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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal – Vol. 8, No. 2

Publication Date: February 25, 2021

DOI:10.14738/assrj.82.9650.

Lin, A., & Wei, H. (2021). Education as a Strategy for Active Aging Learning Center in Taiwan. Advances in Social Sciences Research

Journal, 8(2) 137-146.

Education as a Strategy for Active Aging Learning Center in Taiwan

An-Ti Lin

Assistant Researcher of Center for Innovative Research on Aging Society

National Chung Cheng University, Taiwan

Hui-Chuan Wei

Professor of Department of Adult & Continuing Education, Director of Aging and Education

Research Center, National Chung Cheng University, Taiwan.

Correspondence Author: linantuccu@gmail.com, aduhcw@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

The population of individuals who are over 65 years-old in Taiwan has

grown from less than 10% in 2008 to 14% in 2018. Since 2008, Taiwan

has officially been an aging nation as defined by the World Health

Organization. With the current rate of growth, we expect the country to

become a super-aged society with 20% of the population being older

than 65 years of age in 2025. The challenge Taiwan currently faces in

bracing for a rapidly aging society is more difficult than ever. In

response to a rapidly aging population, universities have been

cooperating with the government since 2008 in promoting a

community-based lifelong learning-oriented "active aging" education

policy, of which we collectively call "Senior Learning" (“Le-Ling

Learning” in Mandarin, meaning “Active Aging Learning”). 12 years into

implementing the program, 369 senior learning centers have been

established in Taiwan by 2020. These established centers with their

extensions can be found throughout Taiwan, including 360 towns and

cities as well as 3,175 villages. These centers, supported by local

resources (e.g. schools, and non-governmental organizations), provide

senior learning courses and activities. There are thousands of

community volunteers participating every year, as well as over

200,000 hours of Active Aging Learning course duration prepared by

the government; moreover, there are currently 200 instructors trained

for teaching these programs. Active Aging Learning program has truly

become a “zeitgeist” in Taiwan in response to the elderly society. In

caring for the elderly, meaningful educational learning has become the

best strategy as reflected by the public. The purpose of this article is to

report on the developmental background, promotion model,

effectiveness of, and the prospects of Active Aging Learning in Taiwan.

The contents of this article include: (1) the conceptual basis of Active

Aging Learning, (2) the practice mode and strategy of Active Aging

Learning, (3) the implementation effect of Active Aging Learning, and

(4) the future progress of Active Aging Learning. The research data in

this article originate from policy documents, both qualitative and

quantitative data for the implementation of the Active Aging Learning

program, as well as my 12 years of practical observations and

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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal (ASSRJ) Vol.8, Issue 2, Febraury-2021

experience as the overall project principal investigator. Through

reading this article, the readers can quickly understand the

implementation process, effectiveness, and problems of senior

learning in Taiwan, as well as the key findings of our 12 years of

experience. We found that the best strategy for an aging society is not

to emphasize "care" in the context of traditional pathology, but to learn

in order to "prevent". Educational strategies and talent cultivation are

the broad directions of our active efforts.

Keywords: Active Aging Learning, Lifelong Learning, adult learning,

management

INTRODUCTION

A new era for elderly education began in Taiwan in 2008. Twelve years of practice since then have

produced plentiful results relating to key aspects such as curricula, teachers, instructional design,

and evaluation methods. Relatedly, a unique active aging educational model has been established

in Taiwan through planning and implementation carried out by the Guidance Group of Active

Aging Learning Program. This model has become an innovative educational program for Taiwan’s

aging society.

THE CONCEPTUAL BASIS OF ACTIVE AGING LEARNING

Why: Origin of Taiwan Active Aging Learning Concept

In recent years, interest in elderly learning has been growing in Taiwan. The emergence of this

trend is related to several background factors. First, Taiwan’s society is fast becoming an aged one

and the community is gradually recognizing the necessity of adapting to this development. Second,

with a rapidly aging population, Taiwan is facing a declining birth rate, which is a major issue. The

fertility rate of the Taiwanese population has become the lowest in the world. In the long run, this

may cause difficulties with regard to the enrollment of new students in schools and lead to the

emergence of many idle school spaces. Third, the government has given much consideration to the

welfare of older adults in the past. The senior citizen adult education program is the main learning

activity for older adults in social communities, as managed by the Ministry of the Interior.

However, elderly education lacks investments from the Ministry of Education. Fourth, in 2006, the

Ministry of Education published the “Towards an aged society: Seniors education policy white

paper” that proclaimed the necessity of constructing a lifelong learning system for older adults,

expanding venues for elderly education and learning, and innovating the content of elderly

education and learning (Wei, 2012).

With the growing issue of aging, Taiwan has not yet applied learning as a prevention method, or

implemented the forward-looking education perspective in the activities of older adults.

Therefore, Professor Hui-Chuan Wei and her team from National Chung Cheng University

proposed for the head of the Department of Social Education, Ministry of Education to revise the

common concept of “older adults”, and use education to guide social adaptation to an aged society.

Thus, in 2008, the Ministry of Education promulgated the Elderly Learning Program, and initiated

an extensive promotion of elderly learning policies. The program planned the establishment of an

elderly learning center in each of the 368 townships across Taiwan across three years in order to

provide middle-aged and older adults with learning opportunities within their neighborhood

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Lin, A., & Wei, H. (2021). Education as a Strategy for Active Aging Learning Center in Taiwan. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 8(2) 137-146.

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.82.9650. 139

through the creation of country-wide learning venues. Due to the wide approval of the concept

and promotion model of the elderly learning policy, elderly learning has attracted much interest.

By 2020, 369 learning centers have been opened. The Ministry of Education, the promoter of this

policy, was honored with the Executive Yuan Service Quality Award in 2014 for “obtaining major

benefits with little funding.”

What: Aims of Taiwan Active Aging Learning

The continuous promotion and innovation of Active Aging Learning and policy implementation

have a theoretical foundation. The three aims of Active Aging Learning are as follows: (1) resolve

misunderstanding of “old” and “aging”; (2) see the importance of proactive coping, and (3)

preparing for life after retirement. These concepts are described in detail below.

2008 was the first year of the promotion of the Active Aging Learning policy in Taiwan. In 2008,

the traditional concept of “old” was replaced with the “Le-Ling” concept, which refers to adults

aged 55 years and older, or retirees. From the perspective of development stages in life, learning is

most enjoyable after the age of 50. Learning allows one to recreate life peaks and age can be

forgotten through happy learning. Since the promotion of the Active Aging Learning program

began, the term “Le-Ling” has been widely approved and is now used not only in the program of

the Ministry of Education but also by other ministries during the promotion of activities. Non- governmental organizations have also gradually replaced the term “old” with “Le-Ling.”

Meaning of the New Term

The meaning of “Active Aging” can be explained from four perspectives: 1) the Hakka

pronunciation of "elderly” islo-ngin-ga( )”, which sounds similar to the Mandarin

pronunciation of Active Aging; 2) the English "learning" is also very similar to the Mandarin

pronunciation “Le-Ling()”; 3) in the Analects of Confucius, Duke of Ye once asked Zi Lu about

Confucius, and Zi Lu did not answer. When Confucius heard of this, he said to Zi Lu: Why didn’t

you say that he is simply a man, who in his eager pursuit of knowledge forgets his food, who in the

joy of his attainment forgets his sorrows, and who does not perceive that old age is coming on?”

This encompasses Confucius’s spirit of learning, the concept of “happily learning and forgetting

age” emphasized by Active Aging; and 4) Singapore respectfully regards the elderly as the Active

Aging Tribe(Li & Wei, 2019). Given all these meanings, Taiwan adapts the term Le

Ling() (Active Aging) to supplant old person or senior.

Effect of the New Term

Social Effect of the Programs

Whether lifelong learning programs have a measurable impact on people and society is of keen interest

to researchers and policy makers. Since learning can yield more than economic gains, this article

explores outcomes other than earnings in the labor market and the economic growth of learning. In other

words, this article’s focus is on social effect, defined as the participation and quality of life of seniors,

their families, communities, and the nation.

“Le Ling (Active Aging) () Becoming Synonymous with old Person or senior.Ten

years after promoting Active Aging Learning from the initial experimental exploration to

affirmation by the central government ministries and the public, the results at each stage have