Innovation: The Intergenerational School

USA

AAI Domains:

• Independent, healthy and secure living (lifelong learning, educational attainment, physical exercise)

• Participation in society (voluntary activities, social connectedness)

The life course is a series of transitions and education at school during childhood and adolescence is an important influence on lifetime health and well-being. As societies age there are increasing opportunities for social institutions such as schools and long-term care institutions to develop innovative links and projects that are of benefit to students and older people.

Given that higher levels of educational attainment are broadly correlated with higher lifetime earnings, longer and usually healthier lives, there are significant benefits from social innovations that improve academic performance and produce students who are aware and confident in an ageing society.

The Intergenerational Schools were established from 2000 onwards in Cleveland, Ohio, and aim to provide a high quality education based on a multi-generational community of lifelong learners. They do not have classes based on chronological age but have a three or four year age span so that children can learn from each other as well as from teachers. Children are assessed through regular methods supplemented by authentic measures to determine student’s academic status and needs.

There is a strong commitment to inter-generational learning and a highly developed programme of activities that draws on external mentors who are usually older people living in the community so that students can learn life lessons based on experience. This process of inter-generational learning is two-way and generally considered to be beneficial by students, parents, teachers and older people.

For example, the Inter-generational Nature Centre Initiative involves students and older people engaging in joint science projects at a local nature centre. This involved posting results on a social media platform and led to the Urban Edible Forest Garden Initiative that provided learning and physical activity opportunities through establishing and tending a garden with community volunteers.

The Reaching Out programme sees students working and learning in a local centre for disabled people while the Global Youth Service Day has students act as teachers with visits to different assisted living facilities for older people. Perhaps the most impressive initiative is InterWell, which saw students visiting a care facility for older people with mild to moderate dementia for mutual learning activities and reciprocal mentoring activities. This was subject to a randomised control trial and found statistically significant reductions in stress, better cognitive functioning and an elevated sense of purpose and usefulness after participating in the programme for 12 months.

This initiative was recognised with a prize in 2014 for the best psycho-social intervention by the Fondation Mederic Alzheimer and by the local Alzheimer’s society for the school’s work with older people. The Intergenerational Schools have succeeded in closing the educational attainment gap between black and white students and their achievements have been recognised by the Department of Education both for academic performance and innovative teaching and learning methods.

In relation to active ageing index indicators, the Intergenerational School is clearly relevant to both lifelong learning and improving educational attainment across the life course through the wide range of inter-generational learning opportunities it offers. There is a strong emphasis on voluntary activities both for students and older people for the benefit of the local community.

There is scope for increasing levels of physical exercise through communal gardening and even for the use of ICT through the use of social media for particular projects. Finally, a key feature of the Intergenerational School is building social connectedness between students and older people so that young people are equipped with the skills and experiences to be good citizens in an ageing society.

The Intergenerational Schools website