Elder lifelong learning, intergenerational solidarity and positive youth development: the case of Hong Kong

Abstract

Elder lifelong learning has been promoted worldwide under different modes for upgrading quality of life of elders and actualizing successful aging. With multiple objectives, some modes of the elder lifelong learning program attempt to simultaneously address the social issues of age-segregation and negative perceptions of older people by adopting an intergenerational approach. Such an approach links the two non-biological generations -the young and the old -together purposefully for nurturing intergenerational solidarity and integration. Although program evaluation studies demonstrate the positive impacts and effects of an intergenerational approach on older people, its impact on young people is not well-researched. This paper explores intergenerational solidarity generated from the intergenerational-mode elder lifelong learning program in Hong Kong and argues how it contributes to positive youth development.

Knowledge of Intergenerational Contact to Combat Ageism towards Older People

“…Intergenerational programmes can transfer intergenerational solidarity from an institutional to a societal setting. On the one hand, the social ties formed between older and younger people in intergenerational programmes can be part of their informal social networks in the community [48]. On the other hand, equally exchanged knowledge, skills, values, traditions, resources, insights, reciprocal support and respectful collaboration gained from intergenerational programmes can facilitate a process of capital exchange in society [44,46].…”

Positive Approach to Youth Studies: An Educational Perspective

“…PYD applications also serve as a concept empowering school staff to build an optimal environment for adolescents' development through the proper relationship between teachers and learners. This is a special form of activity for school social work influencing the change of the teaching climate at school, which results in better efficiency of teachers' work and greater school successes of learners (So & Shek, 2011).…”