Learning at the Ends of Life : Children, Elders, and Literacies in Intergenerational Curricula

Intergenerational learning programs bring together skipped generations (for instance, elders and young children) to promote expansive communication and identity options for participants, as well as the forging of relationships between generations. More specifically, these programs help foster multimodal literacy for both generations, encouraging new ways of seeing oneself and the world. Learning at the Ends of Life illustrates the unique benefits of these trail-blazing programs through more than seven years of research on developing and implementing intergenerational curricula in Canada and the United States. The first formal and sustained work on intergenerational curricula and literacies, Learning at the Ends of Life details the experiences of educators and participants in these programs. Rachel M. Heydon brings to life the particular possibilities of arts-based, multimodal curricula that draw on participants’ existing funds of knowledge and interests. Providing practical suggestions for pedagogies and curricula, Heydon helps educators rethink what is taken for granted in monogenerational learning sites and see new possibilities for learners and themselves. Intergenerational learning programs bring together skipped generations (for instance, elders and young children) to promote expansive communication and identity options for participants, as well as the forging of relationships between generations. More specifically, these programs help foster multimodal literacy for both generations, encouraging new ways of seeing oneself and the world. Learning at the Ends of Life illustrates the unique benefits of these trail-blazing programs through more than seven years of research on developing and implementing intergenerational curricula in Canada and the United States. The first formal and sustained work on intergenerational curricula and literacies, Learning at the Ends of Life details the experiences of educators and participants in these programs. Rachel M. Heydon brings to life the particular possibilities of arts-based, multimodal curricula that draw on participants' existing funds of knowledge and interests. Providing practical suggestions for pedagogies and curricula, Heydon helps educators rethink what is taken for granted in monogenerational learning sites and see new possibilities for learners and themselves. -- Provided by publisher Contents 7 Preface 9 Acknowledgments 13 Chapter One. Introduction to Intergenerational Learning Programs 15 Chapter Two. Who Can Say What Is in My Heart? Illustrations of What Intergenerational Learning Programs Have Meant to Their Participants 46 Chapter Three. Cases of the Building and Maintaining of Intergenerational Shared-Site Programs 68 Chapter Four. Literacy Learning Opportunities in Intergenerational Curricula 101 Chapter Five. Opportunities Created by a Semiotic Chain in an Intergenerational Art Curriculum 135 Chapter Six. Living, Death, and Dying in Intergenerational Learning Programs 171 Chapter Seven. The Lessons of Intergenerational Learning Curricula 189 Appendices 195 References 227 Index 239 The first formal and sustained work on intergenerational curricula and literacies, Learning at the Ends of Life details the experiences of educators and participants in these programs. Rachel M. Heydon brings to life the particular possibilities of arts-based, multimodal curricula that draw on participants' existing funds of knowledge and interests. Providing practical suggestions for pedagogies and curricula, Heydon helps educators rethink what is taken for granted in monogenerational learning sites and see new possibilities for learners and themselves."--Pub. desc