Marie Hanmore-Cawley and Kate Brown team teach a module in intergenerational learning (IGL) at the Atlantic Technological University (ATU), Sligo Ireland. Their professional relationship was forged through a shared understanding of the power of intergenerational work, and a drive to embed IG learning in the curriculum at all levels of education, from Early Years to Higher Education. Read their blogpost about their story and current work.

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by Claire Nelischer and Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris

During a sunny Saturday in February 2022, in the central city neighborhood of Westlake, Los Angeles, a quiet pocket park was transformed into a bustling intergenerational space for music, art, food, and community.

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One of our regular TOY blog contributors is Eilish Balfe, from Happy Days Early Years Service, Ireland. In this blog she describes the creative strategies the children and residents in the local nursing home have been using this past year to maintain their friendships.

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Mary Renck Jalongo and Patricia Crawford, co-editors of the newly published book ‘Intergenerational Bonds. The Contributions of older adults to young children’s lives‘ (Springer) engage in a wide-ranging discussion with Margaret Kernan, co-coordinator of TOY. The interview covers the current status of IGL in education scholarship and teaching, the role of children’s literature in promoting IGL and the importance of volunteering in IGL practice.

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Community and public spaces can serve as rich and innovative learning environments for children by using intergenerational learning (IGL) as a pedagogical strategy. This was a key finding of a recent PhD study about IGL in early childhood education (ECE) services in Ireland conducted by Dr. Anne Fitzpatrick. The study demonstrates how IGL offers a contemporary take on a long-established belief that it takes a village to raise a child.

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