Abstract
This final chapter provides an opportunity to reflect on the significance of the travails of the University of the Third Age (U3A) movement which, since its modest inception in 1973, has certainly exceeded all expectations. It does not strive to tie loose ends in steadfast manner. Rather, the chapter serves as a beacon for stimulating further theoretical and empirical research on third age learning and the U3A in particular, by tracing the similarities and divergences of U3As across the European and Asian-Pacific contexts, and the benefits of participation in U3As on learners’ quality of life, and social and psychological well-being. However, this chapter also points out that the U3As’ track record in the democratisation of late-life learning—especially in terms of social class, gender, disability and ethnic biases—leaves much room for improvement, to the extent that one can conclude that many U3As are reinforcing a degree of inequality amongst older persons in general but especially amongst the most vulnerable sectors of the ageing population. The chapter’s final section points out to the need for the U3A movement to renew itself so as to remain relevant to incoming groups of older persons whose generational habitus is certainly distinct from that of preceding cohorts, for whom the U3As are generally targeted, by including a number of policy recommendations for the future.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Amoretti, G., Spulber, D., & Varani, N. (Eds.). (2017). Active ageing: From wisdom to lifelong learning. Rome: Carocci editore.
Bourdieu, P. (1984). Distinction: A social critique of the judgement of taste. London: Routledge.
Brown, M. (n.d). Learning in later life: Oldering or empowerment? A third-age researcher’s interpretation of some voices of third-age learners. Xeroxed copy.
Centre for Third Age Education. (n.d.). Centre for Third Age education. http://www.tempus-ctae.eu/. Accessed February 12, 2019.
Cohen, G. D. (2005). The mature mind: The positive power of the ageing brain. New York: Basic Books.
Findsen, B., Golding, B., Jekenc Krasovec, S., & Schmidt-Hertha, B. (2017). Ma te ora ka mohio/‘Through life there is learning’. Australian Journal of Adult Learning, 57(3), 509–526.
Formosa, M. (2002). Critical gerogogy: Developing practical possibilities for critical educational gerontology. Education and Ageing, 17(1), 73–86.
Formosa, M. (2005). Feminism and critical educational gerontology: An agenda for good practice. Ageing International, 30(4), 396–411.
Formosa, M. (2014). Four decades of Universities of the Third Age: Past, present, and future. Ageing & Society, 34(1), 42–66.
Formosa, M. (2016). Malta. In B. Findsen & M. Formosa (Eds.), International perspectives on older adult education: Research, policies, practices (pp. 261–272). Cham, Switzerland: Springer.
Formosa, M., & Cassar, P. (forthcoming). Visual art dialogues with older people in long-term care facilities: An action research study. International Journal of Ageing and Education.
Formosa, M., Chetcuti Galea, R., & Farrugia Bonello, M. (2014a). Older men learning through religious and political affiliations: Case studies from Malta. Androgogic Perspectives, 20(3), 57–69.
Formosa, M., Fragoso, A., & Jelenc Kraŝovec, S. (2014b). Older men as learners in the community: Theoretical issues. In S. Jelenc Kraŝovec & M. Radovan (Eds.), Older men learning in the community: European snapshots (pp. 15–28). Ljubljana: Ljubljana University Press.
Formosa, M., Fragoso, A., Jelenc Kraŝovec, S., & Tambaum, T. (2014a). Introduction. In S. Jelenc Kraŝovec & M. Radovan (Eds.), Older men learning in the community: European snapshots (pp. 9–13). Ljubljana: Ljubljana University Press.
Foster, L., & Walker, A. (2015). Active and successful ageing: A European policy perspective. Gerontologist, 55(1), 83–90.
Foucault, M. (1982). Afterward: The subject and power. In H. L. Dreyfus & P. Rainbow (Eds.), Michel Foucault: Beyond structuralism and hermeneutics (pp. 208–226). Brighton: Harvester Press.
Freire, P. (1972). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York: Continuum.
Gladdish, L. (2010). Learning, participation and choice: A guide for facilitating older learners. Leicester: NIACE.
Golding, B. (2015). The Men’s shed movement: The company of men. Champaign, IL: Common Ground Publishing.
Guðjónsdóttir, A. M., Guðlaugsdóttir, I. R., Guðmundsson, H. K., Bru Ronda, C., Aleson-Carbonell, M., & Stanowska, M. (Eds.). (2016). Towards a dynamic third age: Guidelines and recommendations of the Erasmus + BALL Project. Poland: Towarzystwo Wolnej Wszechnicy Polskiej Oddzial w Lublinie. https://www.ball-project.eu/sites/default/files/BALL_PublKonc_Internet/Ball_en2_023_200.pdf. Accessed May 25, 2018.
International Association of Universities of the Third Age. (n.d.). International Association of Universities of the Third Age. https://www.aiu3a.org/research.html. Accessed February 12, 2019.
Joseph, D., & Southcott, J. (2015). Singing and companionship in the Hawthorn University of the Third-Age Choir, Australia. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 34(3), 334–347.
Karpf, A. (2014). How to age. Croydon: Macmillan.
Katz, S. (2000). Busy bodies: Activity, aging, and the management of everyday life. Journal of Aging Studies, 14(2), 135–152.
Kidahashi, M., & Manheimer, R. J. (2009). Getting in ready for the working-in-retirement generation: How should LLIs respond? The LLI Review, 4, 1–8.
Laslett, P. (1989). A fresh map of life: The emergence of the third age. London: Macmillan Press.
Midwinter, E. (2007). U3Aology: The thinking behind the U3A in the UK. Frank Glendenning Memorial Lecture, 23 March 2007. Leicester: NIACE.
Moody, H. R. (1990). Education and the life cycle: A philosophy of aging. In R. H. Sherron & B. Lumsden (Eds.), Introduction to educational gerontology (2nd ed., pp. 23–39). Washington, DC: Hemisphere.
Moody, H. Y. (2004). Structure and agency in late-life learning. In E. Tulle (Ed.), Old age and agency (pp. 30–43). New York: Nova Science Publishers.
Moody, H. R., & Sasser, J. R. (2014). Aging: Concepts and controversies (8th ed.). Los Angeles, CA: Sage.
Morris, D. (1984). Universities of the Third Age. Adult Education, 57(2), 135–139.
Ordonez, T. N., Lima-Silva, T. B., & Cachioni, M. (2011). Subjective and psychological well-being of students of a University of the Third Age. Dementia e Neuropsychologia, 5(3), 216–225.
Parsons, T. (1951). The social system. New York: Free Press.
Philibert, M. (1984). Contemplating the Universities of the Third Age. In E. Midwinter (Ed.), Mutual Aid Universities (pp. 51–60). Kent: Croom Helm Ltd.
Ramírez Gómez, D. (2016). Critical geragogy and foreign language learning: An exploratory application. Educational Gerontology, 42(2), 136–143.
Ratana-Ubol, A., & Richards, C. (2016). Third age learning: Adapting the idea to a Thailand context of lifelong learning. International Journal of Lifelong Learning, 35(1), 86–101.
Riley, M. W., & Riley, J., Jr. (1994). Structural lag: Past and future. In M. W. Riley, R. L. Kahn, & A. Foner (Eds.), Age and structural lag (pp. 15–36). New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Robbins-Ruszkowski, J. (2017). Aspiring to activity: Universities of the Third Age, gardening, and other forms of living in postsocialist Poland. In S. Lamb (Ed.), Successful ageing as a contemporary obsession: Global perspectives (pp. 112–125). New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers.
Russell, H. (2008). Later life: A time to learn. Educational Gerontology, 34(3), 206–224.
Third Age Trust (2018). Learning not lonely. Living life. Expanding horizons. Challenging conventions. London: The Third Age Trust. https://indd.adobe.com/view/c99ad603-0622-4636-b12c-9f8ad363dae8. Accessed October 17, 2018.
Weber, M. (1978). Economy and society: An outline of interpretive sociology. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Wilińska, M. (2012). Is there a place for an ageing subject? Stories of ageing at the University of the Third Age in Poland. Sociology, 46(2), 290–305.
Withnall, A. (2010). Improving learning in later life. London: Routledge.
Withnall, A. (2012). Lifelong or longlife? Learning in the later years. In D. S. Aspin, J. Chapman, K. Evans, & R. Bagnall (Eds.), Second international handbook of lifelong learning (pp. 649–664). Dordrecht: Springer.
World Health Organization. (2002). Active ageing: A policy framework. Geneva: World Health Organization.
Wright Mills, C. (1959). The sociological imagination. Oxford: Oxford University.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Formosa, M. (2019). Concluding Remarks and Reflections. In: Formosa, M. (eds) The University of the Third Age and Active Ageing. International Perspectives on Aging, vol 23. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-21515-6_21
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-21515-6_21
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-21514-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-21515-6
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)