Former President of Irish Senior Citizens Parliament endorses Intergenerational Learning at third-level
-6 May 2010

Speaking at an intergenerational learning conference at Dublin City University today, well-known campaigner for the rights of older people and former President of the Irish Senior Citizens Parliament, Sylvia Meehan, said, "Older people who missed the chance in their younger years to go to university should now have a right to participate in third-level learning. Society owes them this opportunity to learn new skills in an environment where they can be valued and appreciated by their younger fellow students".

The conference was organised by Trudy Corrigan, director of a pilot programme on intergenerational learning, established in 2008 with funding from 'Age and Opportunity'. The current phase of the project was funded by the Department of Communications Energy and Innovation with a focus on developing information communication skills for older learners. More recently, an 'Introduction to Science' module has been introduced, as well as an 'Introduction to Creative Writing'. To date over one hundred older people and over a hundred DCU students have participated in the project.

As part of this project, senior students in the 60/65 plus age bracket attended information technology classes on the DCU campus with younger third level students. The student volunteers assisted the senior students to access the internet, with a special focus on communicating through email, Blogs and Twitter. These skills enable older people to become part of the knowledge society and to enhance their quality of life by now being able to keep in touch with friends and relatives at home and abroad. It also opens up opportunities for creativity through the use of social networks.Trudy Corrigan said, "The workshops that have brought together the older and younger students have been a source of great fun, but great learning, for all. Rarely are younger third level students presented with an opportunity to meet and learn with older people. Many older people enjoy the challenge of learning and as a result of the project, a spirit of cooperation and understanding across the generational divide has been developed which is helping to counteract stereotyping and ageism in society today. Older people bring a lot to a university in terms of their ability to critique, to reflect and to bring their wisdom and insight that comes with age.

The conference showcased past and current work from the perspective of both older and younger learners. It also provided workshops on three themes central to the project: health/wellbeing and the older learner, integrating senior learners into third- level education, and the uses and benefits of ICT and social media for older and younger learners.

Trudy Corrigan said that continued external funding would be required to enable the project to develop and continue into the future. The President of DCU Professor Ferdinand von Prondzynski said, "DCU is committed to the idea of high quality education being the property of people of all ages and in every generation. I am hugely impressed with the way this project has allowed insight, skill and wisdom to be shared between people from different age groups".