"It's Not How Old You Are, It's How You Are Old": Learning for All?

• In Event: Poster Session 10
  In Poster Session: Society, Culture, and Change

Abstract

Dewey (1954) talked about the importance of community and support to be active and express issues of public concern. This paper focuses on learning communities for older learners and how the University of the Third Age (U3A) is being supported to critically evaluate its role, purpose and inclusivity. The project is being driven by older learners with scaffolding by local universities. This approach fits with the ethos of U3A learning ‘that there should be no distinction between those who learn and those who teach’. It is a Freirean approach to learning that attempts to eliminate power gradients between academic researchers and U3A members/ volunteers. The first phase developed a co-research group, identified research questions and implemented a pilot survey.

Authors

• Catherine Eleanor Jones, University of South Wales

• Norah Jones, University of Glamorgan