Learn to share – share to learn

Intergenerational learning occurs between generations which is the means by which the human stock of knowledge was accumulated from time immemorial. It is often also described as multigenerational learning, interpreted as people of all ages learning together and from each other, so it can mean people in different age cohorts or even just different ages. This distinguishes it from learning organized for people of the same or similar age, which may be designated as intragenerational learning.

Intergenerational learning can occur between people of two or more living generations or between one or more people in a learning generation and one or more person in the past. Learning in the absence of the past generations occurs through analyzing their life histories and their legacy of contributions to recorded knowledge, skills and experience.

Why is intergenerational learning attractive in later life?

Knowledge is growing at a phenomenal rate and the demands of daily life in a changing world requires continuous learning. In later life, there is a heightened need to compensate for knowledge obsolescence, to keep up with essential knowledge in order to understand global events and environmental change, to manage life in contemporary society and to relate to others in an increasingly diverse society.

However, everyone, no matter what their life stage needs to adopt emerging ideas and handle new challenges and changing circumstances. Evolving knowledge will play a critical role in all spheres of life such as personal development, responsible adult roles in society and global awareness for world citizenship. 

For those in later life, intergenerational learning provides an inclusive multidimensional solution to learn with others with similar learning goals while managing one’s own learning using preferred strategies and levels of engagement. The resulting learning also has spin-off effects that are valuable.

What is unique about intergenerational learning?

Intergenerational learning brings together people of different ages in purposeful, mutually beneficial activities to engage in reciprocal and joint learning. Every learner acquires knowledge, skills and attitudes while sharing their own stock with others.

In other words, everyone can be a teacher and a learner. Simultaneously.

Learning often relied on professionals or trained experts in the role of teachers and facilitators that were traditionally older than learners. At first, the novelty of intergenerational learning was that older people could learn from the young, especially digital skills. In fact, intergeneration learning values learning offered by people of any age and it does not define knowledge in relation to any other age group. Thus, in intergenerational learning the focus is shifted from age and hierarchy to the value of learning motivation and sharing of individually held human capital. It severs the link to seniority or status of individuals and acknowledges the value of the aggregated knowledge of the group. It values the life experience and knowledge of older people that makes them “life-wise”.

Intergenerational learning can be formal but is often non-formal or informal. Because the opportunities cater to the needs of diverse groups and circumstances, there are multiplicity of venues to increase accessibility and different modes of learning. Since intergeneration learning is consumer driven, learners drive provision in terms of content, schedules and learning options. This flexibility and inclusiveness are attractive to those in later life because it facilitates incorporating learning into their lives. Such learning can happen between family members, between persons who meet to learn face to face, but also between people who can learn from those they do not know, even across the world through the internet.

Reimagining learning with others during the intergenerational learning process results in more efficient use of knowledge held by every person. The process of learning is not exclusively designed for unidirectional flow of knowledge from one knowledge holder to many knowledge seekers. Instead, intergenerational learning relies on collaborative inquiry, updating, co-learning and co-production of new knowledge and practice.

• Collaborative inquiry: Mutual interest in learning is combined with personalized inquiry associated with an individual learner’s motivation and need. Learners rely on questioning based on what knowledge each one has, followed by evaluating new insights based on discussion and integrating new knowledge. Learning is always learner-centered and self-directed.

• Updating: Discussion with others can reveal obsolescent knowledge as well as much tested wisdom. When new information or practices are introduced in society at a point in time, new knowledge and know-how can be disseminated rapidly through intergenerational learning groups since every learner can also teach another. This is especially important when knowledge and practice is increasing at too rapid a rate to be absorbed into curricula in formal learning.

• Co-learning: During intergenerational learning, participants are accountable for the learning of each person, while compensating for individual shortcomings and gaining from individual strengths. Learners take asymmetric roles, use one another’s resources, experiences and skills to strengthen learning. Co-learning builds on the social aspects of learning, where diverse people make meaning together from shared information to address new social challenges that they face in their own life context as well as in society. Individuals improve communication and thinking skills, while the whole group validates information within the cultural context.

• Co-production: Learning is driven by demand. Co-production is a synergetic process combining transdisciplinary knowledge, varied life and professional experiences, different levels of technical expertise and multiple work proficiencies of the learners to synthesize new knowledge and new ways of doing things through cross fertilization to address real life situations and complex contemporary societal challenges. Learners leverage collective pools of knowledge, individual expertise, and joint investigation to generate new knowledge or know-how. The process also develops individuals as knowledge brokers, bridge builders and problem solvers as they identify their own tacit and explicit knowledge stock.

Benefits of intergenerational learning

There are both economic and social benefits that accrue to individuals, communities and countries. The direct and spin-off benefits do not compete but rather align. These benefits consider the benefits for and from older people in later life.

Individual benefits:

Economic: Learning results in wise decision-making regarding judicious long-term life choices with financial implications, self-sufficiency, prudent and sustainable consumption, investment and legacies.

Social: The social benefits include increased physical and mental health, self-confidence, social competence, social efficacy, personal agency, healthful life choices and behaviors, civic engagement and social networks.

Community benefits:

Economic: Better standards of living, environmental stewardship, volunteerism and community investment.

Social: Social cohesion, community belonging and ownership, empathy, harmony between generations and better understanding of the ageing process.

National benefits:

Economic: Economic growth, reduction in public spending due to reduced welfare dependency and greater autonomy of people in later life, upward mobility and productivity and increased competitivity with a population prepared for future challenges.

Social: Democratic bonus as evidenced by civic pride, social inclusion, higher levels of reciprocity and trust, co-operation and civil action, lower inequality, active citizenship and social justice.

The potential of intergenerational learning

The right to lifelong learning is a component of good citizenship through sharing knowledge, making wise decisions and proper social comportment in order to contribute to the betterment of society. It is a collective obligation to ensure everyone can have access to learning. The culture of learning mobilizes everyone to be in the business of learning. This means that everyone should be able to be a teacher, sharing their knowledge and skills at the same time that each one is also a willing learner, learning from others that have the knowledge they desire or need. 

Intergenerational learning results in more efficient use of knowledge held by every person to continuously augment national human capital. The fulfilled potential of intergenerational learning shifts universal learning from aspirational to achievable because learning would be part of the life of everyone regardless of age, role or ability. The population target for intergenerational learning is enormous since it can potentially involve all citizens perhaps age sixteen and over, which could be about three-fourths of the population.

Despite evidence demonstrating economic, equity and efficiency value, the full potential of intergenerational learning from and with other people as well as the sharing of personal human capital with others has not been achieved yet. Why not? Currently, the number of adults and people in later life benefitting are low and in small pockets. The methods for access, enrolment and delivery are customized to the type of learner and their goals, so there is no uniform existing system that can be scaled up to a national level. Furthermore, national or official recognition of intergenerational learning is unsatisfactory if competence is achieved by non-formal or informal means. Nonetheless, learning is validated through use in real life.

Modern society requires continuous lifelong learning for success in life. Intergenerational learning would be an efficient way to develop lifelong learning by extending learning beyond compulsory initial learning without major investments in infrastructure and administration. Of course, certain types of teaching will require special training and certain types of learning will require learning aids and environments. But generally, learning would be part of everyday life in places and groups where people normally spend their time. Intergenerational learning would guarantee the continuous flow of multiple benefits regardless of the age composition of the population. People in their later years feel more valuable rather than only vulnerable, knowing that they are never too old to learn or to teach. 

As the billionaire Charlie Munger said:

Never stop learning because life never stops teaching. The best thing a human being can do is to help another human being know more.