The seventh census data shows that the proportion of the population aged 60 and over in China is 18.7%, and the proportion of the population aged 65 and over is 13.5% (among which, 12 provinces account for more than 14% of the population aged 65 and over).
With the increase in the proportion of the elderly population, on October 13, 2021, on the occasion of the Chinese traditional festival Double Ninth Festival, Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, President of the State, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission gave important instructions to the work of aging, and on behalf of the Party Central Committee, wish the elderly across the country Healthy and long life, happy life.
Xi Jinping pointed out that party committees and governments at all levels should attach great importance to and do a good job in aging work, implement the national strategy to actively respond to population aging, integrate the concept of active aging and healthy aging into the whole process of economic and social development, and increase institutional innovation and policy Supply and financial investment, improve the work system for the elderly, strengthen the allocation of grassroots forces, and accelerate the improvement of the social security system, the elderly service system, and the health support system.
In order to meet the growing and diversified learning needs of the elderly under the background of the new era, education for the elderly has become an indispensable part.
Looking back on our country’s elderly education with the changing process of the times, it has grown from nothing to something and has achieved unprecedented achievements, such as establishing a people-oriented development concept, advancing a government-led operating mechanism, and implementing an experiment-first advancing strategy. , Formed a diversified school-running model, and showed a good momentum of theoretical research. However, due to the lack of systematic adjustment of the existing education for the elderly based on the changing trend of the elderly population structure and the dynamic development of individual learning needs, the new population has undergone rapid changes. In front of us, many problems such as unbalanced and inadequate development of China's elderly education have been fully exposed.
For example, in recent years, "difficulty in enrollment" and "difficult to find a place" have become a common phenomenon in elderly universities. The problem of large differences in the distribution of resources for elderly education, the problem of promoting social governance in elderly education, the problem of insufficient social participation of the elderly, the problem of building a learning team for the elderly, and fostering Elderly demeanor issues are also increasingly prominent in the development of education for the elderly.
A comprehensive and timely grasp of the new trend of education for the elderly in the context of the development of aging in the new era is essential for effectively responding to changes in the country’s aging population trends, socioeconomic development, and meeting the learning needs of the elderly.
In order to better protect the elderly's right to education, meet the diverse learning needs of the elderly, improve the quality of life of the elderly, demonstrate the value of the elderly, and promote social harmony, the author puts forward the following three suggestions.
The first is to strengthen the "empowerment" in the main content of education for the elderly. Through health empowerment, participation empowerment, and digital empowerment, the elderly will be empowered to live and survive, improve the quality of life of the elderly, and create an atmosphere of an elderly-friendly society Enhance the happiness and sense of gain of the elderly.
The second is to focus on "intercommunication and mutual learning" in coping strategies, through multi-generational learning, community learning, and mixed learning to enable all learners to realize self-acceptance and self-development in the process of input and sharing.
The third is to achieve "co-construction and sharing" on the development path, by encouraging the participation of social forces, promoting the integration of medical care, education, and supporting universities to provide platforms, jumping out of the government-based and social forces' participation as a supplementary mindset, and introducing market mechanisms. Add new vitality to education for the elderly.
The main content of senior education: empowerment and assignment
First, health empowerment.
Since the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the "Healthy China Strategy" has become more popular, and the state has advocated the provision of all-round full-cycle health services.
It is recommended that under the "big health education" guiding ideology of "adhering to prevention first and combining prevention and treatment" proposed in the "Healthy China Action (2019-2030)", senior education institutions should cooperate closely with health departments, the Red Cross, and volunteer associations. , To effectively integrate physical and mental health education with various learning activities for the elderly, "popularize health knowledge, participate in health actions, and provide health services" to enhance the health management capabilities and health recognition of the elderly.
Second, participate in empowerment.
With the deepening of China's population aging, the social participation of the elderly will have a profound impact on the sustainable development of society.
In order to reduce the unstable impact of the transformation of the population’s age structure on other areas of social life, effectively bring into play the positive effects of the demographic dividend, and weaken the potential negative effects of population aging, it is recommended to carry out reemployment, volunteer services, Relevant educational content such as social activities and family care will give full play to the wisdom, experience and skills of the elderly.
Through the education of the elderly, the social participation of the young and the elderly is improved, the decline in the supply of labor is slowed, the demeanor of the elderly is demonstrated, the characteristics of the elderly are brought into play, and the elderly group becomes the substantive main body of social construction and the construction of an elderly-friendly society.
Third, digital empowerment.
The Internet has brought new challenges and opportunities to actively respond to the aging of the population.
The change in the elderly population in China has promoted the continuous increase in the number of elderly people using the Internet, but there are still problems such as insufficient digital life ability and digital learning ability of the elderly.
The "Statistical Report on China's Internet Development Status" shows that as of March 2020, the proportion of Internet users aged 60 and above is only 6.7%.
Some elderly people don't know how to scan the health code and don't know how to operate Didi Taxi. Not only can they not feel the convenience brought by the Internet, they are also isolated from the era by the invisible wall of the artificial intelligence era.
On November 24, 2020, the General Office of the State Council issued the "Implementation Plan on Effectively Solving the Difficulties of the Elderly in Using Intelligent Technology".
It is recommended to improve the information literacy of the elderly through education for the elderly, guarantee the basic needs of the elderly who have difficulties in the use of smart technology, ease the contradiction between the willingness to learn digital technology and "digital feedback", so that the elderly can enjoy the digital dividend , Bridging the "silver digital divide."
Strategies for senior education: mutual communication and learning
First, learn together for multiple generations.
With the implementation of the "three-child policy" and the advent of a "longevity society", strengthening mutual learning and mutual learning among multiple generations can help the elderly solve the practical problems of parent-child relationship and inter-generational education.
Especially with the development of media technology, the cultural inheritance model is quietly "feeding back". The interaction and emotional support of digital life skills between parents and children and between generations are conducive to promoting multi-generational learning and the healthy development of intergenerational relationships. Realize multi-level and multi-dimensional mutual learning between parents and children, between generations and even between multiple generations.
Second, community learning.
Based on the common learning interests of the elderly, the "learning community" formed spontaneously is the cornerstone of building a learning society.
Although various types and forms of learning communities and learning teams for the elderly are constantly emerging, such as learning teams for the elderly, learning communities for the elderly, etc., the learning communities for the elderly are still facing the need to improve the professionalism of the persons in charge, the heterogeneity and the heterogeneity of participants. Problems such as weak team cohesion caused by the characteristics of learners.
It is recommended to develop a learning community with “endogenous growth potential” that is spontaneously formed, self-managed, and watchful for the elderly, and to encourage learners as the main body to enhance emotional communication and spiritual companionship between peers.
The elderly can enter the society again through the "shared masters and learn from each other" through the elderly learning community, give full play to the subjectivity of the elderly individuals, and achieve self-development in the process of learning.
Third, blended learning.
In the context of the development of informatization and intelligence, it is recommended to optimize the technology use environment of the elderly, develop digital learning resources suitable for the online learning needs of the elderly, carry out the digital transformation of the existing education courses for the elderly, and use informatization and intelligent means , To strengthen the radiation of high-quality learning resources for the elderly to rural, remote, impoverished, and ethnic areas.
On the basis of artificial intelligence, information technology, and data mining, build an "online + offline" interactive and mixed type of senior education curriculum system, so that every learner can obtain a "one person, one lesson schedule" style, personalized and continuous Sexual ubiquitous learning environment.
The Development Path of Senior Education: Co-construction and Sharing
First, encourage social forces to participate.
The advancement of senior education is multi-dimensional and interactive, and it is impossible to face the challenge of population aging only by the "single fight" of senior education.
It is recommended to establish an authoritative normal coordination organization, develop a senior education alliance, and form inter-departmental linkage and synergy.
Promote social education, allow social forces and private capital to participate in education for the elderly, and provide policy support to form a state of system integration and collaborative innovation.
Through the overall governance of elderly education and multi-party cooperation, the elderly group is transformed from the object of governance to one of the important governance subjects.
Second, promote the integration of medical care and education.
Regardless of whether it is based on the concept of general health or the reality of the elderly living in China, the "integration of medical care, education and education" can be the core content of policy formulation in the transformation of education for the elderly, and it is also a topic that needs in-depth research.
It is recommended to integrate the functions of “medical care and education”, encourage the establishment of learning places for the elderly in nursing homes, apartments for the elderly and other elderly care service institutions, so that the community-based “elderly school” and “elderly cultural activity center” become the foundation for serving the needs of education for the elderly unit.
Coordinating and solving the practical problems of elderly education and elderly care, positioning the integrated function of "medical care and education" as "social service", combining it with old-age security, and enhancing the coverage of elderly people living with disabilities, elderly people with disabilities, elderly people living alone, empty-nest elderly, super-elderly elderly, etc. Support for vulnerable elderly groups.
Third, encourage universities to provide platforms.
The development of education for the elderly in the development of lifelong education and the creation of a lifelong learning culture, especially the effective implementation of the "National Development of Elderly Education in Article 70 of the Law on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of the Elderly" as part of the lifelong education system. Governments at all levels should strengthen leadership , Unified planning, increase investment".
It is recommended that the education administrative department support ordinary colleges, adult colleges, and vocational colleges to provide elderly education, and encourage the development of theoretical research on elderly education, increase majors and courses for the elderly, and cultivate related talents, such as giving full play to county-level vocational education centers in rural areas. The radiation and important carrier role of the country, targeted development of rural science and technology education, legal education, and education of socialist core values.
At present, on the whole, the understanding of senior education in universities is still insufficient, and senior universities affiliated to universities lack the legitimacy of running schools, the positioning is vague, the quality of courses is improved, and the motivation for teacher construction is insufficient.
For this reason, deepening the understanding of the service function of senior education in universities, establishing an effective governance mechanism, and improving the quality of the supply of senior education in universities are not only conducive to the realization of the social service function of the four major functions of universities in the new era, but also conducive to the construction of services by universities A modern education system for lifelong learning for all people.
In the face of the advent of the "silver wave", the development of education for the elderly is an important measure to actively respond to the aging of the population, realize the modernization of education, and build a learning society.
We should help all the elderly to participate in organized, purposeful and systematic learning through the support of the elderly education policy and intelligent support, so that every elderly can use richer learning opportunities, more convenient learning methods, More diversified learning channels become independent learners, who can "learn something for the old" and "do something for the old", promote the governance of an aging society, and realize the blueprint of "becoming the sky full of sunshine".
(Author: Ma Lihua, associate researcher of East China Normal University, part-time researcher of Shanghai Institute of Lifelong Education)