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- Editorial: Non-traditional participants in adult education and learningPublication . Almeida, António Fragoso de; Kurantowicz, EwaIs it valid to assume that adult education with a focus on non-participants or non-traditional participants takes into account the improvement of participants’ lives, or the emancipation of groups? Or, is this today a false assumption? Is the (scientific) discipline of adult education focussed on change? Although it is of course impossible to answer all those questions in such a modest contribution - the present thematic issue - some researchers forwarded very interesting perspectives. (DIPF/Orig.)
- Non-traditional access to higher education – an evolution in PortugalPublication . Bago, Joana; Santos, Lucilia; Fonseca, Henrique; Almeida, António Fragoso de; Gonçalves, Teresa; Ribeiro, Carlos Miguel; Quintas, Helena; Monteiro, RuteIn Portugal the access to Higher Education (HE), comprising Universities and Polytechnic institutions, can be achieved by several dedicated “doors”. Besides the “National Admission Process” that accounts for the largest number of candidacies and vacancies and constitutes the regular pathway, there are a number of other processes, such as particular admission processes and special regimes, created as a result of the effort to open Higher Education to more and different publics. Gateways have been built based on the profiles at entrance, identifying, in particular, Non-Traditional Students, in particular older than 23 years that have now a dedicated via on the “Special Admission to HE” (SAHE) that has it set of vacancies established on a yearly basis by each university, and targets candidates (M23 regime). As a case study, this work pretends to bring up the major changes between past and present protocols of the SAHE, i.e., “ad-hoc examinations” and the actual M23 regime.
- Editorial: active ageing, social inclusion and wellbeing: benefits of learning in later lifePublication . Schmidt-Hertha, Bernhard; Formosa, Marvin; Almeida, António Fragoso deThe education of older adults has been considered the fastest growing branch of adult education in post-industrial countries and one of the most crucial challenges facing current adult European education (Formosa, 2000). Early research on the learning preferences, motivations and trends of older persons – as well as the impact of learning on the quality of life of older learners – can be traced to the 1950s (Havighurst, 1953), even before the field of educational gerontology was formally established in the 1975 by David Peterson (1976). In recent years, an unprecedented level of influence of the concept of lifelong learning on policies on active ageing have led to a ‘renaissance’ moment in the practice and research of older adult learning (Glendenning 1992; Findsen & Formosa, 2016). Whilst at the turn of the millennium, one found only a handful of book publications in the field of older adult learning, and the few published articles were often in specialised and off the radar journals, in a space of less than two decades the situation is markedly different. Nowadays, as societies are experiencing, or anticipating, unprecedented number of older persons, the field of late-life learning is firmly established in both adult education and gerontology graduate programmes, as well as mainstream adult education and gerontology journals. Indeed, the field of older adult learning boasts an exciting and innovative field of practice, led by experts who group themselves under the mantles of adult educators, educational gerontologists, geragogists or gerontagogists (Kern, 2014). Learning in later life has entrenched itself as an integral part of adult education research, focusing on the diverse provision of late-life learning, the motivations and interests of older learners; wide-participation and emancipatory policies for older adult learning; and the benefits of learning for learners, providers, and society in general.
- Social disadvantages and intergenerational solidarity views from older adults: a qualitative studyPublication . Fragoso, António; Valadas, Sandra T.; Paulos, LilianaIn this article we aim at understanding the influence of social disadvantages on intergenerational solidarity. For this study, we have considered biographical research through narratives. These narratives help explain and reflect on the beliefs of the participants, implicit theories, and their life experiences. A snowball sampling technique was considered, and the data were collected by means of 58 narrative interviews with men aged between 60 and 93 years of age, living in urban and rural areas of southern Portugal. The interviews were conducted face-to-face in the participants' houses or community centers. Content analysis was performed and our results indicated that a low educational background was determinant in the trajectories of these men. Unqualified or low qualified occupations and, in consequence, low financial capital, had both a direct and indirect effect on various domains of life. As a result, a significant part of the men live in poverty, and many others experience a very difficult situation. The results also revealed that social disadvantages had an impact on structural, functional, and associational solidarities. The levels of intergenerational exchanges are reduced and unsatisfying. Our study suggests that social class is a key factor in explaining the inequalities of older adults and also influences intergenerational solidarity at a family level.
- Non-traditional students in higher education: barriers to learning and professional insertionPublication . Almeida, António Fragoso de; Quintas, Helena; Campos Goncalves, Teresa IsabelThis article emerges from two research projects focused on non-traditional students in higher education. Our objectives aims to understand the barriers of learning and academic success, considering the perspectives of the several social actors in the academia; and to understand the barriers of the same students had in their transition to the work environment. The results show that a set of situational and institutional factors work as obstacles to these students. The results also show that age is a determinant factor regarding hiring and that the characteristics of the labour market today make hard the professional insertion of non-traditional undergraduates.
- Education matters: cumulative advantages and disadvantages amongst Portuguese older menPublication . Vilhena, Carla; Valadas, Sandra T.; Almeida, António Fragoso deOur paper sought to analyse the influence of the educational background over various dimensions of the lives of Portuguese older men (age 60+) across the life course. Drawing on the theory of cumulative advantages and disadvantages we used biographical research, namely narrative interviews with men from different educational background: men with a very low educational background and men with a medium/high educational background. Our results show the influence of educational background in the life course, and how it can contribute to accumulation of advantages/disadvantages that explain their biographies and the very different situations in which they live today.
- Who are they? Making non-traditional students visiblePublication . Gonçalves, Teresa; Almeida, António Fragoso de; Ribeiro, Carlos Miguel; Monteiro, Rute; Quintas, Helena; Bago, Joana; Fonseca, Henrique; Santos, LuciliaThe implementation of the Bologna processes in Portugal allowed a national Law to be changed so that the access to Higher Education was made easier for mature students older than 23, who have some sort of professional experience. In this paper we’ll report the first (still superficial) results of a research project which, involving the universities of Aveiro and Algarve5, aims to study deeply non-traditional student’s situation in order to create conditions for improving their academic success and reduce dropout.
- Combating ageism through adult education and learningPublication . Fragoso, António; Fonseca, JoséliaThe demographic data and projections show that the world is ageing at a high pace and that this has transversal consequences to society. The available data on ageism show that it constitutes the most prevalent form of discrimination in Europe. Whilst this seems logical because ageism, potentially, affects everybody (unlike sexism or racism), public debates on the phenomenon are rare. The awareness of people of its importance is minimal, the resources and investigation devoted to understanding it are relatively small and the initiatives towards combating ageism are not enough. There is a mismatch between the dimension of the phenomenon and the attention that we have given it. Ageism has various negative consequences for the older adults themselves; for the institutions at large (but especially for the working world institutions) and for countries. In a fast-ageing world that will witness structural changes in age groups, ageism is a complex phenomenon that needs to be counteracted. So far, in Europe, combating ageism through law and public policy seems to have produced poor results. However, the literature shows that adult education and learning can provide very effective means to improve the mutual knowledge between generations, combat myths and prejudice and deconstruct age-based stereotypes.
- Academic trajectories and labour market transitions of mature graduates: a case study from the University of AlgarvePublication . Gonçalves, Teresa; Quintas, Helena; Almeida, António Fragoso deThe Bologna Process, recently implemented in Portugal, has brought many changes to higher education institutions (HEI). One of these changes refers to a law that enables mature students (23 years and older) to gain special access to higher education, taking into account their professional experience. The numbers of mature students are therefore increasing in our country, making our academic population more diverse. Our team has in the past investigated these students’ situation in higher education (HE), in order to provide university management our recommendations to improve students’ success. To continue our research we (two HEI in Portugal) designed a new research project , which partially aims to understand mature students’ trajectories through HE and their transitions to the labour market. Again we hope to provide recommendations for that university management to do more for our students’ employability. In this paper we identify and characterise various dimensions of individual and collective profile of mature students in the University of Algarve (Portugal) and their paths towards labour market integration. Our results show that positive experiences within university context, regarding their learning and competences acquisition. Also it becomes clear that while studying in university mature students developed personal qualities that proved to be determinant to their professions or to the ability of creating their own businesses.
- Editorial: the changing landscapes of literacy and adult educationPublication . Tett, Lyn; Merrill, Barbara; Almeida, António Fragoso deLiteracy, numeracy and language learning has always had a central place in adult education theory and practice. Over the various historical moments and contexts, its meaning, uses and importance have been changing considerably. It is difficult, therefore, to build a consistent and complete road map to literacy and adult education that takes into account every trend, theoretical approach and practical experience.