BACKGROUND & RELEVANCE OF THE PROJECT Learning processes between the generations offer opportunities for the social inclusion of elderly people and the closing of the gap between young and old, which is becoming ever wider in today's society. Senior who have completed their working lives run a certain risk of what psychologists call "bore-out": the feeling of no longer being needed that can suddenly take over and negatively influence one's own actions and thoughts. These two aspects inspired the consortium of AGE:WISE to develop a project aimed at seniors in order to empower them to engage in intergenerational learning settings (IGL) – as a teacher. PROJECT OBJECTIVES To reach these goals, AGE:WISE aims to equip seniors with skills on two levels: 1) recognize their personal, valuable competencies and knowledge and thus restore their self-confidence outside of professional life and 2) acquire training skills that enable them to slip into the role of a teacher and pass on their valuable knowledge to young people. To build solid frameworks for these processes, AGE:WISE also addresses adult trainers and educational institutions where IGL settings can be implemented. They will act as multipliers for the results and visions of AGE:WISE and provide guidance for seniors who want to teach young people. PARTICIPANTS Both target groups – seniors and adult trainers – participate at various stages of the project. In each IO, adult trainers are directly involved to share expertise, develop single tasks or assess their quality. Seniors are involved in 2 IOs and will give direct feedback on the results of O2 and O4. We invite 15 adult trainers from AT, DE, IT, PT and PL to a 3-day LTTA in Italy. They will have the chance to become moderators and at the same time future experts for IGL-settings. They will act as multipliers and take this new knowledge with them and transfer it to adult education institutions, where it will be applied and disseminated, which will have a long-term effect. ACTIVITIES & METHODOLOGIES In O1 we elaborate a RESEARCH REPORT, gathering best practice examples from IGL activities and on that basis introduce potential new settings and topics to which this approach could be extended. Furthermore, we assess the specific learning needs of seniors by expert interviews with adult trainers. In O2 we create a digital, web-based SELF-REFLECTION TOOL, which helps seniors to raise awareness about their rich pool of competences which can be valuable for the younger generation. At the same time, we want to raise motivation for taking over the teacher role by showing them SUCCESS STORY VIDEOS where they get tips and inspiration on how to do IGL. In O3 we create a TRAINER PACKAGE incl. a CURRICULUM for the "training-skills-course" for seniors with an adapted version for a blended-learning setting (guided by an adult trainer), as well as GUIDELINES for adult education institutes on how to practically implement IGL settings. In O4 a LEARNING PACKAGE for the training-skills-course is developed, including 5 modules around the topic of "how to teach" and make it available with unlimited access online. After completion, a test-run for the "training-skills-course" with seniors will be organized. The goal is to make them peers and multipliers for the course and at the same time receive feedback for the materials. RESULTS They are available online with unlimited access in 5 languages (EN, DE, PT, PL, IT). The most important results are: - RESEARCH REPORT on best practices and learning needs of the elderly - Web-Platform with SELF-REFLECTION TOOL and SUCCESS-STORY VIDEOS - TRAINER PACKAGE: CURRICULUM for the "training-skills-course" for seniors & GUIDELINES for implementing IGL settings - LEARNING PACKAGE for the “training-skills-course” for seniors IMPACTS AND LONG-TERM BENEFITS AGE:WISE not only offers awareness-raising for the value of the knowledge and skills of seniors, but also concentrates on concrete implementation tips for IGL settings, that can contribute to a higher popularity of these non-conventional learning settings. Make adult trainers and adult education institutions multipliers for the results and visions of this project is a focal point of AGE:WISE. A special focus is on the long-term and broad dissemination of the results on a local, national and international level. To this end, we make use of the broad network of the consortium, including adult education centers, senior’s associations, social initiatives, municipalities, community spaces and other stakeholders. The open source access to all project outputs will be guaranteed for at least 5 years after project end. Our aim is to enable as many senior citizens as possible to use their valuable skills outside work life and to contribute to the gap-closing between young and old through IGL processes, which ultimately benefits society as a whole.
To reach the main objectives of closing the growing gap between seniors and the younger generation (generation Z) and contribute to increasing inclusion of seniors by education by the means of Intergenerational Learning (IGL), the project AGE:WISE aimed at equipping seniors with skills on two levels: 1)recognising their personal, valuable competencies and knowledge and thus restoring their self-confidence after their professional life. 2)acquiring training skills that enable them to slip into the role of a teachers so that they are able to pass on their knowledge/skills/competences to the younger generation. To provide a solid framework in promoting IGL with seniors as teachers, the project AGE:WISE also addresses adult trainers and adult educational institutions. The second target group is equipped with: 1)profound knowledge about the topic of IGL 2)knowledge on how to best implement and promote IGL with seniors as trainers in their own institutions 3)know-how and material for the education of senior trainers Adult educators are acting as multipliers of the AGE:WISE project’s mission and vision as well as the IGL approach and provide guidance for seniors who want to teach young people.
On the one hand, society ages and the gap between the younger and older generations is increasing. The generations are becoming more separate and especially the inclusion of the elderly generation, who are often in danger of social exclusion after their working life, is lacking. On the other hand, seniors run at a certain risk of suffering from “bore-out” after they drop out of working life and they don’t feel needed anymore what is strongly influencing their psychological well-being. Learning processes between different generations offer opportunities for the social inclusion of the elderly people, thereby closing the generation gap, offering valuable room for exchange between the generations and contributing to the senior’s well-being as to valuable exchange of knowledge, skills and competences.