Creativity and Learning in Later Life: An Ethnography of Museum Education

Creativity and Learning in Later Life examines how processes such as ‘creativity’ and ‘inspiration’ are experienced by writers who engage with the visual arts, and questions how age is perceived in relation to these processes. The author’s careful analysis challenges many of the assumptions on which museum education currently operates, contributing to wider debates surrounding the value of arts and cultural heritage education.

Containing detailed descriptions of museum tours, viewers’ engagements with specific artworks, and the processes of creative writing and editing that result from such encounters, the book draws on a ground-breaking study to challenge the way in which the value of education and creative activity for older adult learners has been conceptualized in existing literature. It also demonstrates how learners adapt and subvert the intended pedagogies to suit their own needs and accommodate their ageing selves.

Drawing on a spectrum of disciplines including education, anthropology, art history, sociology, museum studies and the practice and theory of creative writing, this book will be of interest to academics, postgraduate students, and researchers in a range of fields, as well museum practitioners, creative writing teachers and those working in adult and community education settings.

Shari Sabeti is Chancellor’s Fellow in the Moray House School of Education, University of Edinburgh, UK.