Abstract
An increased interest in gerontological (old age) education has been recently observed in Poland. It is moreover claimed that this discipline has undergone a rapid development. This observation is particularly true in the context of the Universities of Third Age (U3A) movement. In this paper, we would like to revise current concepts, developed for the purpose of gerontological education, and then contribute to the overall discussion to stress that there is a need to include all education-oriented activities related to old age and ageing in various aspects as one integrated theoretical concept. We would like to address this topic in a holistic manner. However, we aim to connect the aspect of the recent development of old age-focused educational activities carried out in Poland with some data that has not been published before. This will provide an option to understand the development of education of these concepts in Poland as well as help to identify the drawbacks of this process. We will contribute an in-depth evaluation of this process in Poland and outline future needs which have to be met to use all opportunities to prepare both the present and future society for the rapid ageing of Poland’s population.
Highlights
A rapid population ageing in Poland1 has recently changed the way of treating and perceiving the older population and the old age phenomena in various policies.2 Due to the awareness of the population ageing, mostly there is a discussion on its impact on the related economic aspects, including employment.3 In Poland, even the life–long learning became somehow a fashion
The aim of this paper is to present a theoretical approach of gerontological education to evaluate its condition in Poland until the end of 2015
The paper consists of an introduction and a brief outline of theoretical aspects which will be illustrated by data and examples of various types of education related to old age
Summary
A rapid population ageing in Poland has recently changed the way of treating and perceiving the older population and the old age phenomena in various policies. Due to the awareness of the population ageing, mostly there is a discussion on its impact on the related economic aspects, including employment. In Poland, even the life–long learning became somehow a fashion A tendency to establish new Universities of the Third Age (U3A) in Poland has been observed (the first University of the Third Age was established in 1975, and in 2007, there were 127, and at the end of 2015 more than 500; in March 2016, there were already 555 these Universities). A tendency to establish new Universities of the Third Age (U3A) in Poland has been observed (the first University of the Third Age was established in 1975, and in 2007, there were 127, and at the end of 2015 more than 500; in March 2016, there were already 555 these Universities5) They operate in various institutional forms and under various names.. The paper consists of an introduction and a brief outline of theoretical aspects which will be illustrated by data and examples of various types of education related to old age. The final section of the paper contains conclusions which will offer policy recommendations
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