Never old older learners

Abstract

Reciprocity emerges as central to the educational relationship in the context of older‐adult education. This article is divided into three parts: excerpts from research interviews illustrate the affective and the cognitive dimensions of the exchange which takes place between learners and teachers; with a review of the literature the dynamics of reciprocity in a pedagogical situation and its meaning for older adults are explored; two parallel descriptions of the affective and the cognitive dimensions of what is given by the teacher and the learner and what is expected and received by their counterpart are constructed. It is hoped that these parallels will be useful for practice as well as for research.