The idea of intergenerational learning is not a new one. The passing down of knowledge from elders to youngsters has been around as long as history is documented. This still happens in many cultures but in other, this is an idea that has been put to one side and I would argue that so many opportunities are being missed out on because of this.
Socialisation is a skill that would benefit from intergenerational learning. There is a generation of young people who we struggle to communicate with and understand. Is this because they are not being given the opportunities to learn socialisation skills with people of different ages? Schools in general segregate children by ages and they are spending six plus hours, 5 days a week with people the same age. Talking and being able to communicate with those of different ages is true socialisation. Not only would it help develop the language skills of youngsters, it has been proven that when the elderly talk with children it helps their cognitive functions.
The world as we know it is moving at such a pace technologically and the younger generations are at the fore front of this. They could be helping the older generations keep up to date. However, it is not just the younger generations that we can learn from, other global issues such as environmental challenges call for us to look for solutions and I would argue many of them come from the older generations who lived more sustainably and carefully.
I recently has my 75 year old mother in law from Algeria to stay for 6 months and she taught me skills that are very beneficial in my effort towards being more sustainable. She is from a generation and country where you don’t waste anything. Things are re-used, recycled and home-made. Food is bought locally, is seasonal and always made fresh.
Not only do I think that intergenerational learning is important for learning knowledge and skills, the impact on the community and creating empathetic tendencies in the younger generations towards the elderly and fostering relationships would benefit society greatly.
Intergenerational learning is something that I believe should be included in school curriculums. Education is so much more than memorising facts, learning skills, taking exams and focusing on the individual. I would argue the benefits for individuals to shape themselves and society as a whole would be great.
