A common question people tend to ask is: What are old people still capable of doing and learning? Gerontologists confirm that biological age is not a determining factor when it comes to old people active participation in life. In fact, gerontologists state that factors like education, social and biographical background tend to influence elderly people participation in life. Whether an elderly person aspires to learn depends on the previous mentioned factors. (Seppmann, 1999) Definitely, the right teaching methodology should be applied and this leads us to collaborative learning.
Collaborative Learning
In the following four paragraphs we are going to discus one of the most frequently mentioned characteristics of adult/elderly education. Elderly education should be collaborative or participatory in nature (Brookfield, 1986). Collaborative learning has its origins in a number of movements and philosophies, most of which has influenced progressive adult education. It requires that both facilitators and learners become active participants in the educational process. ‘The hierarchy between facilitators and learners should be eliminated’ (Whipple, 1987), a sense of community should be emphasized, and knowledge should be created rather than transferred. Furthermore, knowledge is considered to be located in the community rather than in the individual (Whipple, 1987).
Collaborative learning requires that there is formal / structured learning rather than autonomous learning, thus it becomes the responsibility of the instructor to create a climate in which collaborative learning can occur. Three important elements to promote collaborative learning in structured settings are the environment, the role of the facilitator and the role of the learner.
The environment should be unthreatening and democratic, discouraging individual competition and encouraging respect for the ideas and opinions of others. The teachers should become facilitators and hence they must develop methods of sharing their knowledge without diminishing the attempts of learners to acquire their own. The learners have also a significant role too. In collaborative learning, the learner must accept certain changes such as becoming form listener, observer and note taker to problem solver, contributor and discussant, from competition to collaboration with peers, and from viewing teachers and textbooks as the only resource to viewing peers, oneself and the thinking of the group as additional resources.
Keeping in mind all the above, we will now examine what the current Maltese educational sector offers for elderly people.
Current Situation in Malta
Tertiary University
‘Adult education for older people has been widely advocated by many social scientists due to its potential to develop alternate visions for democratic social change and to empower older persons’ (Formosa, 2000). Adult/Elderly education is considered as the fastest growing branch in education and a challenge which all European countries need to face.
In 1973, Pierre Vella was the first person to propose the idea for a university of the third age (U3A). The concept behind this idea was to raise the quality of life of older people. This idea was developed and implemented through all continents, resulting in a great success. In Malta the university of the third age (L-Universita’ tat-Tielet Eta’ [U3E]) was launched in January 1993. It was not a pilot project but a full-scale activity, resulting from the aspirations of academics and government officials working in the field of aging. Some of the objectives of the U3E were to promote the academic learning of its members in cultural, historical, social and other fields; to give attention to the requirements of its members, thereby enhancing the activities and make them more attractive to third aged people and more.
The courses offered are aimed to lead the members to obtain no material or credential gains but to enhance their mind and personality. The U3E has increased in popularity and older people are nowadays more aware of long life learning. In fact the ‘U3E increased its membership from 180 in 1993 to 900 in 1999/2000 – a remarkable 500% increase’ (Formosa, 2000). However this amount is still minor considering it is just about 2% of all older persons in Malta. The U3E offers a wide variety of courses ranging from heavy courses such as philosophy to day-to-day courses such as gardening. However, the program best suits those who have an adequate level of education (i.e. those who understand English and Maltese and are literate). This means that persons who are interested in learning crafts and hobbies, or possess low level of Education, should frequent Senior Day Centres or other courses offered by local councils (discussed in the next three sub-sections) or other organizations rather then the U3E. This creates a lot of disadvantages among these people since education does not refer only to academic subjects. In fact the U3E coordinators organize extra curricular activities such as travel tours, leisure outings and spiritual encounters for members only. This means that elderly people who do not qualify for the U3E cannot have the benefit from these extra curricular activities. However, one should not exclude that such activities are also organized by local councils, communities and other organizations.
It should also be stated that the dominant pedagogic style used in U3E classes includes the lecturer addressing the learners in a behaviourist way. This pedagogy does not allow any possibility for discussions, and hence ‘the lecturer assumes the position of the speaker and the members that of the listeners’ (Formosa, 2000). This kind of pedagogy should be revised to a more collaborative one (discussed above), were people can interact during the lesson, thus allowing them to participate and express their opinions. Putting into practice this approach will surely augment the way elderly people achieve education.
Lifelong Learning Centre
Information was gathered through an interview with the headmistress of this Centre.
The Lifelong Learning Centre offers courses for people whose age is 17 and over. As the name itself implies it offers people the possibility to continue their education in their adulthood. In fact the majority of the members are mature people, whose age ranges from 40 upwards. The Lifelong Learning Centre offers both academic subjects, such as Mathematics, English, Maltese and Italian and crafts, such as ‘ganutell’ and lace making.
Elderly people tend to attend more the crafts lessons rather then the academic lessons. However, there are other elderly people who choose acadamic subjects and even sit for the Sec examinations. This centre gives also the opportunity to the public to learn Information Technology. It is a fact that I.T. is a major evolution of present society and so it is important that elderly people get to know and gain some IT knowledge. These courses are not held at the centre but at ‘Blata l-Bajda’ Junior Lyceum School. Though, the same staff organizes and teaches those who attend.
The lessons held at this centre are delivered in an active way. Both the teachers and the members participate during the lessons. Motivation is sky high with members organizing activities by themselves such as a play let for the English lesson or perhaps even a song of Beatles in German for the German lesson.
The members at this centre have increased over the past years. This year, 230 members were certified at this centre, resulting in a 30 members increase than last year. To be realistic, this is still a small amount but the fact that more elders are becoming aware of lifelong learning is a great sign of success in the branch of adult/elderly education.
There are other centres apart from this one, such as MCAST. MCAST organizes evening academic classes for adults and elderly people whose level ranges from basic to more advanced ones such as accounting, economics and more. These centres offer a great opportunity to elderly people, thus helping them to continue achieve education and to improve their quality of life.
Day Centres
Information was gathered through an interview with Mrs. Psaila who is the coordinator of all Day Centres in Malta.
The introduction of Day Centres in Malta, turned out to be an excellent scheme which can quickly reach a large number of elderly people. Since being introduced in 1995, there are now fourteen Day Centres around Malta. In 2004 the number of members from all Day Centres around Malta amounted to 1300. Mrs. Psaila pointed out that the main purpose of the Day Centre Service is to help elderly people make new friends, and to prevent social isolation. It also aims to motivate the elderly by encouraging them to participate in the planning of Day Centre activities. Therefore they try to help elderly people be as independent as possible thus relieving their relatives. The fourteen Day Centres situated around Malta organize the following main activities, physical education, social and creative activities. These activities are complemented by educational talks on topics of particular relevance to older adults, such as health issues, home safety, welfare services, etc. In addition, outdoor activities are also organised twice monthly including the popular morning coffees. Mrs. Psaila pointed out that she tries to organize once in a while some cultural outing such as visiting historical places. Day Centres also promote intergenerational activities by inviting students to share experiences with older adults. Even though Day Centres do not teach any type of academic subjects, these are still a valuable resource when it comes to elderly education. Given the opportunity to learn some crafts like glass painting is still educational and the educational talks are surely of great importance to the elderly. Mrs. Psaila positively stated that the elderly attending the day centres are very willing to learn. As R.I. Rees nicely said “[…] education is a continuous process ending only when ambition come to a halt.”
Apart from the above, day centres offer a great opportunity to elderly people to participate in sports. I believe that this is the only institute, which offers some sort of physical education to elderly people. From an article published on the newsletter Il-Mument it was clearly shown that the elderly were very wiling to participate either as competitors or supporters. As parliamentary secretary Helen D’Amato clearly noted, this is a very important event since it teaches elderly people the importance of sports at their age.
Another type of education, which takes place at the Day Centres, is Maltese Poetry. Mrs. Psaila told me that there are many members who love writing poems, which then they very willing to share with their friends. It is my opinion that this is a good example of how elderly education can take place by simply gathering a group of seniors. Also, while discussing the above point Mrs. Psaila pointed out that there was a particular member who attended ICT lessons offered by the Local Councils in order to be able to word-process her poems.
Surely, Day Centres are highly contributing to elderly education and the above is just a taste of the whole situation. Related to the previous mentioned event, I would like to highlight the following experience, which clearly shows the determination of some elderly people when it comes to education.
Local Council - ICT Courses
Among the services offered by the Local Councils, there were the ICT courses. The following experience shows us the importance of this opportunity for elderly people.
Information was gathered through an interview with Mrs. Marija Mamo, a retired lady who is still willing to learn.
Maria’s experience is a clear evidence of the importance of elderly education in a society, which is being driven by Information Technology. Maria, whose some of her relatives live in Australia, made use of the Local Council Service in order to learn some basic ICT skills. During her interview she clearly stated that her intentions were not to obtain any certificates but just to acquire the right skills in order to be able to send e-mails to her relatives. She also pointed out that it was not easy to start ‘attending school again’ and she admitted that there were times when she almost gave up if it was not for her family support. Although, it was not a piece of cake, she is very happy that she took this adventure and she suggests it to her friends.
Europe Vision of Elderly Education
As already pointed in the beginning of this article, Europe is facing the problem of ‘the ageing society’. Aware of the drawbacks such situation might bring about, the European Union decided to emphasize more on Elderly Education. In 2000 we saw the emergence of the second Socrates program, GRUNDTVIG whose aim is lifelong learning. (BAGSO, 2003) GRUNDTVIG intend to include elderly people in the European education networks. Surely, this scheme will reinforce adult and elderly education. As a European member Malta should encourage more elderly people to participate in this program thus collaborating with other seniors in different European countries.
Conclusion
To conclude, we would like to point out that Elderly Education is a very important issue, which should be given much more importance. It gives elderly people the possibility to actively participate in society, and at the same time meeting with other people. Certainly, all the above mentioned educational schemes are just the beginning and lots of work need to be done in order to achieve the full integration of Elderly Education. We believe that the next step should be the extensive promotion of elderly education in order to make elderly people aware of all the possibilities.
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