Zooming in on Life Politics: Identity and Reflexivity in a University for the Third Age

A late modern rationale for the education of older people has not yet been sufficiently explored. In this action research, I explore Giddens’s life politics as a framework for a late modern rationale for older adult education. Eleven older learners were recruited voluntarily to an online study group conducted via Zoom at a University for the Third Age. Over six sessions, learners attended mini lectures, completed self-reflexive assignments, and engaged in lively classroom discussions. I report and evaluate the study group, with special focus on outcomes such as personal growth and self- and social questioning. I conclude that life politics is a viable framework for the education of older people and state implications for theory and practice.

A dults' motivation to participate in continuing education as they age has been a subject of interest for various researchers ( Galbraith, 2004 ). The motivational factors vary according to age group as well as reasons to learn. Adult learners are motivated in various ways. For many adults, there are several motivations to engage in learning, such as learning what is relevant to their real-life situations and what is useful for them ( Knowles et al., 2012 ). According to McKeachie (1978) , the teacher needs to understand the learner's motivation before they engage in learning to provide an effective learning environment. For example, according to Gom (2009 , p. 18), if teachers understand the nature of the learner, as well as his or her learning needs and tendencies, "this will help them to prepare their lessons and delivery in a manner that brings out maximum output-or learning." Therefore, this study's aim is to A postmodern rationale for the education of older people has not been yet sufficiently explored (Findsen & Formosa, 2011). Pioneering work in that direction was characterized by Foucauldian undertones (see Withnall, 2010) and did not emphasize reflexivity-a necessary and central response to emerging changes (Edwards et al., 2002) that older people face in their third age (Bjursell, 2020).
Previous rationales for the education of older people include liberal-humanist (Percy, 1990) and changeoriented rationales-Freire and Mezirow (Formosa, 2011;Glendenning & Battersby, 1990;Manninen et al., 2019). Humanist education is seen as hegemonic and unable to empower older learners (Formosa, 2011); not that it aims to do so. Meanwhile, despite aiming for it, social empowerment is seldom reached despite following Freirean ideals (see Formosa & Galea, 2020;Nye, 1998) and transformative principles (see Moyer & Sinclair, 2020), which were redefined in terms of identity in lieu of cognitive frameworks alone (Illeris, 2014). In addition, the humanist rationale assigns self-actualization or personal growth as a goal to learning, whereas empowerment and emancipation are the goals of Freirean older adult 1024576A LXXXX10.1177 Zooming in on Life Politics Identity and Reflexivity in a University for the Third Age not much attention is given by adult educators unless they work in resettlement and immigrant-related programs (Guo & Lange, 2015). Researchers who have examined migration issues have looked at credential recognition (Guo, 2009), access to the adult education services (Larrotta, 2017), participation in ESL programs (Ullman, 2010), and literacy skills (Wrigley et al., 2009). Alfred (2003) and Skilton-Sylvester (2002) have been specifically interested in the learning experiences of women. Among a number of research studies that investigated the refugee experiences (see Magro & Ghorayshi, 2011;Yu et al., 2007), Magro and Ghorayshi (2011) suggest that refugees often struggle with difficulties in educational accreditation, financial need for reasonable and secure housing, changing dynamics in their family relationships, discrimination, and need for a social network and community. Because of such abrupt changes in their life plans, they restructure their lives and reconstruct their identities (Morrice, 2013). In this process, they are also challenged by the reality of class structured cultural and educational venues that posit psychological, situational, and institutional barriers and prevent them from being successful (Magro & Ghorayshi, 2011).
Adult education literature on refugee learners (Brigham et al., 2015;Guo & Lange, 2015;Joaquin & Johnson-Bailey, 2015;Magro & Ghorayshi, 2011;Morrice, 2013;Skilton-Sylvester, 2002) highlights the challenges that refugees experience in a host culture and draws attention to the role of adult education in providing effective programs, support, and resources (Alfred, 2001;Chao & Mantero, 2014;Larrotta, 2019). Given the foundational stance that adult education takes on social justice (Lange & Baillie Abidi, 2015) but the paucity of research by adult educators on the lived experiences of refugees among other immigrant groups (Brigham et al., 2015), studying acculturation experiences of Syrian Muslim refugee women with an intersectionality lens expands the existing research on the experiences of refugees. Drawing on Berry's (2003) Acculturation Model and Intersectionality theory (Crenshaw, 1989), I investigate the following research questions: (a) What are the acculturation experiences of Syrian Muslim refugee women? and (b) How does the intersectionality of nationality, religion, gender, and refugee status influence their acculturation to the United States?

Theoretical Framework Acculturation Theory
As a result of immigration, culturally plural communities with diverse backgrounds get to live together (Berry, 1997). Acculturation involves the contact that occurs both at the group level and individual level causing affective, behavioral, and cognitive changes, namely behavioral changes and acculturative stress, and the changes that occur later in psychosocial and sociocultural adaptation (Sam & Berry, 2010). Berry's (2003) acculturation model outlines the way individualand group-level factors link and create acculturation. At a group level, Berry (2003) emphasizes the need to understand what essential characteristics two cultural groups had before their contact and why they are in a contact relationship. At the individual level, Berry (2003) underlines the psychological changes that both groups experience and the way adaptation influence both groups' new situations. According to Berry (2003), these changes can be behavioral changes that are easy to perform such as the way they speak, dress, and eat, or they can be complicated and cause problems such as acculturation stress experienced as feelings of uncertainty, anxiety, and depression. Adaptations can happen either in a psychological (internal) way affecting the sense of well-being or self-esteem or in a sociocultural way such as becoming competent in daily intercultural activities (Searle & Ward, 1990).

Intersectionality Theory
Introduced in the late 1980s in anti-discrimination and social movement contexts as a heuristic term to draw attention to the controversial dynamics of differences and solidarity of sameness, intersectionality has promoted consideration of gender, race, and other power axes in both the political arena and academic disciplines (Cho et al., 2013). Contrary to the way social identities are conceptualized by their additive and independent functioning, formulation of intersectionality posits that experiences emerge because of the interaction among social categories (race, gender, and class) and their relation to each other. Crenshaw (1991) suggests that, Intersectional subordination need not be intentionally produced; in fact, it is frequently the  (Hachem, 2020). One way to address this dichotomy is through a late modern rationale for the education of older people that can embrace concurrently personal growth and selfand social questioning. Responding to Formosa and Galea's (2020) call ". . . to embed older adult learning in an agenda that is critical and sensitive to late modern sensibilities, whilst remaining responsive to the autonomous aspirations of individual learners" (p. 11), I propose the late modern concept of Life Politics (Giddens, 1991) as a framework for the education of older people, and there lies this study's innovative promise.
In this action research, I test life politics in an educational practice setting. I implemented an online study group at a University for the Third Age (U3A) relying on reflexivity and identity work. I report and evaluate the outcomes of this study group, paying particular attention to signs of personal growth and self-and social questioning and to the ways in which identity and reflexivity contribute to these outcomes.

Life Politics and Older Adult Education
Identity construction is becoming a key part of the process of growing older (Higgs & Gilleard, 2006). Upon retirement, older adults face new questions and identity-defining choices (Illeris, 2014) concerning roles within society and family, learning in later life, working beyond retirement, health, and lifestyle. One way to tackle emerging questions and disjuncture is through reflexive learning (Bjursell, 2020;Edwards et al., 2002), and it is here that the educational promise of life politics emerges. Giddens (1991) defined life politics as a politics of -actualisation in a reflexively ordered environment, where that reflexivity links self and body to global scopes . . . Life politics concerns political issues which flow from processes of selfactualisation in post-traditional contexts, where globalising influences intrude deeply into the reflexive project of the self, and conversely where processes of self-realisation [or self-actualization] influence global strategies. (p. 214) This conceptualization of life politics merges selfactualization and empowerment/emancipation and could solve long-standing learning goal-related dichotomies found within previous rationales for the education of older adults (see Hachem, 2020). Life politics offers two important insights. It allows for the discovery of the self in connection to societal and global scopes, and ultimately connecting the two. It transcends emancipation by orientating individuals "towards" rather than "away from" others (Giddens, 1991, p. 213), unlike emancipatory politics. Life politics speak to a heterogeneous cohort of older learners, not only the oppressed or the privileged. By acting on selfidentities, life politics can engage learners from different life chances to learn together and exchange perspectives. Life politics also summons a dialectical relationship between the self and global issues, through which the individual journey of self-actualization becomes dependent on exploring global issues.
Through reflexivity, the proposed life politics framework for learning can help older learners manage the uncertainties and risks associated with older age, as well as global threats such as the COVID-19 pandemic (Bjursell, 2020). Edwards et al. (2002) explained that "reflexivity associated with contemporary change processes entails forms of learning that develop a capacity for questioning one's self and the historical and social circumstances from which action to accomplish change may be envisioned and resourced" (p. 531). Via reflexively ordered narratives of self-identity, older adults can understand their own life span in the context of changing and emerging external circumstances, including other learners' life spans, values, and perspectives. Life politics becomes a rationale for an elective change-oriented education that gratifies identity expression and self-actualization. Education à la life politics does not mandate individual or social change on learners. Rather, by constructing spaces for self-and social questioning, it forms an incubator for their materialization.

Planning the Study Group
My investigation follows an action research design (Glassman et al., 2013), through which I approach innovatively the learning goals dichotomy, selfactualization, or empowerment/emancipation. Inspired by the four core processes of action research, I opted for one cycle of planning, acting, particularly greatly impacted by these disconcerting changes as they are also stigmatized by association with terrorism because of stereotypes associated with their religion and ethnicity (Gowayed, 2020). Syrian refugee resettlement caused public controversy because of concerns about terrorism and national security (Bruno, 2016) to the extent that some of the governors opposed the resettlement of Syrian refugees in their states (Zong & Batalova, 2017). Despite these difficulties, various organizations working with the U.S. government and a plethora of volunteers have continued to provide resettlement social services to the Syrian refugees across the United States (Zong & Batalova, 2017). Adult education programs are part of the resettlement services offered to immigrants, asylees, and refugees (Schaetzel & Young, 2010). The position of Syrian refugees is a critical research area for adult educators as it contributes to the current discourse on race, religion, gender, and immigration by honoring the voices that need to be heard and expanding the limited research in adult education literature that focus on the lived experiences of refugees as immigrants (Brigham et al., 2015).
Historically, adult education programs have been closely linked to migration as traditional higher education institutions do not meet the demand for educating the migrant population ( Joaquin & Johnson-Bailey, 2015). Federally funded adult education programs are authorized by the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act which provides funding for adult basic education (ABE), adult secondary education (ASE), and English as a second language (ESL) programs for adults including immigrants. For refugees, The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) provides services that comprise employment services; job readiness and job search; English language and vocational preparation; translation services; and case management (ORR, 2019). While those services help the transition of refugees in the first months of their arrival, they are limited to a certain time and do not provide long-term extensive education programs that would help successful adaptation of refugees and asylees (Larrotta, 2017). Helping to bridge this gap, non-profit or publicly funded community-based organizations, churches, and libraries provide adult education programs and play an important role in supporting refugee and immigrants' education and adaptation (Chao & Kuntz, 2013;Larrotta, 2017).
This study aims to provide adult educators and resettlement service providers with a deeper understanding on the complex experiences of refugee women to better serve their specific needs in adult education programs. Resting on this purpose, the study seeks to explore how the intersectionality of nationality, religion, gender, and refugee status affects the acculturation experiences of Syrian refugees in the United States.

Related Literature
Moving to a new culture means interacting with differences in role expectations, values, norms, understandings, and challenges in communication (Levy-Warren, 1987). As a result of forced migrations, refugees experience not only a challenged sense of self but also changes in gender roles, language, and socioeconomic status (Bemak et al., 2003). The researchers also addressed that women are among the subsets of refugees who are especially vulnerable to certain negative experiences.
Various aspects of refugees' acculturation and post-migration experiences have been studied. Employment and welfare issues are studied by some social workers (e.g., Hollister et al., 2005;Potocky-Tripodi, 2002), emotional and psychological aspects of resettlement and acculturation have been the subject of counselors and psychologists (Berry, 1989(Berry, , 2006Bemak et al., 2003), and refugee mental health also been one of the most largely studied issues (Beiser & Wickrama, 2004;Chung, 2001). The review of the literature indicates that some relevant research studies investigated the acculturation experiences of refugees and immigrants from Syria's neighboring countries such as Iran, and Iraq and Arab Americans (Jadalla & Lee, 2012;Wrobel et al., 2009). However, there is limited literature specifically focusing on the lived experiences of Syrian refugee women resettled in the United States after the 2011 Syrian Civil War (see Issa, 2017;Reda, 2017).
In the field of adult education, while there have been studies focusing on basic education, language, literacy, skills training, and professional education programs for refugees that are funded and organized by various non-governmental organizations, or state institutions, ADULT LEARNING 106 consequence of the imposition of one burden that interacts with preexisting vulnerabilities to create yet another dimension of disempowerment. (p. 1249) Intersectionality refers to the consequences of these interactions in terms of power (Davis, 2008).
The way social categories intersect has a great influence on individuals who identify themselves with those categories (Crenshaw, 1991). Thus, analyses of these categories separately would inadequately represent the lived experiences of individuals with multiple disadvantaged statuses as these categories are often experienced simultaneously (Cole, 2009;Ressia et al., 2017). Intersectionality allows us not only to understand the complexities of differences but also to investigate the way gender, race, ethnicity, migrant status, and other categories are affected by the power dynamics in the society that creates multiple disadvantages for people of difference (Ressia et al., 2017).

Research Design
In this study, I employed a qualitative research methodology using narrative inquiry (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). The narrative inquiry approach in qualitative research focuses on "the way humans experience the world" (Connelly & Clandinin, 1990, p. 2). As Patton (2002) points out, the narrative inquiry "honors people's stories as data that can stand on their own as pure description of experience, be worthy as narrative documentary of experience (the core phenomenology)" (p. 116). In the narrative inquiry, the researcher's role is to become a listener to the participants' story (Connelly & Clandinin, 1990). In this respect, to go beyond the questionanswer type of interview and elicit less imposed perspectives from the participants, I became the listener and let the participants narrate their experiences in a storytelling format ( Jovchelovitch & Bauer, 2000). However, it does not mean that I, as the researcher was silenced. Narrative inquiry is a process of mutual storytelling and restorying. In this process, my role was to construct a relationship in which both parties could be heard.
Makris (2017) suggests that "intersectionality makes the call for a less contrived representation of people, while narrative inquiry represents a quest for a less contrived representation of reality. They are natural companions" (p. 78). Therefore, using narrative inquiry served as a supplementary research method to intersectionality approach.

Participants
The participants were six Syrian, Muslim refugee women who came to the United States after 2011. Their age ranged from 19 to 42 years. Out of six participants, four were married with children and two lived with their parents. The participants were recruited using a purposeful sampling method (Patton, 2002) to select information-rich cases that have insights and in-depth understanding of the questions guiding the study. As one type of purposeful sampling strategy, the snowball sampling method (Merriam, 2009) was used to locate a couple of key participants at a community center who met the selection criteria, and they, in turn, referred me to other eligible people in their network. The selection of the participants proceeded until there were no new themes observed in the data and the saturation was achieved.

Data Collection and Analysis
For this study, I conducted one in-depth, semistructured, audio-recorded interview with each participant. The interview protocol consisted of 24 open-ended questions that represented the topic area inquiring about participants' lived experiences, their interactions, and interpersonal relationships. The interviews were conducted in June 2019. Each interview lasted approximately 45-60 mins. and took place at participants' convenience. The participants told their stories in Arabic, in their native language. All research instruments including the consent forms were translated into Arabic. During the interviews, I had an interpreter present with me. The interpreter translated the questions and stories simultaneously from English to Arabic and vice versa. Transcriptions of the stories were written in English from the audio recording verbatim. I recruited the interpreter, Fatima from a resettlement agency, and interviewed her to know about her background and what she might be bringing to her interpretive work. In this study, field notes and my journal were the other sources of data. Patton (2002) also suggests the use of multiple methods for particularly greatly impacted by these disconcerting changes as they are also stigmatized by association with terrorism because of stereotypes associated with their religion and ethnicity (Gowayed, 2020). Syrian refugee resettlement caused public controversy because of concerns about terrorism and national security (Bruno, 2016) to the extent that some of the governors opposed the resettlement of Syrian refugees in their states (Zong & Batalova, 2017). Despite these difficulties, various organizations working with the U.S. government and a plethora of volunteers have continued to provide resettlement social services to the Syrian refugees across the United States (Zong & Batalova, 2017). Adult education programs are part of the resettlement services offered to immigrants, asylees, and refugees (Schaetzel & Young, 2010). The position of Syrian refugees is a critical research area for adult educators as it contributes to the current discourse on race, religion, gender, and immigration by honoring the voices that need to be heard and expanding the limited research in adult education literature that focus on the lived experiences of refugees as immigrants (Brigham et al., 2015). Historically, adult education programs have been closely linked to migration as traditional higher education institutions do not meet the demand for educating the migrant population ( Joaquin & Johnson-Bailey, 2015). Federally funded adult education programs are authorized by the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act which provides funding for adult basic education (ABE), adult secondary education (ASE), and English as a second language (ESL) programs for adults including immigrants. For refugees, The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) provides services that comprise employment services; job readiness and job search; English language and vocational preparation; translation services; and case management (ORR, 2019). While those services help the transition of refugees in the first months of their arrival, they are limited to a certain time and do not provide long-term extensive education programs that would help successful adaptation of refugees and asylees (Larrotta, 2017). Helping to bridge this gap, non-profit or publicly funded community-based organizations, churches, and libraries provide adult education programs and play an important role in supporting refugee and immigrants' education and adaptation (Chao & Kuntz, 2013;Larrotta, 2017).
This study aims to provide adult educators and resettlement service providers with a deeper understanding on the complex experiences of refugee women to better serve their specific needs in adult education programs. Resting on this purpose, the study seeks to explore how the intersectionality of nationality, religion, gender, and refugee status affects the acculturation experiences of Syrian refugees in the United States.

Related Literature
Moving to a new culture means interacting with differences in role expectations, values, norms, understandings, and challenges in communication (Levy-Warren, 1987). As a result of forced migrations, refugees experience not only a challenged sense of self but also changes in gender roles, language, and socioeconomic status (Bemak et al., 2003). The researchers also addressed that women are among the subsets of refugees who are especially vulnerable to certain negative experiences.
Various aspects of refugees' acculturation and post-migration experiences have been studied. Employment and welfare issues are studied by some social workers (e.g., Hollister et al., 2005;Potocky-Tripodi, 2002), emotional and psychological aspects of resettlement and acculturation have been the subject of counselors and psychologists (Berry, 1989(Berry, , 2006Bemak et al., 2003), and refugee mental health also been one of the most largely studied issues (Beiser & Wickrama, 2004;Chung, 2001). The review of the literature indicates that some relevant research studies investigated the acculturation experiences of refugees and immigrants from Syria's neighboring countries such as Iran, and Iraq and Arab Americans (Jadalla & Lee, 2012;Wrobel et al., 2009). However, there is limited literature specifically focusing on the lived experiences of Syrian refugee women resettled in the United States after the 2011 Syrian Civil War (see Issa, 2017;Reda, 2017).
In the field of adult education, while there have been studies focusing on basic education, language, literacy, skills training, and professional education programs for refugees that are funded and organized by various non-governmental organizations, or state institutions, observing, and reflecting (Kuhne & Quigley, 1997). In the planning phase, I deepened my understanding of the sociological concept of life politics. Then, considering previous rationales for older adult education, I designed life-politics-inspired educational activities where learners are the main contributors to their own learning processes in a small group dynamic. The success or failure of this rationale depended on whether learners, at the end of the study group, would exhibit signs of personal growth and self-and social questioning. The study group announcement promised to keep lecturing to a minimum and, through group discussions and dynamics, to tackle issues related to culture, norms, and older adults' roles in their societies. In addition, the announcement promised a new take on learning in older age and indicated possible benefits such as fun, socialization (virtual), learning, and social impact. Initially, regarding the learning environment, it was expected that moving online would present technical challenges (Stephens & Coryell, 2020). I designed creative online educational activities to be accessible, effective, and fun (Rogers-Shaw et al., 2017) while remaining mindful of possible challenges to online teaching (Stephens & Coryell, 2020). Classroom activities were intended to invite older learners to reflect on their identities, past, present, and future. They were also designed to give space for a spontaneous digression from personal narratives to structural and societal concerns.

Study Group . . . Action
In the acting phase, the group took place via Zoom, as part of the first ever fully online educational term at this U3A. In October 2020, older learners were in a COVID-19-related lockdown. Participants were welcomed on a first-come-firstserved basis. The study group recruited 11 students: nine females and two males. The youngest person in this cohort was 54 years old and the oldest was 74. Participants were given culturally blind aliases. The official language of the group was English. The

Session1
Ice-breaking activity: Getting to know each other. Learners introduced themselves and answered the question: Where would you be, if not on Zoom with us? Group discussions in Zoom breakout rooms: How do you think society looks at older adults in [country name withheld]? Assignment for next session: Read Narratives and self-identity in later life: Two rural American older women (Journal of Ageing Studies). Also, write a short text answering the question: "Who am I?" Session 2 I gave a short lecture on self-identity. We watched a YouTube video ("Who am I?"). Some learners read their letters answering the question: "Who am I?" We discussed the article Narratives and self-identity in later life: Two rural American older women. We highlighted common identity themes from the journal article and from learners' letters. Assignement for next session: Read Chapter 1 of Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed and watch two YouTube videos about the life and works of Paolo Freire.

Session 3
In the previous session, discussions were dominated by a female perspective. So I asked: How do male learners feel in a female-dominated study group? I gave a short lecture on Paolo Freire and the main concepts in Chapter 1 of Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Zoom breakout rooms were formed to discuss the question: "Are you oppressed as an older adult?" A debate was planned around the question: Can men and women occupy the same professional positions? which emerged spontaneously from learners' discussions. Assignment for next session: Write a short letter to younger self -what would you say? Watch a YouTube video (how to age gracefully).

Session 4
The last session was dominated by atheist and feminist perspectives. I gave space for other students to respond on last session's issues (religion and gender). I did this to remain neutral and allow equal opportunity and space for different opinions. It was vital not to corner learners with unpopular opinions. We watched together a YouTube video ("Note to self", by Oprah Winfrey) in relation to writing a letter to your past self. I gave a short lecture on how to look for evidence-based information (Google Scholar and boolean terms), in relation to the upcoming debate inSession 5. We read together learners' short letters addressed to their younger selves. Assignment for next session: form an evidence-based opinion on whether men and women can occupy the same professional positions.

Session 5
We debated the question on gender-equality in professional positions. Learners provided evidence from trustworthy sources. Assignment for next session: write a short letter to your future self -what would you say? Also think for the coming session, what worked and what did not work in this study group, in terms of teaching methods and content.

Session 6
We read together learners' short letters addressed to their future selves. Together we evaluated the study group. Learners shared their thoughts in terms of benefits and inconveniences they experienced during the five previous sessions. During the discussions learners thought that the next step is going to be movie project in collaboration with the administration of the U3A, where they highlight the heterogeneity and different identities in older age.
not much attention is given by adult educators unless they work in resettlement and immigrant-related programs (Guo & Lange, 2015). Researchers who have examined migration issues have looked at credential recognition (Guo, 2009)

Theoretical Framework Acculturation Theory
As a result of immigration, culturally plural communities with diverse backgrounds get to live together (Berry, 1997). Acculturation involves the contact that occurs both at the group level and individual level causing affective, behavioral, and cognitive changes, namely behavioral changes and acculturative stress, and the changes that occur later in psychosocial and sociocultural adaptation (Sam & Berry, 2010). Berry's (2003) acculturation model outlines the way individualand group-level factors link and create acculturation. At a group level, Berry (2003) emphasizes the need to understand what essential characteristics two cultural groups had before their contact and why they are in a contact relationship. At the individual level, Berry (2003) underlines the psychological changes that both groups experience and the way adaptation influence both groups' new situations. According to Berry (2003), these changes can be behavioral changes that are easy to perform such as the way they speak, dress, and eat, or they can be complicated and cause problems such as acculturation stress experienced as feelings of uncertainty, anxiety, and depression. Adaptations can happen either in a psychological (internal) way affecting the sense of well-being or self-esteem or in a sociocultural way such as becoming competent in daily intercultural activities (Searle & Ward, 1990).

Intersectionality Theory
Introduced in the late 1980s in anti-discrimination and social movement contexts as a heuristic term to draw attention to the controversial dynamics of differences and solidarity of sameness, intersectionality has promoted consideration of gender, race, and other power axes in both the political arena and academic disciplines (Cho et al., 2013). Contrary to the way social identities are conceptualized by their additive and independent functioning, formulation of intersectionality posits that experiences emerge because of the interaction among social categories (race, gender, and class) and their relation to each other. Crenshaw (1991) suggests that, Intersectional subordination need not be intentionally produced; in fact, it is frequently the group met six times, twice per week for three weeks, during October 2020. The planned duration of each session was an hour, but each session was extended by 15 to 30 min. At three intervals, I implemented mini lectures, self-reflexive assignments, and class discussions, which I detail in Figure 1. Key assignments encouraged reflection over self-identities by asking learners to 1. Write a short letter to yourself answering the question "Who am I"? 2. Write a short letter to your younger self; what would you say? 3. Write a short letter to your future self; what would you say?
Teachers' positions following the humanist and change-oriented rationales mentioned earlier in this text are somewhat challenging. Following humanist ideals, teachers are mere knowledge facilitators (Percy, 1990), whose mission is not to empower nor expose oppressive structures. However, the teacher's role as a leader for change seen from Freirean and transformative perspectives could easily place teachers in positions of deciding what can be known and what should be done (Ellsworth, 1989). For these reasons, I imagined and enacted a life-politicsinspired teaching role, which I call engaged facilitator of knowledge. I encouraged participation, posed questions, and introduced ideas that solicit reflexive discussions. I provoked learners to question their identities, beliefs, and values, but did not expect nor push them to change. I assumed a neutral position in debates and discussions and refrained from imposing my own political agenda. I kept topics, assignments, and participation strictly elective, believing that if learners are interested, they will engage. I kept in mind the well-being of learners and worked in the direction of their self-actualization and empowerment.
An important part of my role as a teacher was to establish a trusting virtual environment, and to nurture a collegial, warm, horizontal, and democratic atmosphere. Therefore, I underlined the elective nature of educational content, assignments, and classroom activities, which could be easily changed if learners wished it.

Observing: From Identities to Global Scopes
My identity or me: the daughter, the student, the wife, the mother, the fighter, the widow. What have I done with my life? What mark do I leave through which I will be remembered by those who knew me? (Jacqueline, 54-year-old female) The three examples shown below are taken from classroom discussions and assignments. They illustrate evident connections between self-identities and global issues. Each example describes the transition from an identity theme (motherhood, religion, and gender) to questioning issues of global scopes (retirement, gendered social roles, and educational access).

From Motherhood to Retirement
The theme of motherhood surfaced as an identity account. It opened up discussions about retirement and led to the questioning of societal definitions of retirement. As part of the study group, the students wrote letters about their lives. Female older learners stressed their identity as mothers who are proud of their children and their accomplishments in both the educational and professional spheres. Antoinette, a 69-year-old female, proudly stated, "my son is a thoracic surgeon in a . . ., the other is an engineer and holder of an MBA, and my daughter has a master's in science education. All the above to say, I could fulfil my dreams." Although Antoinette mentioned caregiving and motherhood mostly in a romantic way, these were also seen in a rather problematic manner by Jacqueline, a 54-year-old female. Jacqueline gave up on her dreams of studying further so that she could be "the perfect mother." As she worked for only 1 year in her life, Jacqueline started a discussion about whether she is considered a retired person or not. "Do mothers retire?" she asked. The discussion that followed included attempts to define retirement and to question who decides what retirement is and who benefits from different definitions.

From Religion to Gendered Social Roles
In the second example, identity themes in relation to religion sparked discussions on gendered social particularly greatly impacted by these disconcerting changes as they are also stigmatized by association with terrorism because of stereotypes associated with their religion and ethnicity (Gowayed, 2020). Syrian refugee resettlement caused public controversy because of concerns about terrorism and national security (Bruno, 2016) to the extent that some of the governors opposed the resettlement of Syrian refugees in their states (Zong & Batalova, 2017). Despite these difficulties, various organizations working with the U.S. government and a plethora of volunteers have continued to provide resettlement social services to the Syrian refugees across the United States (Zong & Batalova, 2017). Adult education programs are part of the resettlement services offered to immigrants, asylees, and refugees (Schaetzel & Young, 2010). The position of Syrian refugees is a critical research area for adult educators as it contributes to the current discourse on race, religion, gender, and immigration by honoring the voices that need to be heard and expanding the limited research in adult education literature that focus on the lived experiences of refugees as immigrants (Brigham et al., 2015).
Historically, adult education programs have been closely linked to migration as traditional higher education institutions do not meet the demand for educating the migrant population ( Joaquin & Johnson-Bailey, 2015). Federally funded adult education programs are authorized by the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act which provides funding for adult basic education (ABE), adult secondary education (ASE), and English as a second language (ESL) programs for adults including immigrants. For refugees, The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) provides services that comprise employment services; job readiness and job search; English language and vocational preparation; translation services; and case management (ORR, 2019). While those services help the transition of refugees in the first months of their arrival, they are limited to a certain time and do not provide long-term extensive education programs that would help successful adaptation of refugees and asylees (Larrotta, 2017). Helping to bridge this gap, non-profit or publicly funded community-based organizations, churches, and libraries provide adult education programs and play an important role in supporting refugee and immigrants' education and adaptation (Chao & Kuntz, 2013;Larrotta, 2017).
This study aims to provide adult educators and resettlement service providers with a deeper understanding on the complex experiences of refugee women to better serve their specific needs in adult education programs. Resting on this purpose, the study seeks to explore how the intersectionality of nationality, religion, gender, and refugee status affects the acculturation experiences of Syrian refugees in the United States.

Related Literature
Moving to a new culture means interacting with differences in role expectations, values, norms, understandings, and challenges in communication (Levy-Warren, 1987). As a result of forced migrations, refugees experience not only a challenged sense of self but also changes in gender roles, language, and socioeconomic status (Bemak et al., 2003). The researchers also addressed that women are among the subsets of refugees who are especially vulnerable to certain negative experiences.
Various aspects of refugees' acculturation and post-migration experiences have been studied. Employment and welfare issues are studied by some social workers (e.g., Hollister et al., 2005;Potocky-Tripodi, 2002), emotional and psychological aspects of resettlement and acculturation have been the subject of counselors and psychologists (Berry, 1989(Berry, , 2006Bemak et al., 2003), and refugee mental health also been one of the most largely studied issues (Beiser & Wickrama, 2004;Chung, 2001). The review of the literature indicates that some relevant research studies investigated the acculturation experiences of refugees and immigrants from Syria's neighboring countries such as Iran, and Iraq and Arab Americans (Jadalla & Lee, 2012;Wrobel et al., 2009). However, there is limited literature specifically focusing on the lived experiences of Syrian refugee women resettled in the United States after the 2011 Syrian Civil War (see Issa, 2017;Reda, 2017).
In the field of adult education, while there have been studies focusing on basic education, language, literacy, skills training, and professional education programs for refugees that are funded and organized by various non-governmental organizations, or state institutions, ADULT LEARNING 106 consequence of the imposition of one burden that interacts with preexisting vulnerabilities to create yet another dimension of disempowerment. (p. 1249) Intersectionality refers to the consequences of these interactions in terms of power (Davis, 2008).
The way social categories intersect has a great influence on individuals who identify themselves with those categories (Crenshaw, 1991). Thus, analyses of these categories separately would inadequately represent the lived experiences of individuals with multiple disadvantaged statuses as these categories are often experienced simultaneously (Cole, 2009;Ressia et al., 2017). Intersectionality allows us not only to understand the complexities of differences but also to investigate the way gender, race, ethnicity, migrant status, and other categories are affected by the power dynamics in the society that creates multiple disadvantages for people of difference (Ressia et al., 2017).

Research Design
In this study, I employed a qualitative research methodology using narrative inquiry (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). The narrative inquiry approach in qualitative research focuses on "the way humans experience the world" (Connelly & Clandinin, 1990, p. 2). As Patton (2002) points out, the narrative inquiry "honors people's stories as data that can stand on their own as pure description of experience, be worthy as narrative documentary of experience (the core phenomenology)" (p. 116). In the narrative inquiry, the researcher's role is to become a listener to the participants' story (Connelly & Clandinin, 1990). In this respect, to go beyond the questionanswer type of interview and elicit less imposed perspectives from the participants, I became the listener and let the participants narrate their experiences in a storytelling format ( Jovchelovitch & Bauer, 2000). However, it does not mean that I, as the researcher was silenced. Narrative inquiry is a process of mutual storytelling and restorying. In this process, my role was to construct a relationship in which both parties could be heard.
Makris (2017) suggests that "intersectionality makes the call for a less contrived representation of people, while narrative inquiry represents a quest for a less contrived representation of reality. They are natural companions" (p. 78). Therefore, using narrative inquiry served as a supplementary research method to intersectionality approach.

Participants
The participants were six Syrian, Muslim refugee women who came to the United States after 2011. Their age ranged from 19 to 42 years. Out of six participants, four were married with children and two lived with their parents. The participants were recruited using a purposeful sampling method (Patton, 2002) to select information-rich cases that have insights and in-depth understanding of the questions guiding the study. As one type of purposeful sampling strategy, the snowball sampling method (Merriam, 2009) was used to locate a couple of key participants at a community center who met the selection criteria, and they, in turn, referred me to other eligible people in their network. The selection of the participants proceeded until there were no new themes observed in the data and the saturation was achieved.

Data Collection and Analysis
For this study, I conducted one in-depth, semistructured, audio-recorded interview with each participant. The interview protocol consisted of 24 open-ended questions that represented the topic area inquiring about participants' lived experiences, their interactions, and interpersonal relationships. The interviews were conducted in June 2019. Each interview lasted approximately 45-60 mins. and took place at participants' convenience. The participants told their stories in Arabic, in their native language. All research instruments including the consent forms were translated into Arabic. During the interviews, I had an interpreter present with me. The interpreter translated the questions and stories simultaneously from English to Arabic and vice versa. Transcriptions of the stories were written in English from the audio recording verbatim. I recruited the interpreter, Fatima from a resettlement agency, and interviewed her to know about her background and what she might be bringing to her interpretive work. In this study, field notes and my journal were the other sources of data. Patton (2002) also suggests the use of multiple methods for February 2022 Vol. XX No. X ADULT LEARNING 5 roles. Josephine, a 74-year-old female, had worked all her life and took pride in the number of years she had been engaged professionally. Retirement was not an easy ride for her. Despite her long career, Josephine, a religious woman, believed strongly in gendered social roles. "Motherhood and raising children are a women's job, and mothers prepare women and men for their role in society," she said. That same discussion became inflamed to such an extent that it had to be turned into a debate, which took place in Session 5. There, two main positions were formed: a group of females stressed that women could do any job as well as men. The other group, comprising Jacqueline and Jean (a 65-year-old man), insisted that some jobs are just not for women, citing construction work, truck driving, and jobs that require physical strength. Conversely, Helen, a 74-year-old "freedom fighter," leftist, activist, and movie director, strongly condemned "patriarchy." She believes in secular societies and that religion and women's rights do not go well together. Along the same lines, Rose, a 72-year-old female, provided a long list of females who had entered and excelled in male-dominated work domains. The heated debate reached another instance of social questioning. It was concluded that if women cannot perform certain functions at work, it is not women's abilities that should be doubted; it is the nature and circumstances of jobs that need adjustments.

From Gender to Educational Access
Gender was also discussed from the point of view of access to educational opportunities as learners questioned family traditions that favored educational access for males. Traditions meant that women did not receive proper education because the overall amount of money allocated for tuition within families is worth more when invested in male children. Recalling her childhood, Hope, a 62-year-old female, had to fight with her family, especially her uncle, because the uncle believed that she had received enough education. Family traditions also prevented Jacqueline and Rose from acquiring further education. When asked whether she felt oppressed, Hope responded, "we were raised in [country withheld] oppressed by our families, leaders, society, by everybody." Hope added that the source of oppression is cultural practices. While traditions prevented female learners from learning more, Tony, a 55-year-old male learner, regretted not learning more, for reasons that are not related to traditions. Reflecting on Tony's example, Hope affirmed that oppressive culture sustains differences between men and women, boys and girls, and that it is reproduced in homes and schools. Having missed some education in earlier times, many female learners consider learning in older age as a compensation.

Reflection: Teacher's Perspective
I illustrated how educational activities engage learners in exploring and constructing their "selves" as part of reflexive processes that link together personal and social issues, a necessary step to identity-based change-oriented adult education. The proposed life politics framework for older adult education is not a form of self-glorification; rather, it is one that becomes "vitally implicated in a politics of representation (how people present and understand or are presented and understood) in the cultural processes that shape the meanings and understanding of experience and the formation of identity" (Usher, 2009, p. 179). In classroom deliberations, reflections on womanhood, as an identity, uncovered a male-oriented definition of retirement, and male favoritism in educational access. Tackling religious identity revealed beliefs in gendered roles in society and sparked questions about the ability of women to occupy certain job positions. Despite the elective nature of all educational activities across the six sessions, the discussions became increasingly fervent and intimate, and the number of responses to the assignments increased. Participants who did not write their assignments remained actively engaged in the discussions. On an outcome level, the previous examples form unmistakable signs of self-and social questioning coupled with personal growth, as older learners interacted with peers, shared intimate experiences, reflected on their identities, planned for future selves, and engaged in reminiscence about their past and in resolving unfinished business. Using life politics as a rationale for learning enables older adults to seek personal growth, as well as freedom from oppression-all while avoiding their portrayal not much attention is given by adult educators unless they work in resettlement and immigrant-related programs (Guo & Lange, 2015). Researchers who have examined migration issues have looked at credential recognition (Guo, 2009), access to the adult education services (Larrotta, 2017), participation in ESL programs (Ullman, 2010), and literacy skills (Wrigley et al., 2009). Alfred (2003 and Skilton-Sylvester (2002) have been specifically interested in the learning experiences of women. Among a number of research studies that investigated the refugee experiences (see Magro & Ghorayshi, 2011;Yu et al., 2007), Magro and Ghorayshi (2011) suggest that refugees often struggle with difficulties in educational accreditation, financial need for reasonable and secure housing, changing dynamics in their family relationships, discrimination, and need for a social network and community. Because of such abrupt changes in their life plans, they restructure their lives and reconstruct their identities (Morrice, 2013). In this process, they are also challenged by the reality of class structured cultural and educational venues that posit psychological, situational, and institutional barriers and prevent them from being successful (Magro & Ghorayshi, 2011).
Adult education literature on refugee learners (Brigham et al., 2015;Guo & Lange, 2015;Joaquin & Johnson-Bailey, 2015;Magro & Ghorayshi, 2011;Morrice, 2013;Skilton-Sylvester, 2002) highlights the challenges that refugees experience in a host culture and draws attention to the role of adult education in providing effective programs, support, and resources (Alfred, 2001;Chao & Mantero, 2014;Larrotta, 2019). Given the foundational stance that adult education takes on social justice (Lange & Baillie Abidi, 2015) but the paucity of research by adult educators on the lived experiences of refugees among other immigrant groups (Brigham et al., 2015), studying acculturation experiences of Syrian Muslim refugee women with an intersectionality lens expands the existing research on the experiences of refugees. Drawing on Berry's (2003) Acculturation Model and Intersectionality theory (Crenshaw, 1989), I investigate the following research questions: (a) What are the acculturation experiences of Syrian Muslim refugee women? and (b) How does the intersectionality of nationality, religion, gender, and refugee status influence their acculturation to the United States?

Theoretical Framework Acculturation Theory
As a result of immigration, culturally plural communities with diverse backgrounds get to live together (Berry, 1997). Acculturation involves the contact that occurs both at the group level and individual level causing affective, behavioral, and cognitive changes, namely behavioral changes and acculturative stress, and the changes that occur later in psychosocial and sociocultural adaptation (Sam & Berry, 2010). Berry's (2003) acculturation model outlines the way individualand group-level factors link and create acculturation. At a group level, Berry (2003) emphasizes the need to understand what essential characteristics two cultural groups had before their contact and why they are in a contact relationship. At the individual level, Berry (2003) underlines the psychological changes that both groups experience and the way adaptation influence both groups' new situations. According to Berry (2003), these changes can be behavioral changes that are easy to perform such as the way they speak, dress, and eat, or they can be complicated and cause problems such as acculturation stress experienced as feelings of uncertainty, anxiety, and depression. Adaptations can happen either in a psychological (internal) way affecting the sense of well-being or self-esteem or in a sociocultural way such as becoming competent in daily intercultural activities (Searle & Ward, 1990).

Intersectionality Theory
Introduced in the late 1980s in anti-discrimination and social movement contexts as a heuristic term to draw attention to the controversial dynamics of differences and solidarity of sameness, intersectionality has promoted consideration of gender, race, and other power axes in both the political arena and academic disciplines (Cho et al., 2013). Contrary to the way social identities are conceptualized by their additive and independent functioning, formulation of intersectionality posits that experiences emerge because of the interaction among social categories (race, gender, and class) and their relation to each other. Crenshaw (1991) suggests that, Intersectional subordination need not be intentionally produced; in fact, it is frequently the as oppressed or powerless (Formosa, 2011;Glendenning & Battersby, 1990).

Reflection: Learners' Perspective
I never liked to look back at my past life but now you gave me the courage to look for a while.
(Antoinette, 69-year-old female) Learners were invited to evaluate the study group regarding what had worked or what needed improvement. They reported that they most appreciated speaking their mind and that their opinions mattered. They also valued open discussions, their ability to impose changes in the content of the sessions, and that the assignments were not mandatory. Many stressed that the open format of the sessions and the interactions was much better than lectures, where they were allocated a short time to ask questions. Helen wrote, "I prefer the interactive sessions, because we get to know each other as well as our lecturer, more intimately, as living people with their ideas, thoughts, and experiences." Rose concurred, saying, "I did enjoy [teacher's] method of throwing ideas that motivated us to discuss them. Most participants were eager to share their opinions . . . we found ourselves actively involved in the learning process." The older learners unanimously agreed that the online affordances of Zoom made the social interactions more open and honest. Some thought that if the discussions had been held face to face, they would have "opened up" less than they actually did. This finding is at odds with literature stating that sociability and openness are one of the challenges encountered in virtual learning environments (Githens, 2007;Stephens & Coryell, 2020).
Despite their appreciation of the study group, older learners felt that six sessions were not enough, as they were just getting warmed up and needed more sessions to interact and discuss issues further. They also were not satisfied with the duration of the sessions, which they felt should have been extended to two hours. They even demanded more time allocation for interactions, and that mini lectures could be recorded earlier and sent prior to the sessions, so that topical discussions could start immediately at the beginning of the sessions.

Implications for Practice
This study answers recent calls to embed older adult education in a late modern rationale by testing its feasibility in practice. I implemented an online study group using life politics as a framework for the education of older adults. Participants showed unmistakable signs of self-actualization and empowerment. This demonstrates that a late modern rationale based on life politics is viable in practice. I appeal to scholars and adult educators to further examine and replicate lifepolitics-inspired educational activities. Through this study, I partake in the debate on the rationales for learning in older age (Formosa, 2011;Hachem, 2020) and I invigorate it with a late modern rationale.
In relation to the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond, virtual learning with a focus on identity and reflexivity is beneficial to adult learners. Virtual study groups strengthen the online U3A phenomenon (see Swindell, 2002); they also enhance access to educational opportunities and interventions, designed for isolated adults. I call on administrators of adult education institutions to conceive of virtual learning as a permanent solution in pure or hybrid forms, in parallel to face-to-face activities. Engaging adult learners in identity work and reflexivity is not an easy task. Of key importance to adult educators is to keep their students motivated (Illeris, 2014) by partnering with them in shaping enjoyable educational activities and assignments that promote self-reflexivity.
Professional development for adult educators must include knowledge and skills to effectively use digital technology tools. Navigating the increasing numbers of affordances of digital technology is also an essential skill, which is crucial to establishing much needed intimacy and trust in online educational activities. Content knowledge and mastery of digital tools, although essential, may reveal insufficient to lead reflexive educational activities. Teachers must first engage in self-and social questioning, starting with their own teaching practices and choice of content knowledge. Teachers should also be fluent in dealing with concepts like agency, structures, and power relations, so they can more easily provoke discussions particularly greatly impacted by these disconcerting changes as they are also stigmatized by association with terrorism because of stereotypes associated with their religion and ethnicity (Gowayed, 2020). Syrian refugee resettlement caused public controversy because of concerns about terrorism and national security (Bruno, 2016) to the extent that some of the governors opposed the resettlement of Syrian refugees in their states (Zong & Batalova, 2017). Despite these difficulties, various organizations working with the U.S. government and a plethora of volunteers have continued to provide resettlement social services to the Syrian refugees across the United States (Zong & Batalova, 2017). Adult education programs are part of the resettlement services offered to immigrants, asylees, and refugees (Schaetzel & Young, 2010). The position of Syrian refugees is a critical research area for adult educators as it contributes to the current discourse on race, religion, gender, and immigration by honoring the voices that need to be heard and expanding the limited research in adult education literature that focus on the lived experiences of refugees as immigrants (Brigham et al., 2015).
Historically, adult education programs have been closely linked to migration as traditional higher education institutions do not meet the demand for educating the migrant population ( Joaquin & Johnson-Bailey, 2015). Federally funded adult education programs are authorized by the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act which provides funding for adult basic education (ABE), adult secondary education (ASE), and English as a second language (ESL) programs for adults including immigrants. For refugees, The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) provides services that comprise employment services; job readiness and job search; English language and vocational preparation; translation services; and case management (ORR, 2019). While those services help the transition of refugees in the first months of their arrival, they are limited to a certain time and do not provide long-term extensive education programs that would help successful adaptation of refugees and asylees (Larrotta, 2017). Helping to bridge this gap, non-profit or publicly funded community-based organizations, churches, and libraries provide adult education programs and play an important role in supporting refugee and immigrants' education and adaptation (Chao & Kuntz, 2013;Larrotta, 2017).
This study aims to provide adult educators and resettlement service providers with a deeper understanding on the complex experiences of refugee women to better serve their specific needs in adult education programs. Resting on this purpose, the study seeks to explore how the intersectionality of nationality, religion, gender, and refugee status affects the acculturation experiences of Syrian refugees in the United States.

Related Literature
Moving to a new culture means interacting with differences in role expectations, values, norms, understandings, and challenges in communication (Levy-Warren, 1987). As a result of forced migrations, refugees experience not only a challenged sense of self but also changes in gender roles, language, and socioeconomic status (Bemak et al., 2003). The researchers also addressed that women are among the subsets of refugees who are especially vulnerable to certain negative experiences.
Various aspects of refugees' acculturation and post-migration experiences have been studied. Employment and welfare issues are studied by some social workers (e.g., Hollister et al., 2005;Potocky-Tripodi, 2002), emotional and psychological aspects of resettlement and acculturation have been the subject of counselors and psychologists (Berry, 1989(Berry, , 2006Bemak et al., 2003), and refugee mental health also been one of the most largely studied issues (Beiser & Wickrama, 2004;Chung, 2001). The review of the literature indicates that some relevant research studies investigated the acculturation experiences of refugees and immigrants from Syria's neighboring countries such as Iran, and Iraq and Arab Americans (Jadalla & Lee, 2012;Wrobel et al., 2009). However, there is limited literature specifically focusing on the lived experiences of Syrian refugee women resettled in the United States after the 2011 Syrian Civil War (see Issa, 2017;Reda, 2017).
In the field of adult education, while there have been studies focusing on basic education, language, literacy, skills training, and professional education programs for refugees that are funded and organized by various non-governmental organizations, or state institutions, ADULT LEARNING 106 consequence of the imposition of one burden that interacts with preexisting vulnerabilities to create yet another dimension of disempowerment. (p. 1249) Intersectionality refers to the consequences of these interactions in terms of power (Davis, 2008).
The way social categories intersect has a great influence on individuals who identify themselves with those categories (Crenshaw, 1991). Thus, analyses of these categories separately would inadequately represent the lived experiences of individuals with multiple disadvantaged statuses as these categories are often experienced simultaneously (Cole, 2009;Ressia et al., 2017). Intersectionality allows us not only to understand the complexities of differences but also to investigate the way gender, race, ethnicity, migrant status, and other categories are affected by the power dynamics in the society that creates multiple disadvantages for people of difference (Ressia et al., 2017).

Research Design
In this study, I employed a qualitative research methodology using narrative inquiry (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). The narrative inquiry approach in qualitative research focuses on "the way humans experience the world" (Connelly & Clandinin, 1990, p. 2). As Patton (2002) points out, the narrative inquiry "honors people's stories as data that can stand on their own as pure description of experience, be worthy as narrative documentary of experience (the core phenomenology)" (p. 116). In the narrative inquiry, the researcher's role is to become a listener to the participants' story (Connelly & Clandinin, 1990). In this respect, to go beyond the questionanswer type of interview and elicit less imposed perspectives from the participants, I became the listener and let the participants narrate their experiences in a storytelling format ( Jovchelovitch & Bauer, 2000). However, it does not mean that I, as the researcher was silenced. Narrative inquiry is a process of mutual storytelling and restorying. In this process, my role was to construct a relationship in which both parties could be heard.
Makris (2017) suggests that "intersectionality makes the call for a less contrived representation of people, while narrative inquiry represents a quest for a less contrived representation of reality. They are natural companions" (p. 78). Therefore, using narrative inquiry served as a supplementary research method to intersectionality approach.

Participants
The participants were six Syrian, Muslim refugee women who came to the United States after 2011. Their age ranged from 19 to 42 years. Out of six participants, four were married with children and two lived with their parents. The participants were recruited using a purposeful sampling method (Patton, 2002) to select information-rich cases that have insights and in-depth understanding of the questions guiding the study. As one type of purposeful sampling strategy, the snowball sampling method (Merriam, 2009) was used to locate a couple of key participants at a community center who met the selection criteria, and they, in turn, referred me to other eligible people in their network. The selection of the participants proceeded until there were no new themes observed in the data and the saturation was achieved.

Data Collection and Analysis
For this study, I conducted one in-depth, semistructured, audio-recorded interview with each participant. The interview protocol consisted of 24 open-ended questions that represented the topic area inquiring about participants' lived experiences, their interactions, and interpersonal relationships. The interviews were conducted in June 2019. Each interview lasted approximately 45-60 mins. and took place at participants' convenience. The participants told their stories in Arabic, in their native language. All research instruments including the consent forms were translated into Arabic. During the interviews, I had an interpreter present with me. The interpreter translated the questions and stories simultaneously from English to Arabic and vice versa. Transcriptions of the stories were written in English from the audio recording verbatim. I recruited the interpreter, Fatima from a resettlement agency, and interviewed her to know about her background and what she might be bringing to her interpretive work. In this study, field notes and my journal were the other sources of data. Patton (2002) also suggests the use of multiple methods for  (Illeris, 2014, p. 155). In an increasingly individualized experience of the third age, life politics become of essence in framing a late modern rationale for the education of older people.