Quality Challenges in the Education of Older Adults at University
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37886/Keywords:
education, older adults, quality, university, ethics of careAbstract
Research question (RQ): How to design a quality system for older adult education at university considering the ethics of care?
Purpose: To determine whether the ethics of care is an appropriate conceptual framework for developing the quality of education for older adults at university.
Method: The research was based on the characteristics of quality assessment in adult education. A qualitative paradigm of empirical research was used, employing semi-structured interviews.
Results: As education for older adults at universities is a relatively new practice, no models for quality assurance and monitoring have yet been developed. Through analysis of the interviews, we found that the proposed conceptual framework – ethics of care – is suitable for developing the starting points for a model of quality in education for older adults at universities. The teachers interviewed believe that responsiveness, accessibility, inclusiveness and process orientation are important aspects of the quality of education for older adults at universities, which also influence the development of indicators and evaluation instruments.
Organisation: The findings will influence the development of new practices for the education of older people at universities. A quality model for the education of older people will be developed, which will also be useful in organising education and counselling for older employees.
Society: In a longevitysociety, we need new models for evaluating innovative practices for older people. The findings of the research are a source for further reflection and development of an evaluation system for the education of older people in the working, local and university/educational environment.
Originality: We have not found any research on the quality of education for older people, either in the workplace or in formal education settings. The research combines post-anthropocentric theories of care and new educational practices to highlight the development of excellence by moving away from the principles of industrial productivity.
Limitations/further research: The limitation of the study is the relatively small sample of teachers who were included in the study, so samples from other universities should be included in future studies, which was not possible in this study because similar practices have not yet been developed in Slovenia and the nearby (culturally similar) region.
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