed at the interface of adult education and social gerontology. This chapter reviews the growth of the self-help education movement for older adults. A growing awareness of the changing demographic factors led many adult educators to believe that the projected world growth of the older adult population was likely to have an impact on the educational system of the country concerned. In the early part of the century research appeared to demonstrate that learning ability peaked in youth and then declined steadily. This assisted the building up of the stereotype of increasing age meaning inevitable decline.
