Abstract
Understanding what older people learn from their civic participation is of critical importance both for individuals and organisations. This link has been neglected in prior research, and the evidence across diverse cultural contexts is particularly limited. However, the political context of older people’s life experiences and participation is important in their participation. The intent of the present study is to explore the learnings experienced by older people through participation in seniors’ interest organisations, across Australia and Spain. Participants included 52 active members of political organisations focused on issues for older people. A questionnaire was used for data collection; participants’ responses to an open-ended question regarding what they have learnt from their participation in seniors’ interest organisations are analysed here. Participants’ answers were subjected to a multi-stage thematic analysis. Findings show three key themes relating to learnings about themselves, such as self-improvement or skills or knowledge; learnings about others, such as cooperation with others and understand that people have different views; and learning about society, such as inequality and the need to fight for injustice. The findings suggest some interesting similarities and differences across contexts, which appears to reflect the different political contexts of the two countries.
Résumé
Comprendre ce que les personnes âgées tirent de leur participation civique a une importance cruciale pour les individus et les organisations. Ce lien a été négligé dans les recherches antérieures et la preuve, dans différents contextes culturels, est particulièrement limitée. Le contexte politique des expériences de vie et de la participation des personnes âgées est toutefois essentiel à leur implication. Le but de la présente étude est d’explorer les apprentissages que les personnes âgées tirent de leur participation à des organisations du troisième âge en Australie et en Espagne. Les participants comptaient 52 membres actifs d’organisations politiques axées sur des enjeux touchant les personnes âgées. Les données ont été recueillies grâce à un questionnaire. Les répondants devaient répondre à une question à développement sur ce qu’ils avaient appris durant leur adhésion aux dites organisations et leurs réponses sont analysées ici. Les réponses des participants ont été soumises à une analyse thématique à phase multiple. Les résultats présentent trois principaux thèmes relatifs à l’apprentissage : en apprendre plus sur soi, dont l’amélioration de soi, ses compétences ou connaissances; en apprendre plus sur les autres, dont la coopération et la compréhension des opinions d’autrui; et en apprendre plus sur la société, dont les inégalités et la nécessité de lutter pour la justice. Les résultats suggèrent des similitudes et divergences intéressantes d’un contexte à l’autre, ce qui semble être le reflet des différents contextes politiques des deux pays.
Zusammenfassung
Kenntnisse darüber, was ältere Menschen von ihrer bürgerlichen Beteiligung lernen, ist sowohl für einzelne Personen als auch für Organisationen äußerst wichtig. Diese Verbindung wurde in bisherigen Forschungen vernachlässigt, wobei die Anhaltspunkte unterschiedlicher kulturübergreifender Kontexte besonders eingeschränkt sind. Dabei ist der politische Kontext der Lebens- und Partizipationserfahrungen älterer Menschen für ihre Beteiligung wichtig. Die vorliegende Studie will die Lernerfahrungen älterer Menschen im Rahmen ihrer Mitwirkung in Interessenorganisationen für Senioren in Australien und Spanien erforschen. 52 aktive Mitglieder politischer Organisationen, die sich auf die Belange älterer Menschen konzentrieren, nahmen an der Studie teil. Zur Datenerfassung wurde ein Fragebogen verwendet. Die Antworten der Teilnehmer auf offene Fragen zu ihren Lernerfahrungen aufgrund ihrer Mitwirkung in den Seniorenorganisationen werden hier analysiert. Die Antworten wurden einer mehrstufigen thematischen Analyse unterzogen. Die Ergebnisse enthüllen drei wesentliche Themenbereiche: das Lernen über die eigene Person, z. B. Selbstentwicklung, Fertigkeiten und Kenntnisse; das Lernen über andere, z. B. Zusammenarbeit mit anderen und die Erkenntnis, dass Menschen unterschiedliche Ansichten haben; und das Lernen über die Gesellschaft, z. B. Ungleichheit und die Notwendigkeit, sich für Gerechtigkeit einzusetzen. Die Ergebnisse weisen auf einige interessante Ähnlichkeiten und Unterschiede zwischen den Kontexten hin, was die unterschiedlichen politischen Kontexte der beiden Länder widerzuspiegeln scheint.
Resumen
Comprender lo que las personas mayores aprenden de su participación cívica es de importancia crítica tanto para los individuos como para las organizaciones. Este vínculo ha sido descuidado en investigaciones previas, y la evidencia en los diversos contextos culturales es particularmente limitada. Sin embargo, el contexto político de las experiencias vitales y la participación de las personas mayores es importante en su participación. La intención del presente estudio es explorar el aprendizaje experimentado por las personas mayores a través de la participación en organizaciones de interés para personas de la tercera edad, en Australia y en España. Los participantes consistieron en 52 miembros activos de organizaciones políticas centradas en problemáticas para las personas mayores. Se utilizó un cuestionario para la recopilación de los datos; las respuestas de los participantes a una pregunta abierta relativa a lo que han aprendido de su participación en organizaciones de interés personas de la tercera edad se analizan en el presente documento. Las respuestas de los participantes estuvieron sujetas a un análisis temático multi-etapas. Los hallazgos muestran tres temas claves relativos al aprendizaje sobre sí mismos, tales como la mejora personal o habilidades o conocimiento; al aprendizaje sobre otros, tales como la cooperación con otros y comprender que las personas tienen diferentes puntos de vista; y al aprendizaje sobre la sociedad, tales como la desigualdad y la necesidad de luchar por la justicia. Los hallazgos sugieren algunas similitudes y diferencias interesantes según los contextos, que parecen reflejar los diferentes contextos políticos de los dos países.
摘要
了解老年人在其参与公众活动中的学习经验对个人和组织都至关重要。这条关系链在早期研究中一直被忽视,不同文化背景下的证明资料非常有限。本研究旨在通过在澳大利亚和西班牙两国参加老年人兴趣组织进而探索老年人的学习经验。参与者包括来自关注老年人问题的政治组织的52名正式成员。填写问卷调查用于数据收集;在此分析参与者对开放式问题的反应,以此作为他们从参加老年人兴趣组织中学到的经验。对参与者的回答进行了多级主题分析。研究发现了关于学习自身的三大关键主题,如:自我修养或自理能力或自我认识;学习别人,如:与人合作和对不同的人有不同观点的理解;学习社会,如:不平等和为不平等而战的需要。研究结果显示了不同背景下一些有意思的相似点和不同点,似乎反映出两国之间的不同政治背景。
ملخص
فهم ما يتعلمه كبار السن من مشاركتهم المدنية يعتبرأمر بالغ الأهمية سواء بالنسبة للأفراد والمؤسسات.قد أهمل هذا الرابط في بحث سابق، والأدلة عبر سياقات ثقافية متنوعة محدودة للغاية. مع ذلك، فإن السياق السياسي من تجارب حياة كبار السن ومشاركتهم مهم في مشاركتهم. القصد من هذه الدراسة الحالية هو إكتشاف خبرة المعرفة عن طريق كبار السن من خلال المشاركة في منظمات كبار السن ذو المصلحة ، في جميع أنحاء أستراليا وأسبانيا. من بين المشاركين 52 عضو فعال في المؤسسات السياسية التي تركز على قضايا كبار السن. تم إستخدام إستبيان لجمع البيانات؛ يتم تحليل الردودعلى سؤال مفتوح حول ما تعلموه من مشاركة المسنين المشاركين في المنظمات ذات المصلحة هنا. تعرض إجابات المشاركين على تحليل موضوعي متعدد المراحل. النتائج تظهر ثلاثة مواضيع رئيسية تتعلق بالمعرفةعن أنفسهم، مثل تحسين الذات أو المهارات أو المعرفة؛ التعلم عن الآخرين، مثل التعاون مع الآخرين وفهم أن الناس لديهم وجهات نظر مختلفة. للمعرفة عن المجتمع، مثل عدم المساواة وضرورة محاربة الظلم. تشير النتائج إلى بعض أوجه التشابه والإختلاف مثيرة للإهتمام عبرالسياقات، التي يبدو أنها تعكس السياقات السياسية المختلفة بين البلدين.
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The authors wish to thank the participants who generously offered their time during the course of this research.
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The first author of this manuscript was supported by an Endeavour Research Fellowship (Department of Education and Training, Australian Government, Reference 4329_2015).
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Serrat, R., Warburton, J., Petriwskyj, A. et al. Political Participation and Late-Life Learning: A Cross-Cultural Study of Older People’s Participation in Seniors’ Interest Organisations in Australia and Spain. Voluntas 28, 265–287 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-016-9808-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-016-9808-y