本书选取上海市社区学校老年学习者作为研究对象。作者参与了这些老年学习者的学习活动，并对他们进行了深度访谈。书中涉及的主要内容和大量信息基于当时早年的调研报告。本书介绍了老年学习者生活各个时期的学习活动，以及学习活动给他们的生活和整个社区文化等方面带来的变化。希望本书能为学习型城市建设和老年学习带来新的思考。

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Research Background
1.2 Research Purpose and Research Questions
1.3 Research Methodology and Process
1.3.1 Research methodology
1.3.2 Research process
1.4 Definition of Terms
1.4.1 Learning city
1.4.2 The elderly
1.4.3 Elderly learning
1.4.4 Elderly lives
CHAPTER 2 LIFELONG EDUCATION IN MODERN CHINA
2.1 The Historical Development of Lifelong Education
2.1.1 Ideas of lifelong education in Chinese traditional education
2.1.2 Lifelong education development in contemporary China
2.1.3 New explorations by Chinese scholars in the field of lifelong education
2.2 Evolution of Modern China’s Lifelong Education Policy
2.2.1 Infant stage of lifelong education policies (late in the 1970s to 1980s)
2.2.2 Developing lifelong education policies and legislation (in the 1990s)
2.2.3 Period of lifelong education policies in full swing (2000-2012)
2.3 Characteristics and Problems in the Research of Chinese Lifelong Education
CHAPTER 3 LEARNING CITY IN CHINA
3.1 Formation and Development of the Lifelong Learning City in China
3.1.1 Motivation to establish a lifelong learning city in China
3.1.2 Representative lifelong learning cities in China
3.1.3 Current situation and open problems of lifelong learning cities in China
3.2 Constructing Lifelong Education System in Shanghai
3.2.1 Introduction of Shanghai
3.2.2 Constructing lifelong education system in Shanghai
3.3 The Process of Building a Learning City in Shanghai
3.3.1 The piloting and idea-forming stage (1999-2005)
3.3.2 The blueprinting and system-building stage (2006-2010)
3.3.3 The standardized development and mechanism innovation stage(2011-)
CHAPTER 4 ELDERLY LEARNING IN CHINA
4.1 Elder Population Features
4.1.1 Population
4.1.2 Age structure and gender structure
4.1.3 Demographic distribution
4.1.4 Urban, town, and rural elderly population distribution
4.2 The Characteristics of the Elderly and Elderly Learning
4.2.1 The characteristics of the elderly
4.2.2 The elderly learning characteristics
4.3 Elderly Education Development
4.3.1 The initial stage of elderly education in China(in the 1980s to 1990s)
4.3.2 The development and perfection stage of elderly education in China (middle to late 1990s)
4.3.3 The innovative stage of elderly education in China (in the 21st century)
4.4 Elderly Education Feature
4.4.1 Hierarchical and diversified elderly education management system
4.4.2 Diversified elderly education forms and means
4.4.3 Systematic and standard management of elderly education curriculum
4.4.4 Elderly education extending from large and medium-sized cities to the countryside
4.5 Elderly Education Institutions and Implementation
4.5.1 Community elderly education
4.5.2 The elder university
4.5.3 Media elderly education
4.5.4 Self-organized elderly education
4.6 Community Schools in Shanghai
4.6.1 The management organizations of the community school
4.6.2 The teachers’ structure
4.6.3 The curriculum content of the community school
4.7 Global Elderly Learning Research
4.7.1 Feasibility of adult learning
4.7.2 Differences and influencing factors of elderly learning
4.7.3 The successful aging
4.7.4 The culture phenomenon of the aged learning and elderly life
CHAPTER 5 LEARNING AND LIFE IN THE ELDERLY STAGE: CONTENTS OF LEARNING CITY COMMUNITY SCHOOL
5.1 Seniors' Life Before and After Retirement
5.1.1 Discontinuity of education
5.1.2 Seemingly settled life before retirement
5.1.3 Perceptions of the elderly: significance of stability
5.2 Generating Learning Needs
5.2.1 Learning needs: motivated to learn
5.2.2 Aspects of learning needs
5.3 Environments Amicable to Learning
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