LEARNING AND SOCIAL PROCESS OF AGING AMONG KOREAN OLDER MARRIED WOMEN: THE CULTURAL-HISTORICAL ACTIVITY THEORY ANALYSIS

Open Access
Author:
Lim, Hyunmin
Graduate Program:
Adult Education
Degree:
Doctor of Philosophy
Document Type:
Dissertation
Date of Defense:
July 29, 2010
Committee Members:
  • Fred Michael Schied, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor
  • Fred Michael Schied, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
  • Ian E Baptiste, Committee Member
  • Esther Susana Prins, Committee Member
  • Sharon Louise Falkenstern, Committee Member
Keywords:
  • informal learning
  • social process of aging
  • the cultural-historical activity theory
  • Korean older married women
Abstract:
The aging population has rapidly increased in South Korea. From an economic perspective, older people are too often seen in negative terms. Specifically, older women, who are traditionally at greater risk of poverty, are referred to as a social problem or as passive recipients, and the quality of life of older women in an aging society is often ignored. Consequently, little is known about how aging in Korean society affects the lives of older women. This study examined the social process of aging among Korean older married women from older women’s perspectives. It sought specifically to find the changes older women have made in order to deal with the aging-related issues that they face. Assuming that learning is one possible outcome of human activity, the study described and analyzed these changes as informal learning in a social process of aging. This study employed an ethnographic approach from the life-course perspective. Feminist gerontology, informal learning, and cultural-historical activity theory as a theoretical framework guided the investigation. Fieldwork was conducted in major cities in South Korea. Data was collected from older married women who were born between 1933 and 1947 through participant observation and interview. The collected data was reduced and classified by categorical strategy and was then connected according to cultural historical activity theory. The findings of this study revealed a social situation that influences the everyday life of older married women, the aging issues that women face in later life and the changes in their daily lives to solve the issues. This study showed that older women continue to develop to adapt to changing social environments through learning. Furthermore, the study verified the learning capacities of informal learning. The cultural-historical activity theory was a useful tool to describe and analyze the social aspects of informal learning.