Intergenerational Learning

Have you ever had a time where you had to teach or got taught by another generation? Well in all of the stories and from personal experience one generation can learn from another in some type of way whether it is teaching about tech or learning how to love somebody. One Generation can teach the other generation to be patient, care about others, and value what they have.

You may choose from the questions below or make up your own questions. If you make your own, here are some suggestions:

The topic that I choose is Generational Studies and Segmented assimilation, particularly first generation of children with immigrant parents. I chose this topic because it was a topic that I can relate to. Having immigrant parents, who have settled in New York City, makes my siblings and I first generation of Mexican-American. Due to this we have had to adapt to some aspects of American culture and Mexican culture, education can be affected.

Majority thinks that America is the land of opportunity, where the lower class has the ability to succeed and prosper; statistically the truth is less expectant. According to facts presently, the smallest percentage of Americans earns over $1,000,000. The next smallest percentage of Americans earn over $125,000. Meanwhile, the median income that Americans earn is $41,000. Any American can succeed with the right mind set. Facts also show that more Americans considered to be wealthy have earned it rather than inherited it. I come from a family that is considered to be working class. My parents didn’t own their first home until I was 15, and I am the youngest of four children. Hard work does pay off, and I have seen it.

When most people (here in the US or anywhere else in the world) hear or talk about the United States, a common theme is living the “America Dream”. The “American Dream” is the idea that children will have a higher standard of living than their parents and in 1940, 92 percent of them did. But by 1980 that number decreased to 50 percent, in terms of absolute mobility. The term “successful” is a universal term and applies different for every single individual because everyone has different levels of success, some are higher then others and there can be some barriers in the way. There are many stories and evidence that have proven this theme but in the fine details there are many other things that come into play when it comes to becoming “successful”.

We will incorporate an intergenerational program in our facility with children who needs occupational therapy (OT). We will use older adult volunteers from the community to interact with the children during OT. Medicaid or private insurance will be the payment source for OT. Private pay is also an option.

After reading the article by Farag, Tullai-McGuinesss, & Anthony (2009), I will reflect upon my experiences in a leadership role dealing with various different age groups through numerous situations. The discussion will include the generation I generally identify with, with whom I tend to work best with, and how this affects my unit. I will also reflect on the author's conclusions and recommendations and how they will likely affect my area of practice.

First and foremost, to understand how the Multigenerational Workforce works, we must know the driving forces behind the current four generations and where they stand today.

Studies point out that the participation of intergenerational programs can have positive effects on participants’ well-being, quality of life especially among elders with cognitive impairment. There are increasing interests in the intervention implemented in the community setting; however, few studies focused on older residents in the institutional sites. The intergenerational program in this study is a 12 weeks preschool children daycare activity that will be taken place in the assisted living facility with a one-on-one match up the older residents with cognitive impairment. The purpose of this intervention study is to examine the effect of the intergenerational program on older residents with cognitive impairment in an assisted living

The role of intergenerational patterns is often used when referring to negative behaviors that are profoundly repeated throughout different generation (Birkenmaier, Berg-Weger & Dewees, 2014). Papero (2009) on the other hand, specifically linked the term intergenerational to relationship patterns that are being transmitted from one generation to another. To bring to light the immersion of intergenerational patterns, a brief understanding of Bowen’s Family Systems Theory is imperative. Bowen’s theory comprises of eight concepts and a major variable known as anxiety (Papero, 2014). All seven concepts address the family system while the eighth focus mainly on the social function of the society (Papero, 2014). In fact, one of the eighth concepts in Bowen theory is multigenerational transmission process playing an important role with intergenerational patterns. While conducting a systematic analysis of three generations within Lani family system, specific behaviors that were demonstrated were dysfunctional boundaries, marital outcomes, anxiety and transmission of parenting style.

Are people too stubborn and independent to learn once they become adults? The Adult Learning Theory focuses on the difference between how adults learn and how children learn. There are three main central ideas that support the Adult Learning Theory. These ideas or theories are known as andragogy, self-directed learning, and transformational learning. Andragogy is the teaching of adults, self-directed learning is the individual controlling their learning, and transformational learning is the individual learning from life experiences.

ADULT LEARNING THEORY 2 Adult Learning Theory Malcolm Knowles Malcolm Knowles (1913-1997) was a key figure in America’s adult education in the second half of the twentieth century (Smith, 2002). Early Life “Born in 1913 and initially raised in Montana,” Knowles seems to have had “a reasonably happy childhood. His father was a veterinarian and from around the age of four Knowles often accompanied him on his visits to farms and ranches” (Smith, 2002, para. 2). His mother also played a critical role in his character building. During his campaign for the scouting prize, he developed a technique that would help him compete successfully (Smith, 2002), which he always thanked his mother for. In 1930, He entered Harvard University with

My grandfather was an excessively organized and thrifty man who liked to repurpose what others threw away. He used to clean used paint cans to leave them gleaming. Sometimes remains of paint in the cans were still fresh and they were relatively easy to clean. On the contrary, if the cans were old and the paint on them was dry, my grandfather had to use some solvent and a lot of old rags. My grandfather spent many hours working on that activity. When the cans were perfectly clean, he used them to store screws, nails, nuts and bolts properly organized in his garage. Being thrifty and organized were characteristics in people of my grandfather’s generation; however, some of the things that they did seemed absurd to me at that time. In the same way, it is probably that my daughters find it senseless some things that I and people of my generation do. Nevertheless, it is not about judging one generation to the other. We need to understand that no generation is better or worse than another: simply, our behavior is different depending on the times and circumstances. Respecting each other and learning from our differences, we will be able to live in harmony as a big multigenerational family.

SUMMARY OF THE ARTICLE “UNDERSTANDING AND MANAGING GENERATIONAL DIFFERENCES IN THE WORK PLACE” ( Cited from Kapoor and Solomon 2011)

Supervising staff and volunteers from ages fourteen to ninety can be a challenging task. These age groups make up the four different generations: Traditionalist, Baby Boomers, Generation X’ers, and Generation Y’ers. Traditionalist, (born 1925-1946) may need a little prodding to communicate their needs and they prefer written communication plans. Baby Boomers, (born 1946-1964) are aware of technology but still prefer to communicate by telephone and they call themselves the age of the memo. Generation X’ers, (born 1965-1982) commonly prefer short concise communication. Generation Y’ers, (born 1983-2000) prefer short, quick e-mails, texting and mobile phone applications to communicate. The hospital