Abstract
The phenomenological concept of ontological change, or change in self‐understanding, is used to structure an analysis of the experiential impact of a college‐based, intergenerational service‐learning project. The semester‐long project aimed to create interpersonal, intergenerational situations in which students (N = 12) could experience for themselves the lack of fit between their inherited assumptions regarding aging and the actual meaning of aging as experienced by elders. Content analysis of students’ journals indicated that students experienced four temporally distinct types of experiences during the project. Students entered the project with an understanding as to how they should interact with their companions based on inherited assumptions regarding aging and the elderly (anticipation experiences). In the presence of their companions, however, the students’ assumptions were revealed as inappropriate and incapable of adequately guiding them in their interactions (personal‐conflict experiences). To al...
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