Older Adults, in Lebanon, Committed to Learning: Contextualizing the Challenges and the Benefits of Their Learning Experience

The University for the Third Age, a relatively new concept in Lebanon, provides educational and social opportunities for older adults. The goal of later-life educational institutions supposedly covers more than a mere provision of learning. This being said, highlighting the significance of rewards associated with older adult learning—and the barriers it faces—is needed. Through this study, we hope to deepen the understanding of the benefits of later-life learning. In addition, we also payi special attention to environmental and social factors that were previously excluded dimensions of the challenges to learning. We explored the benefits perceived by older adults after finishing one term at a University for the Third Age in Lebanon. Also, we distinguished between the different types of barriers faced by seniors in the same context. We included 461 older adults from two cohorts, and we followed a qualitative approach, using content analysis of 247 solicited answers to our research questions. The data consisted of relatively short answers describing self-perceived benefits of the learning experience, as well as its perceived challenges. Findings indicated the existence of three types of benefits: social, cognitive, and psychological, with cognitive benefits the most reported ones. In addition, educational challenges were categorized into dispositional, situational, and institutional, with the latter being the most reported. After interpreting the findings with the Self-Determination Theory in mind, it was concluded that educational challenges negatively affect the well-being of older adults, while educational rewards could enhance it.

Seniors residing in Lebanon live in a society where age is increasingly becoming a stigmatization factor (El Bcheraoui, Adib, & Chapuis-Lucciani, [18]). Moreover, they suffer from the absence of an inclusive governmental aging policy and from the lack of a pension plan for most retirees (Sibai & Kronfol, [47]). It is projected that by the year 2025 older adults in Lebanon will form 10,2% of the general population (Sibai, Tohme, Yamout, Yount, & Kronfol, [46]). This increase is mainly due to youth migration, healthier older adults, and low fertility rates (Abdulrahim, Ajrouch, & Antonucci, [1]). In a slow economic growth context, this means that seniors are more likely to face social problems preventing their wellbeing. In addition to these problems, seniors struggle with emerging personal changes in the form of retirement and other later-life events. Coping with those events is not easy; but fortunately, one way of doing that is through pursuing educational activities (Ventura-Merkel & Doucette, [52]). Lebanese seniors have been given the opportunity to enroll as students in a local University for the Third Age (U3A). U3As date back to early 1970s with the establishment of the first special educational program for older people in France. Ever since, U3As have been proliferating under two generic models, the French and the British models (Hori & Cusack, [24]). Although, the shape and organization of the two models differ, they share the same goal of satisfying the interests and learning needs of older adults so they can be active contributors to their communities (Mehrotra, [32]). Locally, the idea of establishing Lebanon's first U3A was conceived in 2008. After a thorough evaluation of older adults' needs, the center opened its doors to members in 2010. Inspired by North American U3As, the center combines practices from both the French and the British models, guaranteeing high educational standards, yet a pleasant democratic atmosphere.

Seniors describes, in the context of this study, all those aged 50 years and older, who were willing to join the studied older education program—where learning and cultural opportunities are offered in a sociable environment. A new positive face of aging is being promoted by this U3A, where aging is regarded as productive and entailing the social and intellectual engagement of older adults. The U3A's mission coincides with what international U3As usually offer to the elderly: they promote their personal fulfillment and social integration (Villar & Celdrán, [53]). In the span of one educational term, peer-learning, community-building, and intergenerational connections are implemented in the curriculum. The latter consists of a wide range of topics from health, culture, humanities, and economics to basic sciences and arts. Topics are usually led by unpaid experts who volunteer as group leaders and facilitators.

Believing in a positive idea of human nature, this center and other U3As trust that older adults are curious, vital, and self-motivated to acquire and apply new skills (Ryan & Deci, [42]). Such beliefs inspire U3As in developing educational programs to meet older adults' needs, an issue highlighted by Peterson ([39]) few decades ago. Peterson claimed that developing perspectives on older adult education is a dynamic process, which accounts for the continuous developments in aging and its understanding. New realities are defined by new needs; consequently, in the Lebanese context, U3As are invited to assist older adults in functioning in their society, by meeting their educational and social needs.

This project aims to contextualize the benefits and challenges of engaging in educational activities as perceived by older adults. It asks two research questions: (a) What are the benefits perceived by older adults at the end of one term of educational activities at a U3A, in Lebanon? and (b) What are the challenges they faced? To achieve its aim, this project investigated learning's benefits and challenges in their theoretical significance and practical pertinence to the program itself. In practical terms, a simultaneous contextual understanding of both benefits and challenges of learning, as perceived by members, positively contributes to the design and planning of future educational activities, which in turn, will reflect on learners themselves. On the theoretical side, we tried to address the following research gaps. Compared to the number of studies dealing with older adults' motivations to learn, the number of those that investigated the benefits of learning remains smaller (Narushima, Liu, & Diestelkamp, [36]; Villar, Pinazo, Triadó, Celdrán, & Solé, [54]). In the same context, most studies dealing with dimensions related to personal learning needs excluded environmental and social factors, which could possibly hinder older adults' participation in learning activities (Narushima et al., [36]). This being said, this study is unique to Lebanon in terms of its emphasis on educational gerontology in general, and particularly in terms of its aims.

On a more general note, quantitative approaches have been used in numerous studies on adult learning, but they failed to explain the entirety of what older adults experience (Fisher, [21]; Kim & Merriam, [28]). Therefore, we opted for a qualitative content analysis, aiming for a deeper understanding of older adult participation in educational programs. Erdener and Dunn ([19]) and Woodrum ([56]) stated that the use of content analysis is suitable for studies with little requirements, such as ours. Moreover, our choice of design was safe when it came to correcting the coding system during the study process, when we needed it (Woodrum, [56]).

The participation of older adults in educational activities dates back to the time when adult educational programs were initiated (Brown, Provost, & Acker-Hocevar, [6]). Hence, the obvious question emerges: What motivates older adults to learn? Answering this question has been the aim of many studies; however. so far, results remain inconclusive. When a motivation is defined as a driving force behind engaging in a behavior, it is assumed that engaging in this behavior involves its initiation and its sustainability (Mulenga & Liang, [34]). Therefore, when the exhibited behavior is considered as partaking in learning activities, understanding its underlying factors requires investigating both the reasons behind its initiation and the circumstances of its sustainability. One theory, explaining this and motivations' underlying needs, is the Self-Determination Theory (SDT) (Ryan, Kuhl, & Deci, [43]). According to this theory, motivations to engage in behaviors emanate from three most essential psychological needs. Those needs are competence needs (Harter, [23]), relatedness needs (Baumeister & Leary, [4]), and autonomy needs (Deci & Ryan, [14]). SDT also claims that relatedness, autonomy, and competence needs manifest in the form of intrinsic and extrinsic motivations (Ryan et al., [43]), depending on whether expectations of external rewards exist. In fact, competence and autonomy needs influence intrinsic motivations. Meanwhile, relatedness needs pertain to extrinsic motivations and do, however more distally, affect those intrinsic motivations (Deci & Ryan, [15]). When it comes to older adult learning, satisfying basic needs, through an intrinsic (Kim & Merriam, [28]; Narushima et al., [36]; Ryan & Deci, [42]) or an extrinsic (Kim & Merriam, [28]; Mulenga & Liang, [34]; Narushima et al., [36]; Ryan & Deci, [42]) engagement in learning activities facilitates older adults' optimal growth and personal well-being. Consequently, it is assumed that challenges and rewards experienced during the process of learning are expected to interfere with older adults' well-being and personal development. The latter unfolds itself through claims by Deci and Ryan ([15]) that SDT is indeed concerned with the interaction between active and integrating human beings and their social contexts, which could, in turn, sustain or inhibit humans' active nature. At the same time, integration is explained by SDT as a naturally occurring process during ongoing experiences, when and if the right contexts exist, for both intrinsically and extrinsically motivated humans (Deci & Ryan, [15]). Furthermore, this theory emphasizes the role of immediate and previous social contexts in explaining motivations, behaviors and perceived involvement of people in a particular situation (Deci & Ryan, [15]). Needs, motivations, rewards, and challenges seem to work interconnectedly following the logic of the SDT, putting at stake older adults' well-being. Accordingly, the choice of theory suits well the urge to explain behaviors, perceived benefits, and challenges of older adults—in this case, at the end of a learning experience. To justify the SDT's applicability with older adults, we leaned on Houde's ([25]) validation of andragogy through SDT, seeing that they both share a substantial motivational component. Therefore, SDT was a plausible theory through which we attempted to understand the benefits acquired by older adults in Lebanon, after finishing one term at a U3A. We also wanted to understand the challenges they faced amidst their learning process.

A considerable amount of studies classified motivations behind older adult learning as cognitive or intellectual, social, and psychological (Illeris, [26]; Scala, [44]). Having said that, older adults who engage in learning for those reasons are most likely to expect rewards of the same nature. At the same time, three main categories of benefits are generally found in literature. They are: psychological, cognitive or intellectual, and social. Narushima ([35]), for instance, found that Canadian older adults perceived their benefits of learning to be intellectual, psychological and social. Moreover, Brown et al. ([6]) generated three themes addressing continuing participation in an older adult educational program, which more or less simulate the previous categorization. They were: (a) personal enrichment, equivalent to gaining knowledge and intellectual stimulation; (b) building connections, consisting of social learning, community learning, and socializing; and (c) institutional and logistical aspects including benefits directly driven from the program itself, like parking availability and the diversity of topics offered at the premises.

Specifically, Chené's study ([9]) highlighted important psychological benefits of learning that are like those emanating from new friendships: reciprocity, family spirit, and a sense of belonging. Moreover, Dench and Regan ([16]) and Villar et al. ([54]) reported enjoyment in life, self-confidence, self-concept, general satisfaction in life, and better coping abilities. Furthermore, improved self-image, self-healing from a personal loss, discovering one's own potential, and a positive image of aging were also psychological benefits of learning, identified by Chené and Sigouin ([10]). Finally, Martin ([30]) cited additional hidden benefits like contribution and empowerment. Otherwise, some studies found that one category of benefits was more reported than the others. For instance, few studies concluded that cognitive benefits, consisting of a de facto improvement of cognitive functions, are predominantly reported (Alfageme, [3]; Mehrotra, [32]). Conversely, other studies suggested that the most powerful gain from learning by older adults is social by nature. The gain relates to the need for daily human interactions—to be needed and wanted (Fischer, Blazey, & Lipman, [20]).

The satisfaction of SDT's "basic needs" happens when rewards meet motivations, i.e., those original motivations behind engaging in learning. Nevertheless, SDT's interests extend to personal, environmental, and social factors hindering the satisfaction of needs (Ryan et al., [43]). Accordingly, it is relevant to look into the challenges faced by older adults during their learning process.

Older adults face learning difficulties during their educational experiences (Cross, [12]). Those difficulties, when identified, are usually due to personality traits, the current situation of the learners, and the structure of the educational programs (Ahl, [2]; Ryan & Deci, [42]). For instance, Cross ([12]), Eisen ([17]), Parker ([37]), and Silverstein, Choi, and Bulot ([48]) reached three types of challenges that older adults encounter before joining educational courses. They are institutional, dispositional, and situational and they could be real and/or only as perceived by older adults. Cross ([11]) defined the challenges in the following manner. Situational challenges are those encountered during a particular point in time, and they relate to the individual's life situation—like a lack of time, a lack of transportation, death of spouse, and financial difficulties. When it comes to challenges originating from educational programs, Cross called them institutional, like inaccessible locations and inconvenient schedules, and they are mostly unintentional. Last but not least are the challenges relating to individuals themselves: dispositional barriers defined as those consisting of attitudes and perceptions of the ability to learn, like lack of confidence, or the belief that it is too late to learn (Darkenwald & Merriam, [13]).

The lack of time and the need to spend it in a meaningful way were the most cited barriers to participation of older adults in learning activities in a study by Sloane-Seale and Kops ([49]). Also, Brady, Cardale, and Neidy ([5]) reported many obstacles when learning is ongoing. These include lack of space, staff shortages, aging-out of the program, members skipping classes or accepting job offers for financial reasons, and members' difficult personalities and their resistance to change. Finally, Villar et al. ([54]) reported challenges such as depression, pessimism, lack of confidence, insecurity, health issues, familial duties, and lack of information.

The study involved a purposive sample of 461 older adults from two cohorts. One in the fall term and another in the following spring term of the same academic year. The majority of active members of both cohorts were women (83%), and 71.5% were between 50 and 69 years old. Almost all members held university degrees. The questionnaire was administered by the center at the end of the relevant educational term as part of the end-of-term voluntary evaluation. Therefore, data collection was already done by the center and tabulated in Excel files. From a total of 143 respondents, the question related to benefits obtained 131 answers. As for the challenges, their relevant question solicited 116 answers. The two cohorts were subjected to somewhat different curricula, which differed in how broad the subjects were. The same instructional methods were used in both semesters. These variations made no intercohort significant differences.

The questionnaire consisted of many open ended questions pertaining to different dimensions of the program. For the sake of this study, we chose the answers to only two questions: those pertaining to perceived benefits and challenges faced during the term. Anonymity and confidentiality of data was protected at all times, especially because the data was presented to us in an anonymous fashion.

Data was analyzed using Nvivo 10 software. At first, answers were categorized under specific narrow entities. In the second phase, narrow categories were placed in broader ones. In the third phase, the classification was finalized after screening for peerless units. In the last phase, the main categories were identified, and clear definitions were finalized and attributed. Table 1, illustrates elaborately the coding scheme used to analyze the collected data. As an additional step, an external reviewer was asked to code the data following the same coding pattern. This was done to ensure the reliability of the coding system. The average agreement percentage for the two questions was 97.62%, indicating a high reliability. The latter is satisfying when it comes to the possibility to replicate the study (Woodrum, [56]).

Table 1. Data coding scheme.

2 *Only when a subcategory exists. Table 1 displays the coding scheme used in data analysis process, it features definitions of categories and relative examples.

Content analysis of the two questions revealed the existence of three main types of benefits and three main types of challenges. Benefits were identified as cognitive, social, and psychological; challenges were coded as situational, dispositional, and institutional.

The three types of benefits were social, cognitive, and psychological reported, respectively, by respondents in the following percentages 58%, 62%, and 48%.

Older adults reported intellectual and cognitive gains. They spoke of acquiring knowledge and information in topics that genuinely interest them; and what's more, they got acquainted with totally new topics. For instance, some seniors mentioned topics like art and theoretical physics, while others highlighted the importance of other topics and their daily life applications. One senior said, "I, now, can apply new concepts in osteoporosis and bone density." Another senior said, "it is enriching to me that I learned new skills like how to use the I-pad, in addition to new medical information." In fact, many seniors spoke of the enriching aspect of acquiring new knowledge and information, this is observable in many answers where the words enriching and enrichment were used redundantly. As an example, one member said, "the program enriched me intellectually through new knowledge." Intellectual engagement and stimulation were also reported as benefits, usually accompanied by highlighting the diversity of the subjects as an added value. Also, many seniors spoke of a high degree of interest in the offered topics; as one senior thought, "the program affected my life very positively, especially with all the interesting and informative lectures."

These benefits appeared to elicit the most feelings and emotions from the seniors. Positive feelings were omnipresent in the majority of answers. Seniors expressed the extent of their happiness to be equally intellectually and socially engaged. One member said, "the program made me a happier person, and it increased my motivation in general". Moreover, the program helped many members in fighting depression and anxiety, inflicted by the loss of a spouse or upon retirement. As one member put it, "when I quit my job, my life got empty and meaningless, but with [the program] my life changed and is more filled with joy, education and interaction." Perhaps another frequently reported outcome was seniors' new perception of age. Many of them reported feeling much younger than their current age; this was coupled by their feeling more energetic and ready "to go attend classes." The rejuvenation feeling was invoked by going back to school and becoming students again. Many seniors claimed, "the program affected me in a good way, emotionally and physically, now I feel younger and more energetic." Finally, some seniors expressed high satisfaction in life, in addition to having an incentive to get out of their residence, as one senior said, "I am more relaxed, and the program keeps me excited throughout the week to attend and participate in the classes."

This category of benefits included three subcategories: community spirit, forming relationships, and social learning.

Many seniors were happy with the idea that they can identify with other members in the program. They spoke of like-minded members who share the same interests as they do. As one member said, "the program introduced me to many members who share with me the same interests." Another member said, "after a long time, the program allowed me to resume my sense of belonging to my old university." He was expressing contentment to be back at the university where he studied decades ago.

Although this could be subcategorized under cognitive benefits, too, we chose to classify it as social due to its social nature and prerequisite. Seniors claimed that working with others is beneficial to their learning on two different levels. The first is among members, or seniors themselves. As noted by one member, "we socialize, and learn from each other's lifetime experiences." The other level is intergenerational interaction with younger university students. As one member stated, "we interacted with a different generation of teenagers, with whom we had to communicate." Seniors underlined that learning happened in both scenarios.

The most reported social benefits were making new friends, meeting old ones, and socializing almost on a daily basis. One senior said, "... I have met new friends, and I look forward always to meet with them and talk about daily events."

Older adults described challenges that fit under three main types: institutional, dispositional, and situational.

These challenges consisted of course logistics and methodology and infrastructure, and they were predominantly reported.

Some seniors complained of not having enough sessions for topics they are interested in such as the I-pad and food preservation topics. As one member said, "add more sessions of the same classes for all of us to get the chance to attend." Adding to that, seniors thought that the program should plan for a larger seating capacity because sometimes they cannot find available places to sign up for the courses they want to join. For instance, a senior reported, "one needs to plan better seating capacity for some of the presentations." Conversely, other seniors complained about large, heterogeneous classes leaving no room for personal expression. Some seniors thought that the way some sessions are led is boring to them and not sufficiently engaging. One member said, "sometimes lectures are a little boring due to the fact that the lecturer is just reading from his slides." Last but not least, seniors voiced their annoyance about other members' interruptions during sessions. There was a feeling of resentment towards breaking the class protocol with what was called "repetitive, irrelevant, and unnecessary questions".

This subcategory consisted of challenges senior members faced due to room ergonomics and multimedia technical difficulties. Some seniors complained about faulty sound systems and visual aids during sessions, at times referring to inherent hearing difficulties and at others blaming the devices. One senior noted, "I did not like the technical and electronic sound failures during presentations." Another said, "I have hearing problems and sometimes didn't hear well. Please make better use of microphones." On the other hand, few members were discomforted by loud sound systems.

Stated dispositional challenges came second after the institutional ones. Seniors reported being overwhelmed by the difficulty of some topics. One recurrent complaint was about a physics session, which seniors thought it was too hard to follow. One senior said in reference to the physics lecture, "one lecturer forgot that we are seniors, it is too difficult for us to understand." In addition to technical adversity, the language of the sessions was also perceived by many seniors to be a major problem. Analysis uncovered a large disagreement about the language used in the sessions. Some seniors were asking for more lectures in Arabic: "Sometimes the language was a bit of a barrier between me and attending more lectures. I totally understand and respect the emphasis on English language since we are in [...] but adding some Arabic lectures will sure enrich the program." Meanwhile, others were asking for more lectures in English: "For me lectures in Arabic language were difficult to understand word by word, I did skip some of them, like Rental Law, I had to ask to bring my husband with me."

The only reported situational challenge was time-related, and compared to other types of barriers, this type was the least frequently mentioned. Many seniors complained that the timing was not appropriate and does not fit well in their calendars. One senior stated, "the only problem I faced during this term was the schedule. Most of the classes were in the evening which made me go back home late at night, my residence is far from the university."

The aim of the study was to understand the benefits older adults get from later-life learning. We also wanted to pinpoint the barriers they face. Perceived benefits, collected from our sample, were categorized as psychological, social, and cognitive. Therefore, our findings are in agreement with the categorization scheme used by other studies (Brown et al., [6]; Narushima, [35]).

Correspondingly, cognitive benefits included acquiring knowledge and skills, described as enriching and cognitively challenging. Benefits of a cognitive nature were predominantly reported compared to the two other categories—a finding similarly reported by Alfageme ([3]) and Mehrotra ([32]). Attempting to explain the predominance of cognitive benefits led us to consider that the majority of seniors had a university degree, and that previous educational level is the best predictor of seniors enrolling in educational activities (Merriam & Caffarella, [33]; Valentine, [51]). Therefore, it is not unexpected to see that older adults with previous educational experience value cognitive rewards—solely or equally to other rewards—of their later-life learning experience.

Besides gaining knowledge, the ability to apply acquired skills in daily life could be empowering to seniors. In other words, applying new medical knowledge or using the I-pad helps seniors in medically taking care of themselves and becoming familiar with new technological tools. As a matter of fact, Wolf ([55]) and Martin ([30]) spoke of the empowering effects of education on older adults. Moreover, critical gerontologists like Formosa ([22]) called for educational gerontology to embark on empowerment and emancipation of older adults. Through knowledge that could be routinely applied in daily life, the center is borrowing some critical aspects of gerontology. Hence it is empowering its members in adaptation to their new life as senior citizens.

In the light of reported cognitive rewards, it is assumed that those rewards answer to intrinsic expressive motivations to learn. Gaining knowledge and being intellectually stimulated feed into the inherent tendency for learners to be curious, spontaneously interested, and ready to explore. Therefore, supporting those qualities in learners facilitates enjoyment in the learning process and enhances the cognitive and social development of older adults (Ryan, [41]) through satisfying their need for autonomy.

Psychologically, seniors expressed feelings of happiness, high self-motivation, and a general level of satisfaction in life. Likewise, Dench and Regan ([16]) and Villar et al. ([54]) found similar psychological rewards. Those rewards could be explained partially because the atmosphere at the U3A is quite welcoming, friendly, and leaves room for self-expression. Such a safe environment is optimal for the proliferation of positive feelings. Those positive feelings, are partially due to the joy of learning, but they also encompass feelings of self-worthiness. According to Peck ([38]), older adults joining educational activities are attempting to answer the ultimate question concerning their worthiness as human beings. This is to say that, Lebanese older adults upon retirement or upon the death of a significant other find themselves searching for a new identity, or a new social role. Those who lose their other half, need to heal (Villar et al., [54]). But those once contributing to society are faced with the stereotype of sitting in front of the TV or taking care of their grand-children—a widespread stereotype in Lebanon. Rosow ([40]) spoke of older adults losing their roles and functions progressively, this pushes them away from meaningful social participation. Therefore, through education, older adults are restoring their self-worthiness and are filling the gap created by the loss of their social status or of a significant other.

Another psychological finding relates to older adults feeling younger than their actual age. This could speak to the new positive face of aging (Chené & Sigouin, [10]), which is also mentioned in the center's mission and vision. Feeling younger might facilitate productive aging, especially with the felt energy that accompanies rejuvenation feelings. Feeling rejuvenated could be associated with the status of being a student again, an event usually experienced during much younger years.

Older adults expressed many social benefits of learning at the U3A. Seniors made friends there, they engaged in discussions with their peers and felt they are part of a community of like-minded learners. Such benefits were also reported by Brown et al. ([6]).

The center strongly supports its members' social involvement. This is done through establishing a community of older adults built on interactions with peers and a strong sense of belonging, which Chené ([9]) also spoke about. Moreover, as part of its educational methodology, the program relies on peer and intergenerational learning supplemented by frequent social open events. Such methodologies create rigorous social interactions. Hence, they provide an arena for the flourishing of personal day-to-day peer interactions, leading possibly to friendships or other forms of relationships.

Social benefits are said to answer to instrumental learning needs, mainly those associated with older adults surviving in, and coping with, their new life. Londoner ([29]) spoke of the preservation of psychological and physical well-being through maintaining acceptable social adjustments. This could suggest that older adults are not only benefiting from widened social activities, but from the parallel opportunities to preserve their psychological and physical well-being, too. Finally, older adults who show extrinsic motivations to learn are not typically interested in learning as such. The reason for which they might engage in learning is because it is valued by significant others to whom they feel attached. Therefore, the need for relatedness is crucial to the process of internalization (Ryan & Deci, [42]), and it must be satisfied through endorsing strong social interactions.

Assuming that self-motivated older adults who pursue learning will automatically reach a state of well-being is far from being true. SDT speaks of social and environmental factors that hinder the satisfaction of the needs for relatedness, competence, and autonomy (Ryan et al., [43]). Such factors are identified in this study as dispositional, situational, and institutional challenges (Ahl, [2]; Parker, [37]; Ryan & Deci, [42]; Silverstein, Choi, & Bulot, [48]).

Many seniors complained about infrastructure challenges and others related to class methodology and protocol. Some seniors expressed their discontent with direct lecturing, as it is not engaging enough, and rarely does it rely on students' input. Although, there is no single instructional technique suitable for all older adults, they usually prefer learning that is based on solving problems and is action-oriented (Truluck & Courtenay, [50]). While this may explain why some seniors complained about direct lecturing, it does not guarantee that others do not appreciate it. The center, in this case, could have an advisory role in suggesting methodologies to the sessions' leaders, but seeing that they work on a voluntary basis, dictating their class methodology might not be an easily implementable option. Equally controversial, is the complaint about faulty sound systems, which seems easier to deal with, than the dilemma of complaints about low volume and high volume concurrently. Such subjective perception could be confusing to the center's administration and, therefore, be harder to deal with. Also, difficulties to solve such issues could be due to the physical and health conditions of members themselves.

Institutional challenges are originating from the center itself. Therefore, the center has the upper hand in the management of those challenges, and trying to alleviate these helps learners, especially extrinsically motivated ones, in optimally benefiting from the offered learning experience. For instance, extrinsically motivated learners could be more challenged by uninteresting methodologies (Ryan & Deci, [42]); hence, motivated learners need more external reasons to remain engaged and persist in the program.

Many seniors expressed that understanding lectures' content is affected by the fact that they are old. While seniors blame their old age for their lack of understanding, the case could be simply that the material is also hard for any other younger, educated learner. Needless to say, feeling less than self-efficacious about a certain topic prohibits internalization of activities with underlying extrinsic motivations. This is true because feelings of competence encourage older adults to engage in activities executed by others, to whom learners associate themselves (Ryan & Deci, [42]). This having been said, special attention needs to be given to lectures' difficulty levels and language of instruction, in addition to their latent effect on learners' self-efficacy. When it comes to the language of instruction used in the sessions, the nonconsensus finds grounds beyond a simple personal choice. Lebanon being a multilingual country has three active languages Arabic, French, and English. The schooling system and labor markets are heavily influenced by the language diversity, which also plays a major role in the national and cultural identities of Lebanese citizens (Shaaban & Ghaith, [45]). The latter could be behind the difference in reported challenges dealing with the language of instruction.

Seniors do not have lots of free time on their agenda due to many personal or familial preoccupations. This intersects with the results of a study by Sloane-Seale and Kops ([49]) who claimed that seniors perceive time as limited and, therefore, of important value. The center's academic schedule is influenced by many factors including the surcharged calendars of volunteer lecturers in addition to room availability. Therefore, it is quite farfetched to believe that the proposed academic schedule could be able to put up with all the members' calendars.

The three types of identified benefits of older adult learning seem to respond to the three types of basic human needs. Psychological, social, and cognitive benefits speak to SDT's needs for competence, relatedness, and autonomy. Meeting those needs allows older adults to reach higher levels of well-being and higher degrees of personal growth (Ryan & Deci, [42]). Therefore, it is assumed that challenges to older adult learning do not only inhibit its benefits, but could ultimately hinder seniors' well-being and personal development.

The aim of this study was to investigate the benefits and challenges of older adult learning in Lebanon. Upon finishing one term of educational activities, the seniors' challenges were categorized into situational, dispositional, and institutional; benefits were classified as psychological, social, and cognitive.

The implications of this study are practical and theoretical altogether. Understanding challenges and benefits of older adult learning through the eyes of SDT, might contribute positively in helping this center better accommodate intrinsically motivated learners in their commitment and authenticity aspects. Such understanding could also help extrinsically motivated learners in their integration process (Ryan & Deci, [42]). The latter could be cultivated when the center acknowledges motivations' underlying competence, relatedness, and autonomy needs and provides optimal environments for their satisfaction. Moreover, linking later-life education to older adults' wellbeing places a heavier load on this U3A and its mission vis-à-vis its members to satisfy their basic psychological needs. Secondly, this center is unique to Lebanon and the Middle East region, making this study the first of its kind to study and document educational gerontology practices in that geographical area. This forms a point of reference for other potential local and regional initiatives in educational gerontology.

Theoretically, building on Houde's ([25]) attempt to validate Andragogy through SDT, we attempted to understand the benefits of, and the challenges to, older adult learning through the Self-Determination Theory. We also highlighted the importance of social and environmental factors that could inhibit or nurture educational experiences in efforts to address relevant research gaps. Moreover, the study found that the same categorization scheme of challenges faced before learning (Cross, [12]; Eisen, [17]; Parker, [37]; Silverstein et al., [48]) applies also to challenges faced during the learning process in terms of their classification as institutional, dispositional, and situational. Finally, the third theoretical implication emanates from the quasiuniversality of benefits of older adult learning. For instance, findings from Lebanon compare, to a great extent, to findings from studies conducted in Canada (Chené, [9]; Chené & Sigouin, [10]; Narushima, [35]), United States (Brown et al., [6]; Mehrotra, [32]), United Kingdom (Dench & Regan, [16]), and Spain (Alfageme, [3]; Villar et al., [54]). This implies that the study's findings might apply to older adults elsewhere living in a similar context to their Lebanese homologues, attending a U3A with a similar profile.

Had answers been more elaborate, and had they been recorded based on gender and socioeconomic status (SES), it might have led the study to uncover the differences related to gender and SES when it comes to acquired benefits and challenges of learning—but it was not the case. Moreover, the coding and data analysis risked coders' subjectivity, hence the importance of reliability testing. However, coding subjectivity could be due to the reliance on everyday common culture (Bryman, [7], p. 306), which could have affected the analysis process.

As a next step it, would be informative to investigate the process through which extrinsically motivated older adults integrate their learning experience. This might allow better attraction and retention of seniors while planning programs addressing their different needs.

Until then, Lebanon falls short when it comes to the concept of Golden Aging"as defined by the World Bank's 2015 report (Bussolo, Koettl, & Sinnott, [8]). Older adults in Lebanon remain indeed a marginalized segment of the Lebanese society. To pursue learning, for older adults, is to maintain or recover a sense of personal well-being (Jenkins, [27]). This is because learning serves to empower them (McClusky, [31]), and it ought to satisfy their psychological basic needs (Ryan & Deci, [42]). Contextualizing benefits and challenges of older adult learning in Lebanon is only one milestone step towards the so called Golden Aging.