Patricia Bayley’s inspiring commitment to lifelong learning: Meet Ontario Tech University’s 87-year-old PhD student

At 87 years old, Patricia Bayley is not your typical doctoral degree student. But even if she has many more decades of life experience, Bayley is demonstrating there is a place for her, and for others, at Ontario Tech University to pursue a lifelong adventure in education.

Not one to ever miss a chance for personal growth, Bayley decided to enrol in the Mitch and Leslie Frazer Faculty of Education at Ontario Tech in the Doctor of Education program to pursue studies around poetry and the impact it has on older adults.

Bayley’s catalyst for ‘going back to school’ was a recent presentation about Ontario Tech’s age-friendly campus designation made by Dr. Shilpa Dogra, Professor, Faculty of Health Sciences, and Ontario Tech University Research Excellence Chair in Disrupting Human Mobility.

Bayley embodies the spirit of the age-friendly campus designation. A retired educator and passionate poet, she became acquainted with Ontario Tech through her volunteer work with the Rotary Club of Port Perry, where she crossed paths with university faculty members.

"When I first met Dr. Shilpa, she said something that stuck with me: she said she could see me walking across the stage at graduation and told me, ‘You can do it.’ That planted the seed,” Bayley recalls.

Despite the challenges of adapting to new technologies that weren't even on the horizon in the 1950s, Bayley is determined to give her studies her all, fueled by her love for learning and poetry.

“I’m certainly getting used to being very uncomfortable with the techie side of things,” she laughs. “But living in a technological age, there’s a great deal of fear around it, and I’ve decided I won’t be part of that fear.”

In her career, Bayley was an educator, working in several countries and provinces.  Now she channels her passions into poetry and research. She published a collection of her own poems in 2021, titled Life’s Journey, and continues to work on her craft. As founder of a poetry appreciation group established in 2017 at The Village of Taunton Mills, her retirement community, Bayley leads a growing number of residents in sessions where they read and appreciate poetry.

“The poetry is my contribution to life here. I see people come alive. They leave more alert, more connected, and happier than when they arrived.”

Bayley says her work is deeply impactful, particularly for those with dementia, helping them reconnect with memories through the rhythm and rhyme of verse. These observations have inspired her to explore the effects of poetry on older adults as her research topic for her doctorate work. In October she published her second collection of poems, titled Horizons New, inspired by her life and the poetry group.

Beyond her poetic endeavors, Bayley is also keenly interested in the ethical questions surrounding artificial intelligence (AI), a field she engages with through her doctoral studies.

“I see things from many different perspectives because of my life experiences, and that’s something I bring to my studies. I’m fascinated by the ethical implications of AI.”

Recognizing society’s need to nurture lifelong learning and challenge stereotypes of aging, these types of interactions and perspectives were part of the goals for Ontario Tech’s designation in 2019 as an age-friendly campus. While many universities focus on race and nationality when discussing equity, Ontario Tech acknowledges age as another key factor in creating a truly inclusive environment. Older adults like Bayley are a significant part of the region’s demographic, but ageism remains a barrier for many.

“When you look at most campuses, they’re designed with younger students in mind,” says Dr. Dogra. “We need to recognize that older adults bring a wealth of experience and wisdom that can benefit everyone.”

Bayley’s doctoral journey is as much about learning as it is about teaching. Dr. Allyson Eamer, Associate Professor and Associate Dean in the Mitch and Leslie Frazer Faculty of Education, and Dr. Dogra, who are serving on Bayley’s doctoral supervisory committee, have embraced the challenge of mentoring an older student, and Bayley is full of gratitude for it.

“I don’t know how they’re putting up with me, but I’m grateful they see a spark in me. It’s another step into old age, realizing I can’t be totally independent in every aspect, but I’m learning to take support as well as give.”

Bayley hopes to inspire younger generations, demonstrating that learning doesn’t stop at any age.

“Sometimes they honour me by saying they’ve learned something from me. And that’s where I want to be, setting an example for the young.”