Intergenerational learning in and around the home setting: Who are the learners and how do they learn?

Children spend a relatively large amount of time in and around the home setting, where intergenerational encounters may contribute to their learning. As a result of demographic and societal changes, vertical links within families between children and their grandparents could become very important. This may particularly apply where grandparents have moved to join their families who have migrated and where they could play an important role with regard to intergenerational learning. To investigate the nature of intergenerational learning exchanges young children with Sylheti/Bengali-speaking grandparents or monolingual English-speaking families of mixed ethnicity living in East London were recruited. Case studies of the families were conducted through interviews, observation, video-recordings, and scrapbooks. A qualitative analysis examined the patterns of learning interactions and the kinds of knowledge exchanged. Findings suggest that children and their grandparents take part in a wide range of activities where learning interactions are co-constructed within a relationship of trust and security, and where all participants contribute and learn. A wide range of concepts and skills was developed through intergenerational learning. The findings are discussed in relation to different notions of generation, and in relation to learning perspectives summarised as a framework representing
learner agency and social engagement.