Linking Young and Old: Intergenerational Programmes in Early Childhood

Abstract

This four-year-old child identifies a situation common to many children in contemporary western societies who do not have frequent connections with their grandparents. This child, however, is able to enjoy the friendship of an older person in her life, through involvement in an intergenerational programme at her early childhood centre. She recognises that there are geographic and societal reasons why she cannot have a physically close relationship with her grandparents, but she also identifies that other older adults can be significant in her life. She identifies that some of the roles ascribed to a "grandma", can be carried out by other older people if the environment exists for positive intergenerational contact. The concept of 'generations' is socially constructed to define cohorts of different ages and links to the notions of reproduction; parent and child. The term 'intergenerational' has come to mean the interactions and experiences of one generational cohort, or, as in the case of this research, the interactions and experiences between generational groups. With the emergence of older adults as a generational cohort, there are issues related to the interactions and experiences between the young child and the older adult which have only recently been explored in academic research.