Formação profissional, motivos e crenças relativas a velhice e ao desenvolvimento pessoal entre professores de Universidades da Terceira Idade

AUTOR(ES)
DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

2002

RESUMO

Systematic enrollment in education of experts designed to the attendance of the instructional, administrative and research requirements associated to the improving participation of older adults, is an important challenge to be faced by those universities that maintains educational programs addressed to older people. This kind of action is an indicator of the University´s commitment toward people aging in an aging society. Research on educational, professional, motivational and psychological characteristics of the faculty of such programs can contribute to the planning of actions addressed to ameliorate his professional performance. This thesis vehiculates nine studies that include 102 teachers working in seven Brazilian Universities of Third Age. The aims were to describe their: a) socio-demographic, educational and professional characteristics; b) professional and personal motivation related to teaching to older people; c) beliefs toward aging; d) basic knowledge related to aging; e) self-reports on psychological well-being, in this study called level of personal development; e) relationships between these psychological variables and gender, age, education and job. The programs were the most representative among those pertaining to an universe formerly categorized in six educational models, accordingly their objectives, ideology of aging, education of old people, and procedures. The instruments for data collection were: a) a questionnaire surveying socio-demographic, educational, and professional variables, as well as motives to the involvement with old people; b) a 30 items differential semantic scale assessing beliefs toward aging, which were organized into four factorial domains - agency, cognition, social relations, and persona; c) a 30 items scale of psychological well-being, assessing self-beliefs on autonomy, personal growing, control, positive relations with others, proposal, self-acceptance, and generativity; d) a questionnaire assessing gerontological knowledge related to the physical, cognitive, psychological and social aspects of functioning. The majority of teachers were graduated from two fields – a) social/human sciences, and b) biological sciences/health. All of them were previously teaching and researching in the regular formal courses of their institutions. They had a restrict previous experience in teaching to older people. Some of them had worked in the field of health. A half of them never participated of gerontological courses, neither of study groups; thirteen had obtained a formal entitlement of expert in gerontology or geriatrics. All them reported strong personal and professional motivation, as well as feelings of gain by being working with older persons. It was observed a general positive orientation with respect to the beliefs toward aging, but the oldest and more skilled among the teachers, seem to have a better understanding concerning the heterogeneous character of old age than the less skilled do. The highest performance toward basic knowledge about aging was those related to the physical and cognitive domains; among those that work in biological sciences/health; among the experts in gerontology or geriatrics. It was mostly exhibit by participants of study groups on gerontology, and by the most experienced. The oldest teachers (and among them those that are social scientists) scored higher in psychological well-being than the other subjects do. Teaching to older people provides opportunities to personal and cultural exchanges, and to the development of the senses of integrity and generativity. So, living in contact with educational programs addressed to older adults seems to be a locus to the development of adaptive responses in old people, and of a successful aging to the professionals as well.

ASSUNTO(S)

comunidade e universidade professores idosos motivação (psicologia) personalidade professores

ACESSO AO ARTIGO

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