Born:  May 9, 1944

---

 

Personal Data Awards and Honors Membership-Professional Organizations Major Contributions to Adult Education Interesting Facts

 

 

---

 

Personal Data

Born: May 9, 1944

Children: Chris, Eddie and Jennifer 

 

 

Education

1967  -  B.S. University of Alaska, Fairbanks

1973  -  M.Ed. Master of Education, University of Alaska, Anchorage

1990  -  Ph.D.  Adult education, Florida State University

 

 

Employment

1960	Junior high Math Teacher, Poulsbo, Washington & Taught GED, Little Boston Indian Reservation
1970-71	Writer/Researcher for an adult basic education project, Anchorage Community College
1971-81	Coordinated & Taught statewide GED by TV/ Satellite programs to ABE teachers from villages, Alaska-Anchorage
1981-1997	Faculty Member teaching beginning algebra, Alaska-Anchorage
1984-1997	Credit for Prior Learning, Alaska-Anchorage
1984-1987	Active in International Adult Education Teaches annually at Northern International University and Magadan, Russia.  U.S. Representative to the UNESCO conference on adult learning, Germany
1990-2005	Created & coordinated a master’s program at UAA, Alaska in Anchorage
1992-Present	Built a retreat center at her family homestead on Yukon Island Hosts noted scholars, courses and provides retreats on adult education and learning, archaeology, geology, botany and marine biology, wellness and Tai Chi, Qi Gong, and writing.
1992-2008	Professor Emerita, Adult and Developmental Education
1997-2006	Taught part time but worked full time, UAA, in Anchorage
2006	Retired

Awards and Honors

1996        Alaska Professor of the Year from the Carnegie Foundation  

 

1996        Edith R. Bullock Prize for Excellence from the University of Alaska Foundation

 

1997        U.S. Representative to the UNESCO conference on adult learning, Germany

 

1991         Taught at the Northern International University in Magadan annually

 

1996          She established and funded an Outstanding Teacher of the Year at NIU 

 

2001          Awarded Honorary Professor of NIU

 

2006          The adult education collection in the Consortium Library at UAA was named for her

 

2008          Inducted into the Alaska Women"s Hall of Fame 

 

2008          Inducted into the (IACE) International Adult and Continuing Education Hall of Fame

  

 

 

Membership-Professional Organizations

 Bersch is director and founder of (OLL) the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute

 

 

Publications

17 works in twenty publications

Bersch, G., ( 2006, May) Education and Lifelong Learning: Theory and Practice. Adult Education Quarterly, 56 (3), p.224.

  

Professional Interest Areas   History of Adult Education Scholars

 

 International Adult Education

 

 Retreat center at her family homestead on Yukon Island that hosts noted scholars.

 Retreats held focused on adult education and learning ever since 1992.

 

 

Major Contributions to Adult Education

 

She created and produced a video (DVD) series entitled Conversations on Lifelong Learning. 

Bersch filmed interviews of noted national and international adult education scholars. To date eighty scholars have been interviewed and forty finished programs are available. 

 

Her role in International Adult Education

 

 

Created and coordinated an adult master's degree program  

 

 

Additional Resources

 

Articles

 

Photo Gallery

 

 

Gretchen Bersch waits on the beach as OLÉ! guests arrive by water taxi from Homer in

July. Bersch hosted the visitors at the Yukon Island Center for Research and Education

for a three-day learning retreat OLÉ!, which stands for “Opportunities for Lifelong Education,”

is known for the classes it offers at low cost for Anchorage area adults age 50 and older.

It also organizes field trips like this one, adding adventure to the education. 

 

 

Video/Audio

Bersch, G., (n.d.). Conversations on Lifelong Learning.  

Retrieved from http://www.conversationsonlifelonglearning.com/audio_clips.htm;

 

 

Presentations

 

Books

 

 

Interesting Facts

• On her career, Bersch says, "if there is one thing I would like to do, it is to break down the barriers and fear of learning."

 

•  Her great-great-grandmother was one of three who started the Oregon Women’s Suffrage Association in 1870.

 

•  Her grandmother served on the Seattle City Council for 20 years and is the longest-serving woman on this council.

 

•  Bersch continues her legacy in adult education by organizing adult education activities through her learning retreat center on Yukon Island.

 

 

References

 Alaska Women's Hall of Fame. (2012). Gretchen Bersch.

      Retrieved from http://alaskawomenshalloffame.org/2012/02/04/gretchen-bersch/

 

 

Barske, D., (2012). OLLl : Great opportunities for lifelong learrning. Retrieved from 

      http://www.seniorvoicealaska.com/story/2013/08/01/breaking-news/olli-unique-opportunities-for- lifelong-learners/195.html

 

 

Bersch, G., (n.d.) Conversations on Lifelong Learning: Audioclips.

      Retrieved from  http://www.conversationsonlifelonglearning.com/audio_clips.htm;

 

 

Bersch, G., (n.d.). Welcome to Conversations on Lifelong Learning. 

       Retrieved from  http://conversationsonlifelonglearning.com/

 

 

Bersch. G. T., ( 1973-2008). Guide to the Gretchen T. Bersch Papers. University of Alaska Consortium Library, 

       Special Collections, Anchorage, AK.  Retrieved from  http://consortiumlibrary.org/archives/FindingAids/hmc-0666.html

 

 

International Adult and Continuing Education. (2008).  

       Gretchen T.Bersch.  Retrieved from  http://www.halloffame.outreach.ou.edu/2008/Bersch.html

 

 

Western Region Research Conference on the Education of Adults. (2007). Gretchen T. Bersch, PhD.

        Retrieved from  http://www.wwu.edu/wrrcea/Bersch.html