THE MEANINGS AND MOTIVATIONS OF LEARNING DURING THE RETIREMENT TRANSITION

This study investigated learning as a strategy used in negotiating the retirement transition. Learning was defined broadly to include both formal and informal social contexts. The research was guided by How? and Why? questions as a way of determining the personal meanings attached to learning. The study was based upon a phenomenological paradigm and used a grounded theory methodology informed by the philosophical tenets of hermeneutics delineated by Hans Gadamer. Analysis focused upon the meanings attached to learning by examining the needs and goals stated by, or inferred from, the participants' stories. The motivations for learning were found to be instrumentally or expressively oriented. Instrumental learning enabled the participants to manage basic survival needs and maintain a sense of personal effectiveness. Expressive learning was meaningful in that it satisfied needs and goals related to identity, affiliation, competence, and involvement in meaningful and purposeful activities. Furthermore, these needs and goals were found to be related to the adult development themes of identity, intimacy and/or attachment, autonomy and life satisfaction, generativity, competence, and belonging vs. marginality. The findings of this study are interpreted in light of McClusky's theory of margin. As a strategy, learning proved to be essential for increasing individual power by meeting needs and goals associated with managing and controlling individual load. Learning served as a vehicle for the achievement or maintenance of a margin of power. Learning was determined to be a primary strategy used in retirement adjustment.