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Findings highlight Men’s Sheds as spaces for informal learning that enable sharing of skills, knowledge, and wisdom, while supporting sensitive conversations about masculine identities.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & 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men and learning?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"It examines older men’s attitudes and learning behaviours in Men’s Sheds in Ireland, including factors influencing whether they choose to engage and outcomes from participation.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"How are Men’s Sheds described in the literature review?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"They are defined as community-based, non-commercial organisations offering a safe, friendly and healing environment where men work on meaningful projects with others at their own pace.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"Why do Men’s Sheds matter for learning, according to the abstract?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"The findings indicate that Men’s Sheds function as sites of informal learning that encourage sharing of skills, knowledge, and wisdom, and facilitate sensitive conversations about masculine behaviours and identities later in 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institute of technology & barry golding, federation university australia  \nAbstract  \nDespite evidence of the benefits of learning for well-being across diverse groups, little is known about older men’s experiences of learning, the factors that influence whether they choose to engage in learning activities and what role learning plays in their lives as they grow older. The present study examines the attitudes and learning behaviours of older men participating in Men’s Sheds in Ireland. Our findings point to the importance of Men’s Sheds as sites of informal learning that encourage the sharing of skills, knowledge and wisdom between older men. We conclude that Men’s Sheds facilitate sensitive conversations between older men as they actively engage in constructing masculine behaviours and identities in later life.  \nKeywords: older men, informal learning, masculities, Men’s Sheds  \nIntroduction  \nIreland has a rapidly ageing population, having grown at a rate of between 17 and 20 per cent since 2011 (Central Statistics Office, 2016) . Within this, older men constitute one of the fastest growing cohorts in the population. In 2011 the Census of the Population recorded a total of 763,557 men aged 45 and over living in Ireland (Central Statistics Office, 2016). In 2015, this was estimated to have risen to 829,500 (ibid.), a trend that is expected to continue for the foreseeable future.  \nIn the past, education and learning beyond the age of 50 was considered of little or no value to the individual or society, given the lower life expectancy at the time. Today, rising longevity has increased the value and importance of learning throughout life. The concept of lifelong learning is now considered the means by which economies can prosper, employment can grow and citizens  \ncan be actively engaged and feel included. As the Commission of the European Communities (2011) argues, the challenge for Member States is to provide learning opportunities for adults throughout their life. To this end, Ireland is aiming to achieve the 15 per cent EU benchmark for participation in lifelong learning by 2020 (Expert Group on Future Skills Needs, 2016) .  \nWhile adult learning has been shown to provide resources that can help fuel important changes in individuals’ lives (Field, 2011), many leave school feeling disillusioned with education. Men in particular who left school early or who left with little or no qualifications are least likely to participate in adult education. Evidence shows that men account for just 25 per cent of participants of community education programmes in Ireland (Community Education Facilitators’Association, 2014) . In addition, the Statement of Activity for 2015 from the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs (2016) confirms that 60 per cent of all lifelong learning participants are third level graduates and largely (57%) female. Similar gender patterns have been identified elsewhere, including in the United Kingdom (McGivney, 2004a) and Australia (Golding, Brown, Foley, Harvey, & Gleeson, 2007) .  \nThe present study is set against the backdrop of a steady growth of communitybased Men’s Sheds in Ireland in which a growing number of men are readily coming together to share skills and to learn new skills in spaces that are largely but not exclusively for men. Using data from the first study of communitybased Men’s Sheds in Ireland, we examine attitudes to learning among older men (aged 50+ years) and the factors that have influenced the decisions of older men to engage in shed-based learning activities in such large numbers and the outcomes from participation.  \nLiterature Review  \nWhat are Men’s Sheds?  \nMen’s Sheds are defined as community based non-commercial organisations that provide “a safe, friendly and healing environment where men are able to work on meaningful projects at their own pace in their own time in the company of other men”(A","cbCailFs16MlPQE7","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCailFs16MlPQE7","pdf",93667,13,"English","# Abstract\n# Introduction\n# Literature Review\n## What are Men’s Sheds?\n## Older men and formalised systems of education and training","[{\"question\":\"What does the study investigate about older men and learning?\",\"answer\":\"It examines older men’s attitudes and learning behaviours in Men’s Sheds in Ireland, including factors influencing whether they choose to engage and outcomes from participation.\"},{\"question\":\"How are Men’s Sheds described in the literature review?\",\"answer\":\"They are defined as community-based, non-commercial organisations offering a safe, friendly and healing environment where men work on meaningful projects with others at their own pace.\"},{\"question\":\"Why do Men’s Sheds matter for learning, according to the abstract?\",\"answer\":\"The findings indicate that Men’s Sheds function as sites of informal learning that encourage sharing of skills, knowledge, and wisdom, and facilitate sensitive conversations about masculine behaviours and identities later in life.\"}]","Men’s Sheds - Sharing knowledge and learning in the company of men | PDF",1792065734,33]