In the first Post I really wanted to address the "NEED" kids felt and parents expressed for time with peers. The reality - there isn't a NEED - a want, yes - but not a need. Almost 40% of a Middle Schooler's waking/available life is spent with peers.So we come to the second post, and a second often heard claim: "Youth learn better when they are in a peer group."
There are studies that suggest that this is an accurate and true statement... when it comes to lecture style teaching of specific subjects, like math or science. However, there are other studies that show there are TREMENDOUS benefits to all age groups in intergenerational learning as well. For example, this US Gov site lists the following benefits:
For the Community
• Strengthens Community: Intergenerational programs bring together diverse groups and networks and help to dispel inaccurate stereotypes. Sharing talents and resources help to create a unified group identity. Children, youth, and older adults are less alienated while the community recognizes that they are contributing members of society.
• Maximizes Human Resources: Intergenerational community service programs tend to multiply human resources by engaging older adults and youth as volunteers.
• Maximizes Financial Resources: When groups representing young and old approach local funders, those funders are more likely to respond positively because they can see broad-based community support. Intergenerational programs can save money and stretch scarce resources by sharing sites and/or resources.
• Expands Services: Intergenerational community service programs can expand the level of services to meet more needs and address more issues.
• Encourages Cultural Exchange: Intergenerational programs promote the transmission of cultural traditions and values from older to younger generations, helping to build a sense of personal and societal identity while encouraging tolerance.
• Inspires Collaboration: Intergenerational programs can unite community members to take action on public policy issues that address human needs across the generations.
For Youth and Children
• Enhances Social Skills: Interaction with older adults enhances communication skills, promotes self-esteem, develops problem-solving abilities, and fosters friendships across generations. Positive attitudes are developed regarding sense of purpose and community service. Additionally, youth involved in mentoring programs have been show to be almost one-third less likely to hit others.
• Improves Academic Performance: Intergenerational programs increase school attendance and performance. Students tutored by older adults made significantly greater gains in achievement test scores than other students.
• Decreases Drug Use: Youth involved in intergenerational mentoring programs are 46% less likely to report the initiation of drug use, and among minority youth that statistic increased to 70%.
• Increases Stability: Children and youth gain positive role models with whom they can interact on a regular basis. Older adult volunteers help to provide children and youth with consistency through mentoring and in child care facilities that average a 25-35% turnover rate.
For Older Adults
• Enhances Socialization: Older adults remain productive, useful, and contributing members of society. They increase interaction with children and youth and engage more with one another to prevent isolation in later years.
• Stimulates Learning: Older adults learn new innovations and technologies from their younger counterparts.
• Increases Emotional Support: Intergenerational programs afford older adults an opportunity to participate in a meaningful activity. This decreases loneliness, boredom, and depression while increasing self-esteem. Older volunteers report more enriched lives, a rejuvenated sense of purpose, and increased coping skills for their personal struggles.
• Improves Health: Helping contributes to the maintenance of good health, and can diminish the effect of psychological and physical diseases and disorders.
This site states the following as one of the lessons learned from their study- "Lesson 1 - The multidimensional policy and practice analysis of EAGLE demonstrates that the benefits of intergenerational learning are many, such as: uniting segregated generations and building better understanding; encouraging active citizenship and social participation, and encouraging cross-generational working."
So when it comes to math, English, Science, and History it may very well be true that peer group learning in a lecture setting is the best way for youth to learn. BUT studies indicate that when it comes to learning as it relates to community, health, and participation in community - the benefits of intergenerational learning exceed those of peer learning. And, since the Church is an interconnected, interdependent community – reason would seem to say that intergenerational learning seems to be the best route for all ages to participate in – it is a win/win/win – strengthening adults, youth, and children as well as fostering a greater sense of community and unity. Perhaps that is why God instructed the church through Paul in Titus 2 that older men should teach younger men about living the Christian life, and older women likewise were to teach the younger women about life issues. The entire context is not age segregated learning, but intergenerational learning within the community of the church.
For the Community
• Strengthens Community: Intergenerational programs bring together diverse groups and networks and help to dispel inaccurate stereotypes. Sharing talents and resources help to create a unified group identity. Children, youth, and older adults are less alienated while the community recognizes that they are contributing members of society.
• Maximizes Human Resources: Intergenerational community service programs tend to multiply human resources by engaging older adults and youth as volunteers.
• Maximizes Financial Resources: When groups representing young and old approach local funders, those funders are more likely to respond positively because they can see broad-based community support. Intergenerational programs can save money and stretch scarce resources by sharing sites and/or resources.
• Expands Services: Intergenerational community service programs can expand the level of services to meet more needs and address more issues.
• Encourages Cultural Exchange: Intergenerational programs promote the transmission of cultural traditions and values from older to younger generations, helping to build a sense of personal and societal identity while encouraging tolerance.
• Inspires Collaboration: Intergenerational programs can unite community members to take action on public policy issues that address human needs across the generations.
For Youth and Children
• Enhances Social Skills: Interaction with older adults enhances communication skills, promotes self-esteem, develops problem-solving abilities, and fosters friendships across generations. Positive attitudes are developed regarding sense of purpose and community service. Additionally, youth involved in mentoring programs have been show to be almost one-third less likely to hit others.
• Improves Academic Performance: Intergenerational programs increase school attendance and performance. Students tutored by older adults made significantly greater gains in achievement test scores than other students.
• Decreases Drug Use: Youth involved in intergenerational mentoring programs are 46% less likely to report the initiation of drug use, and among minority youth that statistic increased to 70%.
• Increases Stability: Children and youth gain positive role models with whom they can interact on a regular basis. Older adult volunteers help to provide children and youth with consistency through mentoring and in child care facilities that average a 25-35% turnover rate.
For Older Adults
• Enhances Socialization: Older adults remain productive, useful, and contributing members of society. They increase interaction with children and youth and engage more with one another to prevent isolation in later years.
• Stimulates Learning: Older adults learn new innovations and technologies from their younger counterparts.
• Increases Emotional Support: Intergenerational programs afford older adults an opportunity to participate in a meaningful activity. This decreases loneliness, boredom, and depression while increasing self-esteem. Older volunteers report more enriched lives, a rejuvenated sense of purpose, and increased coping skills for their personal struggles.
• Improves Health: Helping contributes to the maintenance of good health, and can diminish the effect of psychological and physical diseases and disorders.
This site states the following as one of the lessons learned from their study- "Lesson 1 - The multidimensional policy and practice analysis of EAGLE demonstrates that the benefits of intergenerational learning are many, such as: uniting segregated generations and building better understanding; encouraging active citizenship and social participation, and encouraging cross-generational working."
So when it comes to math, English, Science, and History it may very well be true that peer group learning in a lecture setting is the best way for youth to learn. BUT studies indicate that when it comes to learning as it relates to community, health, and participation in community - the benefits of intergenerational learning exceed those of peer learning. And, since the Church is an interconnected, interdependent community – reason would seem to say that intergenerational learning seems to be the best route for all ages to participate in – it is a win/win/win – strengthening adults, youth, and children as well as fostering a greater sense of community and unity. Perhaps that is why God instructed the church through Paul in Titus 2 that older men should teach younger men about living the Christian life, and older women likewise were to teach the younger women about life issues. The entire context is not age segregated learning, but intergenerational learning within the community of the church.
So - do kids learn better in peer groups? In some things yes. In all things no.
