The Educator in the Portuguese Senior University

Jacob, Luis; Flauzino, Karina de Lima; Cachioni, Meire

doi:10.1590/2175-6236123514vs02

Luis Jacob E-mail: luis@rutis.pt

Instituto Politécnico de Santarém (IPSantarém), Santarém – Portugal

Luis Jacob is a professor at the Higher School of Education of Santarém (ESES). He is doing postdoctoral work at the University of São Paulo (USP). He holds a PhD in Knowledge Society / Education Sciences from the University of Salamanca (USAL) and a Master’s in Human Resources Development Policies from the University Institute of Lisbon (ISCTE) Lisbon.

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6434-1996

Karina de Lima Flauzino E-mail: karinageronto@gmail.com

Universidade de São Paulo (USP), São Paulo/SP – Brasil

Karina de Lima Flauzino holds a master’s degree in Science from the Graduate Program in Gerontology at the School of Arts, Sciences and Humanities of the University of São Paulo (EACH/USP). She specialises in Political Psychology, Public Policy and Social Movements and has a BA in Gerontology from EACH / USP.

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8062-3336

Meire Cachioni E-mail: meirec@usp.br

Universidade de São Paulo (USP), São Paulo/SP – Brasil

Meire Cachioni is an associate professor at the University of São Paulo (USP). It has two postdoctoral, one in Gerontology from the Abel Salazar Institute of Biomedical Sciences of the University of Porto (UP) and another in Education from the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), as well as having a doctorate in Gerontology and a master’s degree in Education from the same institution.

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5220-410X

Luis Jacob is a professor at the Higher School of Education of Santarém (ESES). He is doing postdoctoral work at the University of São Paulo (USP). He holds a PhD in Knowledge Society / Education Sciences from the University of Salamanca (USAL) and a Master’s in Human Resources Development Policies from the University Institute of Lisbon (ISCTE) Lisbon.

E-mail: luis@rutis.pt

Karina de Lima Flauzino holds a master’s degree in Science from the Graduate Program in Gerontology at the School of Arts, Sciences and Humanities of the University of São Paulo (EACH/USP). She specialises in Political Psychology, Public Policy and Social Movements and has a BA in Gerontology from EACH / USP.

E-mail: karinageronto@gmail.com

Meire Cachioni is an associate professor at the University of São Paulo (USP). It has two postdoctoral, one in Gerontology from the Abel Salazar Institute of Biomedical Sciences of the University of Porto (UP) and another in Education from the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), as well as having a doctorate in Gerontology and a master’s degree in Education from the same institution.

E-mail: meirec@usp.br

Editor in charge: Carla Karnoppi Vasques

Target audience	Questions in the online questionnaire
Seniors	(Q1) – As a learner, what do you consider to be most important in order to be an educator in a senior university? (Q2) – As a learner, which advice would you give to a person who is starting to give classes to older learners?
Educators	(Q3) – What do you consider to be most important in order to be an educator in a senior university? (Q4) – What advice would you give to a person who is starting to give classes to older learners? (Q5) – What are the main challenges when teaching older learners?
Technical professionals (researchers and specialists)	(Q6) - What do you consider to be most important in order to be an educator in a senior university? (Q7) - What advice would you give to a person who is starting to give classes to older learners?

Thematic axes and definitions	Categories, subcategories e sample examples^* * Some messages used as illustrations may belong to more than one category.
Technical (Code: T) Refers to the participants’ messages related to technical knowledge and abilities, which may include pedagogic practices and facilitating strategies (approaches used by educators in order to facilitate or support the practice of teaching older people).	1. Knowledge (Code: TK) E3TK101^ Explanation of the code used. : “Knowledge and competences in the area in question, ability to communicate and pedagogical competencies”.
	2. Ability (Code: TA)
	2.1 Identify (Code: TAI) T6TAI13: “To know what the older students would like to develop within the topic for which [the educator] was requested”.
	2.2 Communicate (Code: TAC) S1TAC25: “Ability to communicate”.
	2.3 Interact (Code: TAT) E3TAT51: “The [educator’s] ability to have a good relationship with the learners”.
Affective (Code: A) Refers to the participants’ messages related to social and affective abilities, as well as personal and expressive qualities.	3. Attention (Code: AA)
	3.1 Availability (Code: AAA) E4AAA43: “Availability and versatility”.
	3.2 Share (Code: AAS) S1AAS85: “To share knowledge. Older students have fantastic life stories”.
	3.3 Listen (Code: AAL) S2AAL68: “To know how to listen to the experiences lived and shared by the students”.
	4. Expression (Code: AE) E4AE48: “Empathy, patience, dedication”.
Difficulties (Code: D) Refers to the educator’ messages related to the main difficulties when teaching older adults.	1. Physical and cognitive abilities (Code: DA) E5DA43: “[learners’] dexterity and ability to comprehending, which sometimes are no longer adequate”.
	2. Heterogeneity of the seniors (Code: DH) E5DH62: “Heterogeneity among levels of knowledge [and the learners] learning ability. These are challenging for any educator”.
	3. Pedagogic organisation and practice (Code: DP) E5DP5: “To find topics which are interesting to this target audience”.
	4. Others (Code: DO) E5DO57: “To receive the news about a student’s death”.
	5. No difficulties (Code: DN) E5DN60: “Honestly, there is no difficulty, only the feeling of pleasure and satisfaction”.

Categories and Subcategories			Seniors N^* * N value amounts to the number of registration units identified in the messages. (%)		Educators N (%)		Technical professionals N (%)		Total N (%)
Categories and Subcategories			Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Q6	Q7
Technical Axis	1. Knowledge		40(36)	20(26)	21(30)	6(15)	8(44)	10(56)	105(31)
	2. Abilities		-	-	-	-	-	-	-
		2.1 Identify	8(7)	28(36)	11(16)	18(46)	6(33)	4(22)	75(22)
		2.2 Communicate	39(35)	10(13)	16(23)	6(15)	1(6)	3(17)	75(22)
		2.3 Interact	25(22)	20(26)	21(30)	9(23)	3(17)	1(6)	79(24)
	Subtotal N		112	78	69	39	18	18	334
Affective Axis	3. Attention		-	-	-	-	-	-	-
		3.1 Availability	11(12)	13(15)	12(17)	19(21)	2(17)	3(43)	60(17)
		3.2 Share	26(29)	13(15)	21(29)	15(16)	0	1(14)	76(21)
		3.3 Listen	2(2)	6(7)	8(11)	15(16)	1(8)	0	32(9)
	Expression		51(57)	57(64)	31(43)	42(46)	9(75)	3(43)	193(53)
	Subtotal N		90	89	72	91	12	7	361

[1] Luis Jacob is a professor at the Higher School of Education of Santarém (ESES). He is doing postdoctoral work at the University of São Paulo (USP). He holds a PhD in Knowledge Society / Education Sciences from the University of Salamanca (USAL) and a Master’s in Human Resources Development Policies from the University Institute of Lisbon (ISCTE) Lisbon.

Brasil

Brasil

The Educator in the Portuguese Senior University

ABSTRACT