Intergenerational Relationships and Lifelong Learning

We are delighted to introduce this special issue of the Journal of Intergenerational Relationships (JIR). It includes research articles that expand the arena of intergenerational relationships into the context of lifelong learning, and the area is broadened where lifelong learning and intergenerational learning meet. The circumstances for these meetings are different, the learning between generations takes place on several continents, and the authors of the articles are researchers who have been part of the lifelong learning movement from the beginning as well as younger researchers new to the area.

The concept of lifelong learning as such has been used since the 1970s. Different agents, both at the grassroots level and in policy, have used it. In the beginning it was used in a narrow way meaning mostly recurrent education and adult education. There are still many who define lifelong learning as adult education only, but since the 1990s the concept has been used in a broader sense (Hasan, 1999).

The broader concept can be interpreted to consist of four criteria that define a lifelong learning society: each individual, young or old, should be motivated and equipped to engage in learning on a continuing basis throughout life, in formal and informal settings; each has access to opportunities of lifelong learning; and each is faced with incentives, both financial and social, to take advantage of such opportunities (Hasan, 1999, p. 53).

The broader meaning of lifelong learning was also evident in the publication Learning the Treasure Within, 1991, as a result of an international commission that was chaired by Jacques Delors. The goals stated were described as learning to know, learning to do, learning to be, and learning to live together (Delors, 1996).

The concept of lifelong learning has been liked and used differently around the world and in different levels of education. In policy, the concept was first related to human capital because its incentive was to give possibilities for individuals to learn and develop new skills that could be used in the workplace. The difference between learning and education developed during the 1980s (Tuijnman & Boström, 2002) and from around 2000 lifelong learning became related to social capital and social cohesion. This changed the focus and social relationships were prioritized. It is also within this scope of learning that lifelong learning connects with intergenerational learning, and the social and policy interest in social relationships between different generations is growing.

Intergenerational learning is more than just a facet of intergenerational relationships. On the one side, it enables the intergenerational transmission of knowledge, skills, competencies, attitudes, and habits in both directions—from the younger generations to the older ones and the other way round. On the other side, intergenerational learning opens up a space for generations to learn more about each other, to understand perspectives of other generations without necessarily adopting them. Therefore, intergenerational learning is related to intergenerational relationships in different ways as relationships of generations form these learning environments and the interaction of learners, but also it can be changed through learning processes.

Interestingly, these statements seem to be true for different concepts of generations. The interrelation between learning and relationships can be found for different generations within a family (genealogic concept of generations), for a sequence of generations in the society in an evolutionary sense of generations (pedagogical concept of generations) and for different historical generations representing different eras in societal history (sociohistorical concept of generations). With respect to the different understandings of generations, intergenerational learning can occur in diverse contexts and places, while the family and educational institutions are only two of them. Communities, workplaces, or clubs seem to be some of the more important settings in which intergenerational learning happens under certain conditions.

The papers in this issue show that intergenerational learning does not depend on pedagogical interventions and didactical arrangements, nevertheless, it is more likely to happen under certain conditions. Scenarios in which knowledge and skills of all the people involved is valued and welcomed, where a collective interest in a certain topic or common aims bring people together, and where an atmosphere of respect and openness for new experiences is dominant are the conditions that seem to be ideal for intergenerational learning.

For designing intergenerational learning environments, three core principles—derived from empirical studies—could be kept in mind (see Schmidt-Hertha, 2014). Firstly, such scenarios should allow for learning about one’s own generation and about others or even foster this kind of learning. This is important as the interaction of different generations is driven by their generational experiences, attitudes, and perspectives, which have to be reflected by the learners. Secondly, intergenerational learning is reciprocal—all generations involved act as learners and teachers at the same time. This means also that participants meet without any kind of hierarchy and all have an equal impact on the learning process. Thirdly, combining learning processes with commitment and aims beyond the learning itself seems to motivate participants in a particular way. This might be why forms of project-oriented learning and service learning are especially successful in the field of intergenerational learning.

Looking at research on intergenerational learning—which covers more than three decades now—a broad range of learning scenarios and contexts have been investigated and diverse understandings of generations and intergenerational learning have been applied. Overall, there still seems to be an unbalanced view on the participants, as mostly the motives, barriers, and interests of older learners in intergenerational learning arrangements have been investigated, while the perspectives of the younger participants seem to be in the background. Research on interest and the participation of younger people in intergenerational learning just started in recent years.

This special issue presents papers from scholars from the lifelong learning area. Lifelong learning in this context can be distinguished in terms of formal, nonformal, and informal activities and learning. According to Barry Hake, it is understood in terms of the social organization of deliberate, systematic, and sustained learning activities, in which learners are organized by others or organize themselves, for the purposes of communicating and acquiring knowledge, skills, and sensitiveness.

The authors are members of the European ELOA (Education and Learning of Older Adults) network that also extends to international researchers. Alexandra Withnall shows the impact of the contribution of neuroscience and how formal education and social experience has a major role to play in forming the adolescent brain. She argues for an increased consideration of the processes of growing up, of growing older, and of ageing and how these might affect the ability to learn and to participate productively in intergenerational learning activities at different stages of life. Satya Brink, from a policy and a statistics background gives us a thorough presentation of the demographic changes and the implications of learning. She develops the lifelong and lifewide dimensions of learning and argues that the social contract requires positive interactions between generations and contributions to society.

Barry Hake has investigated the development of urban gardens to inform his perspective on intergenerational learning. He distinguishes between these socially organized “urban learning spaces” as either “household spaces,” “service-based spaces,” “shared-site spaces,” or “contested spaces.” He means that “intergenerational learning constitutes an intentional ongoing process embedded in local communities involving mutual respect, critical reflection, caring, and group participation through which people lacking an equal share of resources gain greater access to and control over these resources.”

Jane Watts discusses the generation concept and the discussion about multi- or intergenerational learning from her background as working in the area of adult education. She takes up the aspects of learning in later life, in younger age, and in mid-life and the tensions between generations as reflected in news and social media. She concludes that we need the wisdom of all the generations pulling together to tackle the many challenges ahead.

There are also examples of how intergenerational learning can take place. Barry Golding and Annette Foley focus on learning in informal community settings between older men and boys, the Men’s Shed movement in Australia. The boys came back to the program because of the flexibility they experienced, the respect and trust they felt for their teacher/mentors, and the confidence the boys developed with the mentors. Golding and Foley also found in their research that the data show both benefits of learning and sharing of knowledge strong themes associated with “caring” affection and friendships.

Marta Gregorčič shows how learning take place in rebel communities. She emphasizes the pedagogical dimension and intergenerational exchange of three revolutionary struggles that are taking place in Latin America and in India, where rebels, or learners, are intensively involved in communities of practice. When knowledge is contextualized, rebels, or learners, develop and utilize new civic and political skills, values, practices, and knowledge.

From the field there are two articles. Khaleda Gani Dutt shows the importance of intergenerational learning in a rural area of India, the Howrah District, West Bengal, when women, their daughters, and mothers teach each other literacy and by that improve their living conditions. Shima Mehraen describes the conflict when younger “doctor-teachers” teach older adults and their differing knowledge base meets in an education program in Mashhad in Iran.

We have been working together with intergenerational learning in the European context with an extended international network and saw the possibilities for us to cooperate in editing this issue. We thank all the authors who contributed to this issue and the editor for giving us the opportunity to produce this special issue.