Introduction

This paper seeks to highlight the relationship with the knowledge of elderly people enrolled in groups² of Youth and Adult Education (YAE) of the Núcleo de Estudos da Terceira Idade [Center of Studies for the Old Age] (Neti) at the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina [Federal University of Santa Catarina] (UFSC), in the city of Florianópolis.

For this purpose, the elements and analyzes of the research³ entitled “O empoderamento de idosos na escolarização da EJA do Núcleo de Estudos da Terceira Idade da Idade/UFSC” [The empowerment of the elderly in YAE education at the Center of Studies for the Old Age/UFSC] (^{MACHADO, 2017}), defended in 2017 for the Post-Graduate Program in Education at the UFSC Education Sciences Center, were of the most importance. By taking a close look at the evidence of emancipatory empowerment of elderly people in YAE, the study sought to register/highlight the voice of each one of the students⁴, especially when understanding that each person is simultaneously social and singular and, therefore, it is in the relationship with the knowledge that subjects interact in different ways from the process of social reproduction, in which they give new meaning to experience and transform themselves, that is, in processes of singularization and constitution of identities (^{CHARLOT, 2000}).

The research carried out has qualitative nature with exploratory characteristics; we adopted the bibliographic survey, document analysis and the use of the focus group technique (collective interview instrument focusing on certain questions with eleven participants) and interviews (with three professionals) as the research process.

The Neti was chosen as a locus of research due to several factors, including: a) the commitment to educational processes of social demand and schooling of the elderly public - with the implementation of a Reading and Writing Course for elderly and adult people⁵ (2007); b) the offer of day YAE classes; c) the significant number of enrollments of elderly people in the YAE classes offered at the Neti; d) the privileged location⁶ in the city; and e) having as a goal the incorporation of elderly people into the University, through training courses, projects and activities aimed at gerontology and education, as well as advice and consultancy to the community, in governmental and non-governmental partnerships.

According to the research that guides the study, the presence of elderly people at the university, at Neti and in YAE classes (as an integral part of the Center) is (de)marked beyond the need to occupy their free time (versus solitude), as it is situated in relations of knowledge with emancipatory social consequences, given that the Center brings with it a proposal to promote elderly people as “subjects in transformation and transformers” (^{MACHADO, 2017}, p. 49, our translation).

The dialogue with Paulo Freire and Bernard Charlot became essential. For Freire, the social disparity has always been a matter of great concern, hence its greatest legacy was for the people, in which the oppressed subjects need to have the courage to free and humanize themselves - which is why Freire’s contributions worry the oppressors of society (^{FREIRE, 2006}).

Bernard ^{Charlot (2000}), inferring that every person at birth enters a world in which they will be subject to the obligation to learn, means to say that each one “[...] is born with the need to learn everything. Each does not bring with him/her instincts that teach him/her everything she/he should know about how to feed him/herself, how to defend himself/herself, how to relate to others” (^{CHARLOT, 2000}, p. 54, our translation), but she/he needs these learnings. So to speak, it is understood that at any stage of life it is possible to learn and that each person in their history (at the same time social and singular) establishes a particular form of relationship with knowledge, so this connection is not the merit of some, but it is everyone’s capability, without distinction.

The YAE has a social commitment to youth, adults and elderly people, although there needs to be more visibility to elderly students, both to strengthen the belonging relationship, as well as to make the right to education effective for the elderly.

This paper will seek to weave reflections from the highlights of scientific research, whose problematizing question is: What relationships with knowledge, established by the elderly students of Neti YAE, contribute to the empowerment process?

The research subjects

The study protagonists have different origins, experiences, financial situations, family relationships, health conditions, beliefs, habits and diversified ways of being, thinking and acting. They are people from the lower classes who started/resumed Youth and Adult Education schooling in a stage of life defined as old age.

Table 1 places the profile of the participants within the following characteristics: fictitious name, age, marital status, occupational status, place of birth, neighborhood where they live, number of children and activities they perform.

Eleven (11) subjects were investigated, being ten (10) females and one (1) male, aged between sixty-two (62) to eighty-two (82) years. There was a higher concentration of elderly people aged between 70 and 79 years, as well as a predominance of women in schooling in this stage of life, thus evidencing the feminization of old age and YAE at Neti/UFSC.

An important fact is that only two (2) people (women) had an official relationship, while the others (women) seem not to have this type of relationship. This encourages us to think that women with an official relationship have been receiving more support from their partners (husbands) to study at this stage of life, which is an achievement in the face of “domestic violence”¹², “gender violence”¹³, in which a relationship of inferiority between women and men is valued, since this

[...] the women’s condition of hypo-sufficiency stems from the historical-cultural development of a patriarchal society, which has always insisted on placing women, seen as the “weaker sex”, submissive to men. Men, on the other hand, were prepared, from childhood, to have aggressive attitudes (^{SALEH; SALEH, 2013}, p. 509, our translation).

The fact that elderly and married women leave the (private) domestic space to enter the public space (Neti/UFSC, YAE, community...) makes count the “right to study” (as well as to think more about themselves, be in the presence of others and act according to their will), and represents a great achievement, given that “disparities in access to education is one of the ways to contribute to inequality between men and women” (^{LISBOA, 2012}, p. 81, our translation).

As for the participants’ birthplace, nine (9) were born in different cities in the state of Santa Catarina and two (2) were born in the state of Rio Grande do Sul (RS), that is, 82% of the survey participants were born in the state of Santa Catarina, and 18% were born in the neighboring state (RS). Only three (3) participants were born in the city of Florianópolis.

Nine (9) participants declared they were retired and two (2) were pensioners; concerning marital status, seven (7) participants declared themselves widows, two (2) were married, one (1) was divorced, and one (1) was single; that is, more than half (64%) of the survey participants faced widowhood¹⁴.

The data gain more meaning when an atypical situation in the Brazilian society is evidenced, in which the only male participant did not constitute a marriage nor had any children, although he had the desire to find someone to share his life with.

Another atypical situation is that, among the ten (10) women in the research, only two (2) were still married, and at this stage of life they were encouraged by their husbands to resume/start their studies, an attitude that had never been adopted in previous stages of life. The widowed participants, on the other hand, point out that the loss of a partner brought huge emptiness to their lives; they sometimes felt disoriented and depressed, unwilling to live; however, when they decided to study, this feeling changed. As reported by one participant:

Well, my coming to YAE was a very delicate situation: I came from Rondônia because of my husband’s illness, and when he arrived here, the illness won, and I lost him. And then I was bewildered by the loss, you know? [...] And it was my arrival at YAE, and I’m here until today; I met wonderful teachers. It is something that cannot be recovered, but I felt that I was not alone, that I had people with me, friends, friends I did not think I’d find [...] (ILZA, 75 years old, H.S. - Ceja, our translation).

The fact that Ilza (75 years old, H.S. - Ceja) was “disoriented by the loss” of her husband reveals the social image that is internalized in the female condition, understood in relationships of submission, dependence, generated in possessiveness (power to repress, censor, determine...) of the male figure in the patriarchal society. For Ilza, “the arrival at YAE” made her perceive herself “loaded” with people (no longer perceiving herself alone), so YAE must be thought of as another school, as a socialization space, a space for recognition/strengthening of subjects, for sharing knowledge, for fighting for rights, etc.

The number of participants’ children varied from three (3) to eleven (11), and only one (1) male participant did not have children. It is worth remembering that, traditionally, the social representation attributed to the male figure has the “requirement” to have descendants, as well as to be the family provider.

The participants were keen to emphasize their constant concern with household chores, the education of their children and the opinion and decisions of their husbands, so the family zeal took over their lives, while all this dedication made these women abdicate so many things they would have liked to do. This is evident in the following report:

I was also thinking, I studied a little, then I got married very young, and the children came; then they take our time and now they’re all married; so I started thinking, I need to improve and go back to the classes to think (NÁDIA, 75 years old, 2nd segment - YAE, our translation).

The influence of the social gender roles of society (which marks a social position) spoke louder in their lives to the point that they were not able at that time to assert their desires, wills, goals, but at this time in life, they sought for achievements. Nonetheless, for a long time, women’s education has been devalued by their families, because they historically had other tasks to prioritize. However, this situation has been changing, as an effect of cultural changes, since the way of life and the relationship between men and women have been changed¹⁵, adapting to new social demands. This change in relationships between men and women, of power and women’s submission, has been deconstructed over the years.

According to ^{Lisboa (2003}), the product of gender domination-oppression has historically been a situation experienced by women in underdeveloped countries. The researcher affirms that “In all societies, citizens organize their lives according to two logics: that of the home (private) and that of the street (public)” (^{LISBOA, 2003}, p. 119, our translation). However, in Brazil, there is no rigid and simple contrast between home and street, because “[...] the home can define a person’s intimate and private space [...] as well as a maximum and public social space, as when we refer to Brazil as ‘our home’” (^{DA MATTA, 1991}, p. 19, our translation). Therefore, home and street transcend physical places, as they are spaces for people, relationships, judging, deciding, conflicts, etc.

In this sense, it is understood that the women’s departure from the domestic space to public life was an extremely significant achievement, as this shift made women resist the impositions of this achievement¹⁶ and seek to legitimately demarcate their place, in a struggle that remains today. According to ^{Lisboa (2003}, p. 19, our translation),

[...] the gender perspective requires a new attitude towards the conception of the world, the values and the way of life, that is, it puts the legitimacy of the patriarchal world in crisis. This perspective allows us to understand that the inequality and inequality relations between genders are products of a dominant social order and that the multiple oppressions of class, race, ethnicity, generation that are exerted on women are a superposition of dominance.

Interestingly, at this stage of life, the participants reveal with great enthusiasm that they are encouraged, valued and recognized by their families, including those who remain married. Flávia reports that

[...] my daughter-in-law is a math teacher, she helps me too. But this is good, right? They are very happy. Grandma studying! How cool! All happy. [...] But that’s it, my children love it, my grandchildren love it, my son-in-law is a teacher and he encourages me a lot, in research work he goes online and helps me research, he loves me! It’s because he realizes that I have a lot of strength, that I really want to come here to study (FLÁVIA, 82 years old, H.S. - Ceja, our translation).

The male participant revealed some frustration in being single, as he always had the desire to date someone, but he never managed to do so, since work has always been first in his life. He stressed that his life experiences were not so good, given that, as a child, being raised by his brother and wife, that is, his sister-in-law, being very mistreated, it was an experience that, according to him, will be difficult to overcome, because it was at this time that, through the negligence of his sister-in-law, he became deaf in one ear.

Six (6) participants (out of the eleven research participants) performed different activities at the Núcleo de Estudos da Terceira Idade [Center of Studies for the Old Age] (Neti) and at the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, such as hydrogymnastics, volleyball (UFSC), storytelling (Neti), the memory stimulation (Neti) class, and others. There were two (2) participants who performed physical activities in other spaces and three (3) who did not practice physical activities: one worked as a seamstress; another attended the Universal Church and another who only studied at Neti/UFSC. One (1) research participant declared that she participated in the Mulheres Sim [Yes Women]¹⁷ Program at the Instituto Federal de Santa Catarina (IFSC), and two (2) participants were at Neti since the implementation of the course¹⁸ entitled “Reading and Writing”¹⁹ which aimed at the adult audience and elderly from a diagnosis that pointed to the need for educational processes in the Center. Thus, the implemented course sought to “[...] establish a relationship with the knowledge of the literate world since [...] [we live] in a society that values practices of writing and systematized knowledge” (^{LAFFIN, 2012}, p. 142, our translation). One of the participants revealed her arrival in the educational process at Neti:

I’ve been here for a long time, eight years; I was one of the first to come here. When I came here, our teachers were all volunteers, they weren’t hired. Then they came in and they are all public teachers from the city or the state, they are very good teachers. “So-and-so” was a volunteer and is now a teacher; and then suddenly in the meantime I got sick and I was away [...]. I went to therapy and then I came back here to Neti. [...] This is the wonderful life I have! (LIA, 74 years old, 2nd segment - YAE, our translation)

It should be noted that of the eleven (11) research participants, nine (9) studied in YAE classes at Neti/UFSC belonging to the Municipal Secretariat of Florianópolis, and two (2) belonged to the only class of the Centro de Educação de Jovens e Adultos [Youth and Adult Education Center] (Ceja) in Florianópolis]²⁰ at Neti/UFSC, from the State Department of Education of Santa Catarina.

The survey participants highlight the affection of YAE teachers and Neti employees towards them, especially the teacher who has the articulator the role in the city’s YAE,

I feel very valued here at Neti because here it’s just us, seniors [...], all people are of the same age and study and everything, right? It’s better. And the teachers are wonderful, so are all the people at Neti. And there is a teacher who, when we don’t come, she calls us to find out what is going on, and she gives us a lot of confidence in our studies (PAULA, 73 years old, 2nd segment - YAE, our translation).

They also reported the different snacks provided by the agencies that offer YAE: one agency contemplates various abundant food for snacks, and the other one provides scarce invariable food; they considered this situation unfair as they all study in the same environment, that is, on Neti.

Participants reveal some reasons for choosing the Núcleo de Estudos da Terceira Idade [Center of Studies for the Old Age]/UFSC to study at YAE:

Through the collected data, it was possible to identify that the elderly students who attend Youth and Adult Education at Neti/UFSC are mostly people who, due to life circumstances, distanced themselves from the school path offered in the regular education system. Thus, the YAE modality came at this stage of life as a possibility to start or resume studying, but mainly it was the time when they were willing to think and act according to their wishes.

The relationship with the knowledge of elderly people at YAE at Neti/UFSC

It is understood that deciding to start/resume studies is loaded with feelings and meanings for the elderly; these were essential to point out the dimensions of schooling in the lives of elderly people, considering that it has been many decades without access to schooling.

By highlighting the dimensions of schooling in the lives of elderly people, it was possible to show that the relationship with the knowledge of these YAE students has striking elements with much richness and detail, that it is not even possible to conceive that the established and limited space of the classroom can be considered the only one capable of encompassing this relationship.

To broaden this view and based on scientific research, four subcategories are pointed out: a) the desire to learn in the senses given by the elderly students; b) feeling recognized and valued; c) feeling conscious to say one’s word; and d) being able to fight to transform. These subcategories are interwoven in the relationship with knowledge defended by ^{Charlot (2000}, 2001) situated in the relationship of oppression of elderly students and the empowerment process understood by ^{Freire (1980}, 2002, 2006).

In these dimensions, it is understood that the “relationship with oneself” emerges in the mobilization for learning, in the desire to be together and to give new meaning to old age. The “relationship with the other” is configured in the interactions between the subjects (students), the mediators (teachers) and the shared knowledge, the contact with the school’s knowledge and the references of the “others incorporated in themselves”. The “relationship with the world” is situated by the questions of reality and meaning and whether or not we perceive ourselves as being more capable and active in and as a world. Thus, all these dimensions could be seen as aspects of the relationship with the world, as the origin of all is in reality and inscribed in time.

Considerations

We notice that the tone is differentiated when actions aimed at the elderly population are constituted in the public University and become inherent to it. The emanating connotation is of appreciation and social recognition of a portion of the population that cannot even celebrate their longevity, given the lack of quality of life²¹. Thus, there is a certain “social status” in being an elderly student of YAE at Neti at UFSC, so that the fact of going to University brings another connotation to society and contributes to empowerment, as it is not the lack of knowledge that situates these subjects in the university territory, but the image of knowledge expansion. This difference needs to be portrayed in the face of the social exclusion that surrounds the old age condition, added to the condition of being illiterate or poorly educated.

Another important factor is that the Neti/UFSC YAE brought the possibility for older people to reflect on their realities, while the individual experience becomes collective, conveying a sense of belonging and group (related to age identity or being close to it). This sense of belonging contributed to these people’s self-confidence, as well as to reflect on their lives, giving them the courage to make decisions, as they now understand that their future is not predetermined (^{LISBOA, 2003}).

It is possible to see that the schooling in YAE at Neti/UFSC brought contributions to the process of empowerment of the elderly, as Paulo ^{Freire (2002}) stated, considering that these subjects, when appropriating the literate culture, are instigated by the pedagogical action to be aware of their actions in/with the world and thus fight for social change (against oppression).

We believe that the “commitment” to social transformation does not end in the classroom space, but in the political engagement with people from the popular classes in social movements (in the act of militancy), that is, going beyond the limits of school life, given that school knowledge only makes sense in each person’s life if they can enhance it in their conscious action in/with the world.