Universities of the Third Age : a rationale for transformative education in later life

Abstract

This article addresses the political context of third-age learning. It aims to expose how relations of power and inequality, in their myriad combinations and complexities, are manifest in Universities of the Third Age [U3As]. The dominant functionalist approach towards late-life learning is jettisoned in favor of a socio-political framework that asks: whose interests are really being served? and, who controls the learning process? It highlights the role of U3As in reproducing unequal relations in later life with special emphasis on positive ageism, elitism, gender, and third ageism. The article ends by proposing a possible way forward away from a neo-liberal ideology through a transformative rationale for older adult education based on the values of social justice, social leveling and social cohesion. Seven principles are forwarded: a transformational agenda, widening participation, critical geragogy, elearning, pre-retirement education, intergenerational learning, and fourth age learning.