Seniors are most eager learners

By Jon Peirce

This Thursday afternoon, as I have done every Thursday afternoon since late April, I will walk into a small classroom at the Bloomfield Community Centre, where the Seniors’ College of Nova Scotia (SCANS) has its headquarters, and greet my class of 12 aspiring writers, all of whom are at least 50 and most of whom are well into their 60s or older. I may start off our two-hour session by giving a few pointers about writing, but as likely as not, we will proceed directly to the pieces themselves, moving either in direct or reverse alphabetical order.

The “rules of engagement” are simple. Students may write in any genre they wish—poetry, prose fiction, prose non-fiction. I’ve already had a children’s story, a children’s poem, and a scene from a play, and I expect more surprises in the two weeks we have left together. The only caveat is that pieces must be relatively short (preferably not more than 1,000 words long and definitely not more than 1,500 words, or 10 minutes’ reading time). The length restriction is necessary to give every student a chance to share in each class.

Each student reads his or her piece out loud. We then proceed to an open discussion and critiquing of the piece, which the author will usually have sent out to the class by e-mail a day or two before the class. I encourage students to be as positive as possible in their critiques, while still being honest, and to focus, in class, on big-picture issues such as structure, tone, and point of view, providing detailed criticism on matters such as grammar, spelling, and punctuation by e-mail rather than taking up class time with such matters.

Over the five weeks since the class started, I’ve been equally impressed by the variety of pieces produced by my students and by their diligence in producing them. Bear in mind that the Seniors’ College is a non-credit institution. Its courses have no formal assignments, no grades, no papers, and no exams. So people are writing simply for the love of it: because they want to write and have their pieces critiqued in a friendly, non-threatening environment by their fellow writers.

Even more impressive is my students’ commitment to the workshop. Attendance has averaged about 90 percent. Those who can’t make a class generally notify me in advance. This is a most pleasant and marked contrast to my experience, earlier in my career, teaching “standard-age” university students. There, attendance was often spotty, and getting a discussion going could be well-nigh impossible. After more years of that than I care to remember, I find it a pleasure to be teaching people who want to be there and who always come prepared to engage the subject.

The Writers’ Workshop, which is the fourth course I have taught for SCANS since the beginning of 2013, is just one of 24 courses SCANS currently offers. (Aside from the Bloomfield Centre in Halifax, SCANS courses are or have been offered at Keshen Goodman Library in Clayton Park and in Dartmouth, Bedford, Tantallon, Chester, Mahone Bay, Truro, and Liverpool). Among the other courses being offered this term are “Interesting Mathematics,” “Historical Dynamics of Clothes and Fashion,” and “Development of the Atlantic Provinces,” as well as courses in Japanese history, music appreciation, philosophy of art, art history, and an introduction to Islam. Like me, most of my fellow instructors have graduate degrees from major universities and have been full-time professors in the past. In addition, some have extensive practical experience in the fields in which they offer courses.

For example, the Japanese history instructor spent over a decade in Japan as a scholar and financial analyst. The music appreciation instructor taught music in the Halifax public schools for more than 30 years, and even in retirement has continued to conduct, perform, and compose and arrange music. And the instructor in “Historical Dynamics of War, Law & History,” a retired career legal officer with the Canadian Forces, was a member of the Commission of Experts appointed by the U.N. Security Council to investigate allegations of war crimes in the former Yugoslavia.

Who can take SCANS courses? The courses are open to all seniors (age 50 or over) living in Nova Scotia. A single annual membership fee of $135 allows you to take as many courses as you want (subject to class-size limitations) during the three semesters after you join. You may also attend any of the occasional special lectures, such as one held recently on Glenn Gould, take part in general membership meetings, and participate in making recommendations for courses.

SCANS was created in 2007 by a Task Force from the Association of Dalhousie Retirees and Pensioners. It started with just over 100 members and its initial offering was four courses. Since then, its membership has expanded at the rate of about 20 percent per year, and the College, as noted above, has begun offering courses in many centres around the province.[1]

SCANS is part of what appears to be a much broader movement to provide non-credit courses to older learners. In Cape Breton, Cape Breton University has had a similar organization in place since 2005, offering courses since 2005. In southern New Brunswick and northern Nova Scotia, Tantramar Seniors’ College offers the seniors of Moncton, Riverview, Port Elgin, Dorchester, and Shediac, N.B. and Amherst, N.S. unlimited courses for a yearly membership fee of $100. And a similar organization offers non-credit courses for seniors in Queens, Kings, and Prince Counties, P.E.I.

Nor are these ventures confined to Canada. The state of Maine, to give just one example, has a Senior College Network of 17 independent groups across the state, offering non-credit courses to those over age 50 for a small annual membership fee plus a modest tuition charge for each course.

The growing popularity of Seniors’ Colleges attests that an increasingly large number of boomers are interested in keeping their minds as well as their bodies active well into old age. Clearly non-credit education for seniors is an idea whose time has come!

This article is part of a series by Jon Peirce, a retired professor and union representative and long-time free-lance journalist, on subjects of interest to boomers. Some of Jon’s previous work has appeared in such publications as The Globe & Mail, the Christian Science Monitor, the Ottawa Citizen, Books in Canada, the Toronto Star, the Halifax Chronicle-Herald, and the Kingston Whig-Standard. Jon currently writes, teaches writing courses at the Nova Scotia Seniors’ College, and serves on the Advisory Committee of the Silver Economy Engagement Network, all of this while doing an M.A. in history at Dalhousie. He is a professional member of the Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia. His interests include tennis, swimming, improvisational dance, and cooking, and he has recently returned to the stage after a 46-year intermission, playing Judge Omar Gaffney in a Dartmouth Players production of Harvey. His second book, Social Studies; Collected Essays, 1974-2013, is forthcoming from Friesen’s Press in Victoria; his first book, Canadian Industrial Relations, originally published in 1999, is now in its third edition with Pearson Education Canada.

[1] Information for this paragraph has been drawn from Melissa Shaw, “Seniors college experiences strong enrolment growth,” in Unews.ca, Feb. 11, 2013.