THE UNIVERSITIES OF THE THIRD AGE

The Third Age

In the publication A Fresh Map of Life, Peter Laslett put into perspective a number of recent demographic and sociological changes that have given rise to the comparative recent phenomenon of ëThe Third Ageí. Until the first half of the century, adults spent virtually all their lives in the second age, working and caring for family following which they entered into a period of dependency and decrepitude before death. However, from the 1950s, a fundamental change began to emerge where these two phases were intersected. For the first time in history, a combination of compulsory retirement, pensions, and increased longevity resulted in the greater majority of older people in industrialised countries experienced many healthy, active, and potentially self-fulfilling years. Although, the exact definition of the ëthird ageí continues to be subject to debate, Laslettís definition of a period of personal fulfilment, following the second stage of independence, maturity, responsibility, earning, and saving, and preceding the fourth age of final dependence, decrepitude and death is widely cited.

Laslett hit the nail on its head when he maintained that although exercise and nutrition are common themes of preventative health programmes directed at older people, the benefits of cognitive challenging in later life are less tangible ? even in spite of the fact that many educational gerontological research reported that older adult education aids older persons to increase their self-reliance and independence, cope with innumerable practical and psychological problems, strengthen their actual or potential contribution to society, increase their self-awareness, and helping them to express themselves better. In lieu of such reports it is highly welcome to note that in the past decades both the number of older adult educational programmes, as well as the number of older adult learners, have increased considerably. In fact, older adult education is nowadays considered to be the fastest growing branch of adult education in post-industrial countries, and one of the most crucial issues facing current adult European education. Undoubtedly, one of the most successful (if not the most) of older adult educational programmes, is the University of the Third Age (U3A). U3As may be loosely thought of socio-cultural centres where senior citizens acquire new knowledge of significant issues, or validate the knowledge which they already possess, in an agreeable milieu and in accordance with easy and acceptable methods.

Since its inception, the U3A movement has developed into a global adult education success story. In less than two decades, the idea of the U3A has spread to all continents, amounting at present to several thousand units with varying structures and programmes. U3As are connected through the International Association of the Universities of the Third Age ? (founded as early as 1975), which amongst its various activities, co-ordinates yearly international congresses on the phenomenon of the U3As. Since at present the AUITA contains about 1,773 U3As from 39 different countries, no wonder it has become a recognised non-governmental organisation with accreditation to the United Nations and other highly influential organisations.
The Francophone Model

The first U3A resulted partly from the French 1968 Law on the Direction of Higher Education which gave universities the obligation to provide for the organisation of lifelong education. At that time, France did not have anything corresponding to the British 'nightschool' tradition, but the Université de Troisième Age was to alter such a situation radically. The U3A phenomenon was born primarily from the ideas of Pierre Vellas, who recognised the combined vitality and longevity of many older persons in France, and believed that French universities should promote a combination of instruction for seniors, as well as gerontological research that improves the life of older persons. Vellas held that the goal of the U3A was to investigate without any preconceived notions, how the University could improve the quality of life of older persons who, as demographic statistics at that time suggested, were becoming more and more numerous and whose socio-economic conditions were often in a deplorable condition. In 1972, Vellas proposed the U3A idea to the Administrative Council of the Teaching and Research Unit in Toulouse, formed by representatives of the professors, students, administrative personnel, as well as three external members with important international responsibilities: the director-general of the World Health Organisation, the International Labour Organisation and UNESCO. The U3A proposal was unanimously adopted, and without any specific budgetary means but much preparatory work (to a large extent consultative and experimental in nature), four major objectives were formulated for this new educational enterprise. These included, raising the level of physical, mental, social health and the quality of life of older people, realising a permanent educational programme for older people in close relational with other age groups, that is the active and the young, co-ordinate gerontological research programmes, and last but not least, realising initial and permanent education programmes in gerontology.

The U3A in Toulouse was eventually opened to anyone over retirement age who could fill in a simple enrolment form and pay a nominal fee. The learning activities were scheduled for daylight hours, five days a week, for eight or nine months of the year. No qualifications or examinations were demanded, or indeed offered. After the programme was marketed on a limited basis, 100 older persons attended the opening session in the summer of 1973. Teachers were highly enthusiastic about the motivation and sheer human warmth displayed by older students, and marvelled at the way they learnt with new techniques such as audio-visual language laboratories. One must say here that initially there was nothing exceptional about this programme, apart from the fact that a section of a large provincial university had taken an interest in ageing, and decided to enlist the resources of the university in  programme for senior citizens which would at the same time provide some returns in pursuing research in order to define the needs of older persons. Yet, the successes were so swift that other groups were created very quickly in other parts of France. The Toulouse U3A model was eventually adopted by over 60 French campuses and by 1980 there were over 2,000 enrolled students. Although there were some variations in the way the innovation developed, almost all French U3As being developed in the early and late seventies had university affiliation, relied on using university facilities - including the services of faculty members, and generally offered programmes of study tailored toward older persons, such as the medical and social problems of ageing. Moreover lectures were combined with debates, field trips, and recreational and physical opportunities. In 1980, the movement was so popular and firmly established that a French National Organisation for U3As was established. This move established a striking contrast to the normal French highly centralised tradition in education, since the U3A movement has not been only provincial and decentralised, but also had also strong international tendencies. The U3A phenomenon was so successful that the bandwagon also travelled quickly to other French-speaking nations and by 1975 U3As had been established in Switzerland, Poland, Spain, Austria, Canada and the USA. It was clear that the Toulouse initiative struck a rich vein of motivation, with the result that this local provincial, summer experiment was taken over by this student programme. The U3A that proliferated across these continents were each an autonomous centre and developed as a uniquely local variant of the theme. Some had been established as separate constituents of an established university while others had developed through association between a university and a government or a municipal department responsible for the welfare of older persons.

The British Model

In 1979, a seminar of educational experts from France and Britain was held at Keele University. From the seminar there resulted an issuing of an educational manifesto which was to be the heart of the British U3A movement. It stated that "...the concept of elderly as both teachers and learners needs to replace the image of elders as intrinsically wise or the more recent image of elders as necessarily dependent or burdensome...Ageing is a lifelong process and so is education....Education for ageing and about older people must be developed through society....". Eventually, the U3A was transplanted in British Soil after Dr. Nik Coni, a consultant Geriatrician in Cambridge, made an expedition to study care of the aged in France. On his return a vote was taken at the Cambridge Trinity high table to start a U3A in Cambridge, endorsing the educational manifesto set earlier at Keele. The project was launched at a public meeting in the Guildhall in July 1981, with Dr. Eric Midwinter, then Director of the Centre for Policy on Ageing, launching a national campaign at the same time.

In contrast to the French experience the Cambridge U3A rejected the idea of pre-packaged courses for more or less passive digestion. Coni and his colleagues daringly demanded a kind of intellectual democracy in which there would be no distinction between the teachers and taught. British U3A co-ordinators appealed that all members would be expected to participate, and those who were reluctant to teach would contribute in some way such as administration or counselling. The co-ordinators at Cambridge therefore sought a kind of intellectual democracy in which there would be no distinction between the teachers and those being taught, and consequently, a self-help rather than a government-supported model was adopted. Self-help groups are voluntary, small group structures for mutual aid and the accomplishment for a specific purpose. They are usually formed by peers who have come together for mutual assistance in satisfying a common need, overcoming a common handicap or life-disrupting problem, and bringing about desired social and/or personal change. After two years of planning (1984), the first British U3A was formally constituted at Cambridge, and by two years later, it boasted of 115 groups and approximately 7,000 members. Latest statistics report an incidence of 266 British U3A centres with a total of over 40,000 members.

A highly important notion throughout the British U3A tradition was that the Cambridge coordinators broke from the Francophone model by embracing the self-help model. Although the roots of self-help philosophy in the work on Samuel Smiles (1837-1904), it was with the British U3As that the concept reached its culmination. The British U3Así objectives consisted in (i) educating the British society at large, (ii) assailing the dogma of intellectual decline with age and make those in their later years aware of their intellectual, cultural and aesthetic potentialities, (iii) providing retirees with the resources of development and intensification of their intellectual and cultural lives, (iv) creating an agency where there is no distinction between who teach and those who learn, (v) organising this institution where learning is pursued, skilled acquired, research opening pursued and intellectual interests developed for themselves alone, (vi) undertaking investigation into the process of ageing in British society, (vii) encouraging the establishment of similar institutions in every part of the country, and finally, (viii) helping to mobilise efforts to offer elderly persons in Britain other opportunities of educational stimulation on as wide a basis as possible.

Contrary to French U3As, U3As in Britain did not develop into campus-based organisations although the U3As in Lancaster and London University are notable exceptions. The British U3A was run as a loose federation of self-help groups practising a variety of learning/studying processes ranging from traditional but unpaid teaching to learning exchanges, as advocated by Ivan Illich in Deschooling Society. Rather than relying on professional and expert speakers as the French U3As do, British U3A conveners believed that there will be always enough knowledge and expertise within the group. In fact the  chief features are that the U3A group is incomplete control of its membership, that all stems from matters of personal choice and judgement, with standards for classes and other activities set by group membership, and with no qualifications sought or awarded. The group itself decides on the programme and activities, rather than relying on the offering of other providers. This provided a striking contrast with the French example and with prevailing educational packages, where experts design courses for the more or less passive digestion of mostly middle class recipients. Moreover, age was not put down as a requirement and the U3A was open to those who consider themselves in the third age and those who were prepared to support the activities and responsibilities of membership. No U3A was supported by an official state-founded educational organisation, thus putting the British U3A as a clear-cut example of an organisation totally independent of public control but dominated by those who have the personal and social advantages to pursue knowledge for its own sake. No money was paid for teaching, no qualifications were required nor granted, and the members took turns at teaching and learning.

The Maltese Experience

Malta is a relative latecomer in establishing its Universita tat-Terza' Eta (U3E). The U3E was eventually launched in January 1993 as part of the then Institute of Gerontology within the University of Malta, and holding the advantage of some 20 years of European experience to consult. The U3E is governed by a 'mission statement' that puts the provision of educational opportunities to older persons as an end in themselves as the institutionís overriding aim. Other objectives include (i) promoting the academic learning of its members in cultural, historical, social and other fields for their continued education, (ii) catering for the social and cultural activities of its members for their own self-fulfilment so that they will continue to feel as an integrative part of society and to contribute there too, (iii) giving attention to the requirements, inclinations and aptitudes of its members - and potential members in general - so as to enhance its activities and make them more attractive to third agers, (iv) appointing from its members competent leaders on a voluntary basis for all its activities, keeping up a proper balance between the cultural and social activities, as well as (v) joining international organisations and tend relations with U3As and other organisations for the elderly abroad and promote international exchange. The U3E is governed by two committees. Whilst, its academic matters are run by a Board of academics but which also includes one U3E member  representing her peers, the U3E's social undertakings are managed by an ëAssociationí which acts in liaison with the Division of Gerontology. This 'Association' co-ordinates and organises the extra circular activities such as travel tours, leisure outings and spiritual encounters - which provide an opportunity for members to meet, others to lead and organise, and above all to enhance solidarity amongst U3E members.

Postscript

Within the limits of this article, it has not been possible to discuss, in any detail, many of the intriguing ideas that are possible by U3As within an older adult educational framework. There has been no room for discussion for issues such as elitism, the characters and inspirations of individuals members, or the possibility of U3A using distance education approached through new communication technologies. Moreover, the important idea that more U3A members might participate in the stimulating and challenging pursuit of research could only be raised in passing. However, despite such possible limitations, there can be no doubt that the descriptions presented herein of the U3A movement paint a picture of a dynamic, flexible, accessible adult education movement that is meeting the wants and needs of rapidly growing numbers of older adults whose full potential has yet to be attained.