Development Guidelines for Lifelong Learning Among Retirees in Guangdong Province, People’s Republic of China: A Practitioner-oriented Inquiry

Abstract

China's accelerating population ageing, the State Council's 2024 Silver Economy initiative, and the expansion of the Seniors University network have repositioned community elder learning centers as a strategic site for late-life development. This study examined how such centers can convert empirical evidence on the determinants of lifelong learning into culturally embedded guidance for practice. The study pursued four objectives: to examine the level of the factors influencing lifelong learning, to examine the level of lifelong learning across its five dimensions, to analyze the predictive contribution of the institutional, family, and learner domains, and to propose practitioner-oriented development guidelines. Using a sequential explanatory mixed-methods design, the research surveyed 384 retirees aged 60 years and above in Guangdong Province, selected through multistage random sampling, with a 60-item Likert questionnaire (overall reliability = .985) measuring three antecedent domains—institutional, family, and learner—and five outcome dimensions of lifelong learning. Quantitative data were analyzed using means, standard deviations, and stepwise multiple regression, and the interview data were analyzed thematically. The three antecedent domains and overall lifelong learning were all rated at a high level. Stepwise multiple regression confirmed all three domains as significant positive predictors, jointly explaining 68.0% of the variance (R² = .680, p < .01), with the learner domain dominant ( = .312). Semi-structured interviews with seven purposively selected experts were analyzed thematically, and the draft guidance was appraised for feasibility and utility by 12 senior learning-center administrators. The study delivered 24 practitioner-oriented development guidelines distributed across the three domains, with exemplar guidance illustrating their operation within Guangdong's 4-2-1 family structure and WeChat-saturated communication environment. Contributions include a relational reconception of the elder learning center, an implementation sequence aligned with the Silver Economy policy architecture, and a feasibility profile flagging the Silver Credit accumulation system as the guideline most dependent on cross-sectoral coordination.