Critical educational gerontology at a senior center in Malta: possibilities and limitations for critical consciousness.

One area that remained off the research radar is that interface between senior centers and learning programs, and hence, their potential to act as community-based learning hubs. Countering such a state of affairs, this article reports on an action research study to investigate the extent that a tran...

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Publicado en:Educational Gerontology Vol. 46; no. 2; pp. 59 - 72
Autores principales: Formosa, Marvin, Galea, Roberta
Formato: research Journal Article
Publicado: Taylor & Francis Ltd Feb2020
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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      dt: Feb2020
      vid: 46
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      pub: Taylor & Francis Ltd
      place: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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        10.1080/03601277.2020.1711587
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        atl: Critical educational gerontology at a senior center in Malta: possibilities and limitations for critical consciousness.
      aug:
        au:
          Formosa, Marvin
          Galea, Roberta
        affil: Department of Gerontology and Dementia Studies, Faculty for Social Wellbeing, University of Malta, Msida, Malta
      sug:
        subj:
          Senior Centers Mediterranean Islands
          Geriatrics Education
          Adult Education
          Program Planning
          Consciousness
          Empowerment
          Social Behavior
          Human
          Mediterranean Islands
          Curriculum Development
          Pretest-Posttest Design
          Focus Groups
          Discrimination
          Social Class
          Sex Factors
          Age Factors
          Ageism
          Political Participation
          Social Justice
      ab: One area that remained off the research radar is that interface between senior centers and learning programs, and hence, their potential to act as community-based learning hubs. Countering such a state of affairs, this article reports on an action research study to investigate the extent that a transformative learning program in a senior center can lead learners to improved levels of personal and social empowerment. The research project sought to meet its goal and objectives through the 'action research' design, by planning and executing a critical educational gerontological programme for persons attending a Maltese senior center. The learning program following a critical geragogical approach which encourages learners to discuss and problematize each theme in the curriculum. Pretest-posttest focus groups found the learning program to be successful in improving learners' levels of personal empowerment as they acquired a strong awareness of how social differences are structurally produced due to inequities and discriminations based on social class, gender, and age differences. However, the quest achieving critical consciousness remained an elusive one due to immanence and internal agism, as well as the fact that political action arises as a lifetime narrative. Critical educational gerontology remains steadfastly hinged upon the 'successful aging' paradigm that overlooks how later life is also underpinned by ill-health, abjection, care relations, and loss of agency. It is hoped that this action research project acts as a catalyst for future studies in critical educational gerontology to be framed by a fourth age social imaginary.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
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      ougenre: Article
    language: English
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