Educational dimension of the “The Voice Senior” programme – an attempt to read meanings

The globalisation of the media industry leads to the dissemination and perpetuation of similar cultural patterns of old age, which may open up new horizons of development in the period of late adulthood, as well as inhibit the emancipation potential of the oldest generation and perpetuate old age stereotypes, both negative and positive, thus limiting the pool of patterns available to subsequent generations. Recognising the need for discourse on the patterns of old age presented in the mass media, an analysis of The Voice Senior programme (first edition 2019/2020), broadcast on the first channel of Polish Television, was conducted. The aim of the research was to recognise the educational significance of the programme and to develop postulates important for shaping the positive image of older adults in the media. The nature of the research was non-reactive. Qualitative content analysis was carried out after recording all statements of participants, coaches and presenters. The analysis consisted in identifying conceptual categories relevant to the subject of the research and then subjecting them to interpretation. The recognised categories were the following: the educational dimension of the biographies of the programme participants; old age as a developmental period of life; stereotypes of old age; hidden dimension of meanings; intergenerational qualities of the programme; educational aspects of the master-pupil relationship.