AGE:WISE team is happy to present you the first result of our project: “RESEARCH REPORT & MARKETING GUIDELINE FOR ADULT EDUCATION INSTITUTES”.

Currently, older adults often do not perform a contributing role in Intergenerational learning (IGL) experiences. In most IGL programmes, young people serve or teach older adults. When older adults acquire an active and contributing role through interactions with young people, they increase their sense of meaning.

To achieve this goal and to change the usual roles in IGL, we explored the specific learning needs of older generations, and, from the perspective of educators, the competences and skills elderly people must possess when they are in a teaching role.

The data of the report is based on:

• formal research and academic discussion concerning the intergenerational learning (IGL) approach
• analysis of best practices in the project’s partner countries
• interviews conducted with 20 Adult and Senior Educators in five countries
• the self-reflection procedure of the partners in IGL settings

As a result of the interviews and the good practices analysed, it emerged that the field of IGL is still underdeveloped, experiences are not numerous, and the role of the elderly is still underestimated. Intergenerational activities are mostly connected to digital and language skills development, painting courses, reading clubs, cognitive stimulation, social and cultural competences, after-school activities, tutoring, art workshops and courses on popular culture.

A possible profile for the IGL Senior Educator has been proposed in the report, with the competences that seniors should acquire in order to become IGL educators. The challenges and needs of the elderly during the learning process have also been explored.

This report has been supported by theory and research suggesting that advice-giving and sharing of wisdom can be beneficial for older people. By sharing advice, older adults acquire an active and contributing role during interactions with young people, which in turn helps increase generativity and a sense of meaning.

Teaching younger people offers an opportunity for seniors to re-evaluate their past as something useful and valuable.

The data in the report will serve as a base for the educational resources that will be developed in further phases of the project “AGE:WISE”: DIDACTIC GUIDELINE for adult education institutions and LEARNING MATERIAL for a seniors “training skills” course.

You can download the full version of the report here in English, Italian, German, Portuguese or Polish.