Intergenerational Service Learning Between the Old and Young: What, Why and How

Abstract

This article shares the experience of the development, implementation, and evaluation of a service learning course that aims at promoting intergenerational learning between university students and older adults through engagement in community service. It is through service learning that the course purports to achieve intergenerational learning and foster mutually beneficial relationships that are stimulating for both the young and old. Intergenerational service learning is a partnership based on reciprocity and mutuality involving people of different ages where the generations work together to gain skills, values, and knowledge. To examine the effects of such experiences on both the young and old participants in the course, a small-scale evaluative study was conducted on the group of students and elders who took part in the community service project, which is an integral part of the intergenerational service learning course in question. This article reports the findings on the outcomes of cross-generational interactions and makes recommendations for enhancing intergenerational service learning opportunities based on the evaluative feedback from the study.