An intergenerational approach to community education and action: A case study.
Item
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Title
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An intergenerational approach to community education and action: A case study.
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Identifier
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AAI9130330
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identifier
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9130330
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Creator
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Kaplan, Matthew Samuel.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Roger Hart
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Date
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1991
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Education, Social Sciences | Education, Curriculum and Instruction | Urban and Regional Planning | Education, Adult and Continuing
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Abstract
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In our increasingly age-segmented society, young and old people often misunderstand each other. Moreover, age-segregated settings and activity patterns limit opportunities for intergenerational mutual support and cooperation. In the creation of new community settings, even when there are opportunities for community involvement, dialogue and negotiation rarely span the generations.;This dissertation aimed to demonstrate and evaluate the incorporation of a structured set of intergenerational activities, involving children and senior adults, into a school-based community planning project.;The primary data source was the implementation of a new urban studies curriculum for a 6th grade class focusing on the Long Island City waterfront, an area in New York City facing large-scale development initiatives with, as yet, little community participation. Along with eight senior adults recruited through local senior citizen centers to work with the class, the students were engaged in neighborhood exploration, communication, and urban planning exercises, culminating in publicized recommendations for improving life in Long Island City.;Pre/Post test questionnaires and interviews were used to examine attitudinal and behavioral changes occurring in the participants through the course of this curriculum and in the attitudes of professional planners and policy makers toward the involvement of young people and senior citizens. A detailed log was kept for all phases of the study and is used extensively to both illustrate and expand upon the formal findings. Supplementary observations from subsequent projects in Mount Vernon, NY and East Harlem, NY are also presented.;This dissertation also reports on the evolution and application of an intergenerational special events approach developed as a preliminary community participation technique geared primarily toward youth and senior citizens.;Curriculum evaluation data provides support for the fundamental premise of the Neighborhoods-2000 project model--that children and senior adults have many neighborhood hopes and concerns in common and this commonality can serve to promote intergenerational understanding and concurrent learning about community development dynamics and issues. The heightened interest in community development issues, however, did not appear to translate into an enhanced readiness to personally seek out and take part in community activism endeavors.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
