impairment ~ the fact that a part of your body is unable to do something fully (upoéledzenie) intermediary ~ someone who talks to each of the people involved in something trying to persuade thom to agree with each other (posrednik, mediator) leisure — activities that you do to relax or enjoy yourself (rekreacja, wypoczynek) life expectancy - the length of time that someone is likely to live (Grednia dlugosé Zycia) life span — the length of time that a person lives or is expected to live (dlugosé, czas trwania zycia) limb — an arm or a leg (koficzyna) posture — a position of the body (postawa, postura) stooping — bending the top half of your body downwards (przygar- biony) take up ~ start doing something new (zainteresowaé sie czym§) transition — passage from one form to another (przemiana, pr2ejécie w inny stan) update - to bring up to date (aktualizowaé) upgrade - to increase, improve (rozszerzaé, ulepszaé) vulnerable — easily hurt or harmed physically, mentally or ‘emotionally (cauly, bezbronny, podatny na) be widowed - to become a widow or widower (owdowie6) wrinkle ~ a small line or fold that appears on your skin when you grow older (zmarszezka) SECTION 15: STRUCTURE AND AGENCY IN LATE-LIFE LEARNING In the past quarter century, an entirely new kind of education has come into being: called, variously, older adult education, late-life learning, and education for the third age. Though it arose inside higher education, those same educational institutions have paid little attention to it, Late-life learning, even as it has grown in scale, has remained marginal, even invisible from the standpoint of “official” systems of control. This marginality has inadvertently permitted older adult education to be free and experimental, but there is also a negative side to it — it has remained underfunded. Elderhostel Elderhostel was founded in 1975 in the USA. It began as an effort to provide late-life learning opportunities by using low-cost summer dormitory facilities at the university. Its programs in the USA are typically 6 days long, with 3 classes each day, drawing on subjects from the liberal arts, broadly understood. There are no tests, grades, or other requirements of conventional education. Formal classes are complemented by field trips and cultural events to take advantage of the local environment. Both structure and agency have been critical elements in the evolution of Elderhostel. On the one hand, Elderhostel operates as a franchise, and the term “Elderhostel” is a legally registered trademark. However, instead of a predictable, cookie-cutter approach to educational offerings, Elderhostel has insisted only on a few essential requirements ~ 3 formal class meetings each day, liberal arts orientation, absence of grades or other elements of conventional education, and all costs kept to a minimum. Beyond these elements of quality control, local providers are free to innovate and create programs that reflect local interest and variety. It is a successful example of the slogan “Think globally, act locally”. Who are the participants in Elderhostel programs? Their average age is 70. Nearly two-thirds are female and a similar proportion are 99college graduates. More than half of Elderhostelers have attended graduate school, they tend to be in excellent health, and their average income is comparable to “Gold Card” members of American Express. Further, we must note that, despite its global reach ~ Elderhostel now has programs in over 60 countries around the world ~ it remains an American enterprise. Motivations for Learning ‘The program, from its inception, has spent virtually nothing on advertising and marketing, relying entirely on word-of-mouth and distribution of its catalog by mail. Motives and reasons were diverse: location and dates, program characteristics and course content, accommodations, cost, and so on. People attending the program are not so much buying a “commodity” as pursuing a particular kind of experience. ‘The participants are motivated to learn in order to achieve a sense of personal control or mastery - qualities that enhance personal agency. This motivation does not mean that Elderhostelers are all “independent scholars” or purely self-directed learners. The participants do not plan their own learning but are quite willing to accept control by others, which is in keeping with the careful preparation that tends to make up a successful Elderhostel program. On the other hand, Elderhostelers do not want to remain merely passive recipients of information. They prefer to have an opportunity to try out personal ways of constructing meaning from knowledge presented in the formal classroom setting. Thus, group discussion and social interaction outside class becomes of paramount importance for successfull Elderhostel programs. Elderhostel and the Marketplace Elderhostel makes use of a market system for organizing older adult education, Administratively, the Elderhostel central office uses management and computer systems no different from those found in any other large commercial enterprise. But the Elderhostel market mechanism is guided by nonprofit principles. Because there is no need to earn a return for stockholders, the bargaining power of the organization is used to keep prices low for participants. ‘The market structure within Elderhostel is guided by educational values which are not sacrificed for the marketplace. Elderhostel has 100 —— remained faithful to its mission and committed to liberal arts philosophy. If it were operating as a profit-making business, it would never offer up to 10,000 different local courses and programs but instead would standardize offerings and concentrate on a small number of high-profit “product lines”. The success of Elderhostel offers an important lesson in political economy for the 21* century — it, is eminently possible to use the market structure for purposes that enhance solidarity and human fulfillment. The vision of developmental possibilities of education for the last stage of life is by no means merely utopian, We can envisage the future by taking account of the historical accomplishments evident in the best: ‘examples of learning in Elderhostel in countries throughout the world. In making learning more accessible, we should resist any temptation simply to make it more popular or to dofine success in terms of numbers alone. On the contrary, we should remember that the quality and the nobility of late-life learning often comes precisely because learning is challenging, provocative, and difficult. Adapted from Structure and agency in late-life learning by Moody, 2004 TASKS (i) Finish these sentences using the information from the text: . The biggest advantage of the marginality of late-life learning is. . The biggest disadvantage of the marginality of late-life learning is. . Elderhostel was established in... . A typical Elderhostel program in the USA. A franchise, in the case of Elderhostel, means that... An Elderhosteler is. People find out about Elderhostel programs from... . People decide to join a program because... ). Elderhostelers meet outside classroom to... 10, Elderhostel is a worldwide organisation that earns... Sens aS 101(ii) Read again some fragments of the text below. Replace the words in italics with the following words: available / highly / perspective / beginning / offer / different / inactive / aL 5. 102 supreme / predict / officially / only the term “Elderhostel” is a legally registered trademark, ‘The program, from its inception, has spent virtually nothing on advertising and marketing. In making learning more accessible, we should resist any temptation simply to make it, more popular. ‘Thus, group discussion and social interaction outside class becomes of paramount importance for successful Elderhostel programs. Late-life learning has remained marginal, even invisible from the standpoint of “official” systems of control. |. We can envisage the future by taking account of the historical accomplishments evident in the best examples of learning. Te began as an effort to provide late-life learning opportunities by using low-cost summer dormitory facilities at the university. .. it is eminently possible to use the market structure for purposes that enhance solidarity and human fulfillment. Elderhostelers do not want to remain merely passive recipients of information. Motives and reasons were diverse: location and dates, program characteristics and course content, accommodations, cost, and so on. i) Some words in the text have been underlined. Match them with definitions and explanations below. unable to be seen ue the money that you earn from your work or that you receive from investments lodgings, rooms sometimes also including board, food, services the feeling of being satisfied, especially in your job, because you are using all your skills and qualities things that are compulsory, necessary . a strong desire to have or do something even though you know you should not a . to make all the things of one particular type the same as each other . to start to use new ideas, methods, or inventions ._ a company, organisation, or business . fandamental truths or propositions that serve as the foundation for a system of beliefs or behaviour or for a chain of reasoning (iv) Fill in the sentences with the following words which are taken from the above text. variously / permitted / experimental / trademark / predictable | reach / mastery / stockholders / sacrificed / stage of his fame, .. estimated at between $1 and $2 1, He told the story to illustrate the .. 2. His fortune has been billion, 3. It would be unwise to comment at this coo of the negotiations. 4, Smoking is only... in the public lounge. 5. She combines technical ... of her instrument with great flair and originality. 6. He vnnnsuu @ promising career to look after his handicapped daughter. 7. The outcome of these experiments is not always entirely ... 8, The WordPress Foundation owns and oversees the the WordPress and WordCamp names and logos. 9. As .. you have the right to share in the profits of the firm, 10, wnncsne research is condueted mostly in laboratories in the context of basie research. for Now, complete the sentences with some of the above words, but change the word form. a. If you want to take photographs, you must ask warden. from the 103b, It’s not worth c. It's difficult to .. will be, d. He conducted a .. . analysis of the text ~ it was brilliant! e. Joule carried out a series of simple to test his theory. £. This dress is available in... colours. .» your health for your career. .. what the long-term effects of the accident (v) Match the words on the left with the words on the right to form collocations. Then, translate the phrases into Polish. 1. pay 45, |) income 2wracaé uwage na 608 2, liberal ») trip 8, fold ©) arts 4, cookie @) setting 5. average ©) facilites 6. social D cutter 7. commercial 8) reach 8, dormitory 1B) enterprise 9. global 2 interaction 10, elaseroom 3) attention to something GLOSSARY accessible ~ easy to obtain or use (dostepny) broadly — in a general way, covering the main facts rather than details (szeroko; og6tnie) by no means - not at all (w éadnym wypadku; weale nie) eminently ~ to a very high degree; perfectly (wysoce) enhance - to improve something (poprawié, wzmocnié) envisage - to imagine that something will happen in the future (przewidywaé) franchise — permission to sell a company’s goods or service that is given or sold to a business person (franezyza) graduate ~ someone who has completed a course at a college or university (absolwent) inadvertently - without realizing what you are doing (nieumyéInie; przez nieuwage) 104 inception - the start of an organisation or institution (powstanie; rozpoczecie) the marketplace ~ the part of business activity which is concerned with selling goods (rynek) nobility — the quality of being noble in character or appearance (szlachetnosé) of paramount importance ~ more important than anything else (najwyiszej wagi) participant — someone who is taking part in an activity or event (uczestnik) predictable if the result of something is predictable, you know what it will be before it happens (przewidywalny, do przewidzenia) recipient — someone who receives something (odbiorca) reflect ~ to show or be a sign of a particular situation or feeling (odewiorciedlaé) veturn - the amount of profit that you get from something (zysk) sacrifice ~ to willingly stop having something you want or doing something you like in order to get something more important (poswigcié) stage — a particular time or state that something reaches as it grows or develops (etap) standpoint ~ a way of thinking about people, situations, ideas, ete. (punkt widzenia, stanowisko) stockholder (AmE) / shareholder (BrE) ~ someone who owns stocks in a business (akejonariusz; udzialowiec) trademark — a special name, sign, or word that is marked on aproduct to show that it is made by a particular company (zastrzezony znak towarowy) underfunded ~ not provided with enough money (niedofinansowany) variety — a lot of particular type of things that are different from each other (réinorodnosé; rozmaitosé) variously ~ used to introduce a number of different descriptions, amounts, ete. that people have made or used about something (réinie) virtually — so nearly that any difference is not. important; almost (praktycznie; w zasadzie) word-of-mouth - orally communicated (ustne rekomendacje; poczta pantoflowa) 105