Leaving aside the negative conception based on the deficits and damaged caused by age and going for a positive vision, appreciating the experience and wisdom of life and considering the old age as a stage full of possibilities to achieve personal fulfilment, is getting more and more important in the field of adult education and is the object of this book written by professors of the University of Granada Matías Bédmar Moreno, María Dolores Fresneda López and Juana Muñoz López.
“Gerontagogy. Adult education”, which has just been edited by the academic institution of Granada and responds to the contents of the new speciality of Gerontagogy, the deepening in the study of adults as a field of study for Social Pedagogy.
According to the authors of this book, adults are valuable for society through the multiple voluntary work activities they carry out and, at the same time, they make true the idea of education all through life with their continuous eagerness to be up to date, use the opportunities they could not enjoy, acquire the knowledge to use the new technologies and understand present world.
According to the professors of the University of Granada Matías Bédmar Moreno, María Dolores Fresneda López and Juana Muñoz López, “the advances in health sciences and the better environmental conditions have prolonged life expectancy. There has been an important transformation of the notion of ageing in the last decades. However, this stage is not always positive, as some adults try to be like the young and live like them without achieving it, which involves negative consequences”.
According to the authors of this book, it is necessary to change social prejudices and stereotypes that transmit a negative vision of the old age. “You are old, they say, when you forget your life ideals and stop growing and not when you reach certain age. During the old age the evolutionary process of personal growth can continue, as education can develop all through life. To this extent social relations, the communication with the others and social participation are necessary, where the role of education is still crucial.”
Reference:
Professor Matías Bédmar Moreno. Department of Pedagogy. University of Granada.
Phone number: 958 243 756
E-mail: bedmar@.ugr.es
Professor María Dolores Fresneda López. Department of Personality, Assessment and Psychological Treatment. University of Granada.
Phone number: 958 243 558
E-mail: fresneda@ugr.es
Professor Juana Muñoz López. Department of Personality, Assessment and Psychological Treatment. University of Granada.
Phone number: 958 244 275
E-mail: jmuñoz@ugr.es
