Computer literacy has recently emerged as a new topic, complementing traditional literacy. While this issue affects every one of us, it is particularly important for people of post-productive age, who have not been able to become acquainted with information technology during their professional life. The National Computer Literacy Program provided a great opportunity to eliminate this illiteracy; unfortunately it came to an end together with termination of the Ministry of Informatics of the Czech Republic. It is striking that the State has been preparing projects in the area of e-Government, electronic census and electronic elections without having any developmental strategy for users of these ambitious projects. An opportunity to improve personal skills after the end of a professional career is provided by the University of the Third Age at the University of Economics, where students learn to use not only computers, but also the multimedia in the Graphic and Multimedia Laboratory. Unfortunately, this university is not accessible to everyone. The limitations consist particularly in the precondition of completed secondary education, but also in the available capacity. Thus, an option that is really available to everyone lies in the commercial sector, which offers a wide range of courses. These courses are provided either by software companies or by the ECDL (European Computer Driving License).

This work focuses on the themes of old age, ageing and dementia. It seeks to explore how people who are caring for a loved one with dementia construct their ideas about the illness and how their experience of caring translates into their ideas about old age and ageing. These themes are discussed against the background of the third age, active ageing and the social imagination of the fourth age as conceived by Gilleard and Higgs. The thesis shows how the respondents form their ideas about their own old age in the context of third age culture, what aspects of old age they consider most important, and conversely what constitutes for them an image of a bad old age. At the same time, this thesis captures the respondents' experience of caring for their parent and how they construct ideas about this illness on the basis of this experience. The specific aspects of the disease of dementia are discussed in the context of key elements of the social imaginary of the fourth age and its most debated concepts, including the concept of personhood. The problematic aspects of the disease are reflected in the experience of caring for a loved one with dementia, and reflected in the fear of the disease in terms of their impact on the relationship with the parent, the nature and need for care.

The thesis "Civic participation of older people in the context of the University of the Third Age" focuses on the role of civic participation in the lives of active older people who attend the University of the Third Age. This role is examined in the context of adult education, specifically through a leisure education program, which is dedicated to educating older people, i.e. the University of the Third Age. From a demographic perspective, the elderly population will continue to grow. This will be unavoidably reflected in the development of civil society in which older people participate. This makes it relevant to pay older people as an active group more research attention. Qualitative data were collected via in-depth interviews. Attention was paid namely to the interviewees' attitudes to and experience of civic participation they have accumulated over their life course. The analysed respondents' accounts indicate that they understand participation as activities related to politics and as politically oriented activities. They attach the greatest importance to political participation. Formal participation also occurs, but the respondents do not stress this participation as they rather take it for granted.

This thesis is dedicated to women who were called "the super women" during the communist era. Their mission was to combine their profession with taking care of their children alongside of being a housewife. Even though the traditional model of the men supporting the whole family changed to more democratic model with the both man and woman supporting the family, the housekeeping and taking care of children still stayed the wive's responsibility. In the period of communism, women were "double burdened". They dedicated their lives for their families and the free time they had, which was less then what men had, mostly corresponded with the interests of children and the whole family. In this thesis I focus on how these women live nowadays. They have already retired and after losing their partner they now live alone. I also focus on how they deal with this different life situation and changes in their social roles. I work with the theoretical approaches of emancipated femininity and active aging as a way to cope with changes in social status. I chose the qualitative approach as a research method. It is implemented in this diploma thesis by analyzing thorough interviews with widowed seniors.

La hausse démographique de la population des aînés dans le dernier tiers du XX siècle et leur désir d’une retraite productive où ils puissent réinventer une nouvelle étape de leur vie, ont produit un changement dans les salles de classes des institutions formelles et informelles au Québec. Les aînés d’aujourd’hui retournent aux salles de classes mais pas pour la même raison que lorsqu’ils étaient adolescents ou étudiants à l’université, là où l’éducation était connectée aux objectifs professionnels et à la promotion sociale, mais plutôt avec le désir d’intégration continue et de la croissance personnelle. Ce désir est traduit par un apprentissage tout au long de la vie. En effet, l’éducation du Troisième âge devient importante, ainsi que la gérontagogie (branche de la gérontologie) qui étudie le processus d’apprentissage des aînés. Le rôle des Universités du troisième âge (UTA) demeure important mais aussi celui des institutions diverses comme par exemple les « Elder Hostels » et les Centres Communautaires. Dans ce contexte-ci, et basé sur nôtre expérience d’animateur d’ateliers d’espagnol d’une Université (de la province) du Québec, nous présentons quelques méthodologies et stratégies appliquées aux cours d’espagnol langue étrangère (ELE). Ces méthodologies et stratégies sont résumées dans un journal du professeur qui nous aidera à observer le niveau d’efficacité de celles-ci dans les ateliers de conversation. Ainsi, nous avons la possibilité de créer notre propre approche méthodologique qui pourra venir en aide à d’autres professeurs d’espagnol. / The demographic growth of the senior population in the last third of the XX century, and their desire to choose a productive retirement which allows them to reinvent themselves in this new stage of their life, have resulted in changes in the environment in the classroom of formal and informal educational institutions in Quebec. Today’s seniors return to school with very different objectives from the time they were teenagers or university students, when education was connected to career goals and social advancement. They want to return for personal growth through life-long learning. Actually, as our population ages, Third Age Education has become increasingly important along with the area of Gerontagogy (branch of Gerontology) which addresses the learning needs of seniors. In addition, the role of the Universities of Third Age and other institutions such the Elder Hostels and Community Centers dedicated to seniors becomes more important. In this context, and based on our own experience as an instructor of Spanish workshops at a university in the province of Quebec, we introduce some of the methodologies and strategies applied in our courses of Spanish foreign language (ELE). These methodologies and strategies are summarized in our teacher diary. The teacher diary will help us to observe the level of effectiveness of these strategies in conversation workshops, which in turn, will allow for the creation of our own methodological approach. Hopefully this will help other Spanish teachers of seniors. / El aumento demográfico de la población de adultos mayores en el último tercio del siglo XX y el deseo de los mismos en optar por una jubilación productiva que los lleve a reinventarse en una nueva etapa de su vida, han producido un cambio en las aulas de las instituciones formales e informales en Quebec. Los adultos mayores de hoy vuelven a las aulas, pero no de manera formal como cuando eran adolescentes o universitarios, donde la educación estaba conectada con los objetivos profesionales y la promoción social, sino con un deseo de continua integración y de crecimiento personal. Este deseo se traduce en un aprendizaje a lo largo de la vida. En efecto, la educación de la tercera edad cobra importancia al surgir la gerontagogía (rama de la gerontología) que sigue los procesos de aprendizaje en edades avanzadas. Además, por un lado se acrecienta el rol que adoptan las Universidades de la Tercera Edad en todo este cambio, y por otro se refuerzan las demás instituciones relacionadas con el adulto mayor, como los Elder Hostels y los centros comunitarios para mayores. En este contexto y basándonos en nuestra experiencia de instructor de talleres de conversación de español en una universidad de Quebec, exponemos algunas de las metodologías y estrategias que han sido aplicadas en las clases de ELE con alumnos mayores, y que son luego resumidas en un diario del profesor. De esta manera, el diario nos ayuda a observar el grado de efectividad de estas estrategias en los talleres de conversación, estableciendo nuestro propio enfoque metodológico, que esperamos pueda servir a otros profesores de español dedicados a enseñar a este grupo generacional.

La hausse démographique de la population des aînés dans le dernier tiers du XX siècle et leur désir d’une retraite productive où ils puissent réinventer une nouvelle étape de leur vie, ont produit un changement dans les salles de classes des institutions formelles et informelles au Québec. Les aînés d’aujourd’hui retournent aux salles de classes mais pas pour la même raison que lorsqu’ils étaient adolescents ou étudiants à l’université, là où l’éducation était connectée aux objectifs professionnels et à la promotion sociale, mais plutôt avec le désir d’intégration continue et de la croissance personnelle. Ce désir est traduit par un apprentissage tout au long de la vie. En effet, l’éducation du Troisième âge devient importante, ainsi que la gérontagogie (branche de la gérontologie) qui étudie le processus d’apprentissage des aînés. Le rôle des Universités du troisième âge (UTA) demeure important mais aussi celui des institutions diverses comme par exemple les « Elder Hostels » et les Centres Communautaires. Dans ce contexte-ci, et basé sur nôtre expérience d’animateur d’ateliers d’espagnol d’une Université (de la province) du Québec, nous présentons quelques méthodologies et stratégies appliquées aux cours d’espagnol langue étrangère (ELE). Ces méthodologies et stratégies sont résumées dans un journal du professeur qui nous aidera à observer le niveau d’efficacité de celles-ci dans les ateliers de conversation. Ainsi, nous avons la possibilité de créer notre propre approche méthodologique qui pourra venir en aide à d’autres professeurs d’espagnol. / The demographic growth of the senior population in the last third of the XX century, and their desire to choose a productive retirement which allows them to reinvent themselves in this new stage of their life, have resulted in changes in the environment in the classroom of formal and informal educational institutions in Quebec. Today’s seniors return to school with very different objectives from the time they were teenagers or university students, when education was connected to career goals and social advancement. They want to return for personal growth through life-long learning. Actually, as our population ages, Third Age Education has become increasingly important along with the area of Gerontagogy (branch of Gerontology) which addresses the learning needs of seniors. In addition, the role of the Universities of Third Age and other institutions such the Elder Hostels and Community Centers dedicated to seniors becomes more important. In this context, and based on our own experience as an instructor of Spanish workshops at a university in the province of Quebec, we introduce some of the methodologies and strategies applied in our courses of Spanish foreign language (ELE). These methodologies and strategies are summarized in our teacher diary. The teacher diary will help us to observe the level of effectiveness of these strategies in conversation workshops, which in turn, will allow for the creation of our own methodological approach. Hopefully this will help other Spanish teachers of seniors. / El aumento demográfico de la población de adultos mayores en el último tercio del siglo XX y el deseo de los mismos en optar por una jubilación productiva que los lleve a reinventarse en una nueva etapa de su vida, han producido un cambio en las aulas de las instituciones formales e informales en Quebec. Los adultos mayores de hoy vuelven a las aulas, pero no de manera formal como cuando eran adolescentes o universitarios, donde la educación estaba conectada con los objetivos profesionales y la promoción social, sino con un deseo de continua integración y de crecimiento personal. Este deseo se traduce en un aprendizaje a lo largo de la vida. En efecto, la educación de la tercera edad cobra importancia al surgir la gerontagogía (rama de la gerontología) que sigue los procesos de aprendizaje en edades avanzadas. Además, por un lado se acrecienta el rol que adoptan las Universidades de la Tercera Edad en todo este cambio, y por otro se refuerzan las demás instituciones relacionadas con el adulto mayor, como los Elder Hostels y los centros comunitarios para mayores. En este contexto y basándonos en nuestra experiencia de instructor de talleres de conversación de español en una universidad de Quebec, exponemos algunas de las metodologías y estrategias que han sido aplicadas en las clases de ELE con alumnos mayores, y que son luego resumidas en un diario del profesor. De esta manera, el diario nos ayuda a observar el grado de efectividad de estas estrategias en los talleres de conversación, estableciendo nuestro propio enfoque metodológico, que esperamos pueda servir a otros profesores de español dedicados a enseñar a este grupo generacional.

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