| 1. |
- Hachem, Hany, PhD Candidate, 1987-
(författare)
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Ask them why : Older learners' motivational reasons for learning at a university for the third age
- 2023
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Ingår i: Studies in the Education of Adults. - : Taylor & Francis. - 0266-0830 .- 1478-9833. ; 55:1, s. 82-100
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Older adults continue learning for intrinsic and extrinsic reasons. Literature has often portrayed the reasons for learning in older age as either intentional or as predetermined by socialisation. This emphasis on either agency or social structures is found, not least, in the humanist and critical principles of older adult education. This article addresses the question 'why do older adults learn?' Using the concepts of ontological security (Giddens) and habitus (Bourdieu), it provides a sociological interpretation of the motivational reasons to learn in terms of their individual and social nature. A reflexive thematic analysis was conducted on 11 interview transcripts from current and previous older learners at a university for the third age (U3A) in Lebanon. I categorise the motivational reasons for learning as contextual, intrinsic, educational and conducive. I conclude that the reasons for joining the U3A are complex - both individual and social - as they include reflexive and socially determined elements. As a result, I recommend that a restatement of the principles of educational gerontology would further our understanding of how the reasons for learning in older age are shaped by both the agency of individuals as well as socialisation.
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| 2. |
- Hachem, Hany, PhD Candidate, 1987-
(författare)
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Educating older adults : Theoretical and empirical examinations of the learning philosophies in older age
- 2023
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In this thesis, I theoretically and empirically examine the dominant learning philosophies in older age. Three statements of principles of educational gerontology coalesce into two notorious learning philosophies in older age: humanist and critical. They formulate answers to vital questions about the education of older people. Written in 1990 from a political economy perspective that heavily draws on Freirean pedagogy, the first statement provides a moral and philosophical backing for the practices and aims of a (then) flourishing field by examining the marginalisation of older people in societies. In the same year, the second statement responds to the first with a humanist individualist perspective on the education of older people. It provides a different view on why they choose to learn, the goals for their education, and the role of teachers in enacting said educational goals. Two decades later, the third statement is born. This time, it invigorated a critical but culturalist-leaning perspective. It engages with the focal points in the previous statements and remains loyal to Freirean ideals in the face of an increasingly individualistic and globalised world. Over time, the three statements of principles fuelled a polarising debate around central questions in the education of older people.In this methodologically rich thesis composed of four articles, I recommend and draft a fourth and late modern statement of the principles of educational gerontology, which overcomes agency/structure dualisms characterising the debate surrounding the current principles. First, this thesis confirms that leisure and liberal arts education empowers older people. Second, it attributes to the motives for learning in older age a reflexive ontological security nature that may go hand in hand with that of non-conscious class struggles. Third, it challenges the logic of emancipation embedded in critical educational gerontology and refutes the assumption that older learners are naïve. Finally, it envisages the teachers’ role as emancipators from a less coercive departure point.
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| 3. |
- Hachem, Hany, PhD Candidate, 1987-, et al.
(författare)
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On older learners' naivete : an examination of the emancipatory function of critical older adult education
- 2023
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Ingår i: International Journal of Lifelong Education. - : Routledge. - 0260-1370 .- 1464-519X. ; 42:1, s. 101-116
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Many critical educational philosophies assume that learners are naive and unable to critically read their social reality. Critical educational gerontology (CEG) aims to emancipate learners from oppression, to which they are oblivious . This strand of older adult education charges teachers with the task of raising learners' naive consciousness, by leading them on the (Freirean) path of critical reflection and critical action. Literature employing CEG concludes that this path often ends with learners being reluctant to engage in critical action because of their ongoing (internalised) oppression. In this paper, we adopt a critical stance towards CEG's logic of emancipation guided by Anthony Giddens' structuration theory. As such, we question the inability of older learners to understand, and act on, their social reality independently from teachers. Starting from Giddens' theory, we apply a reflexive thematic analysis to interview data tackling the socio-economic reality of 11 older learners at a university for the third age in Lebanon. The results support the conclusion that older learners at the U3A can decode their social reality and reflexively engage in social change, but their efforts or reluctance are influenced by constraints, not necessarily naive consciousness. Consequently, we recommend a revisit of CEG's logic of emancipation.
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| 4. |
- Hachem, Hany, PhD Candidate, 1987-
(författare)
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Zooming in on Life Politics : Identity and Reflexivity in a University for the Third Age
- 2022
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Ingår i: Adult learning (Washington, D.C.). - : Sage Publications. - 1045-1595 .- 2162-4070. ; 33:1, s. 32-39
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A late modern rationale for the education of older people has not yet been sufficiently explored. In this action research, I explore Giddens’s life politics as a framework for a late modern rationale for older adult education. Eleven older learners were recruited voluntarily to an online study group conducted via Zoom at a University for the Third Age. Over six sessions, learners attended mini lectures, completed self-reflexive assignments, and engaged in lively classroom discussions. I report and evaluate the study group, with special focus on outcomes such as personal growth and self- and social questioning. I conclude that life politics is a viable framework for the education of older people and state implications for theory and practice.
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