Music, Maestro, Please: the Educational Value of Intergenerational Learning

• Main Author: Rosa Cera
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: University of Bologna 2018-12-01
• Series: Encyclopaideia
• Online Access: https://encp.unibo.it/article/view/8683

The general purpose of this phenomenological study is to understand the educational implications of the active involvement of ten older adults musicians in the intergenerational teaching/learning experience to ten other young musicians with economic difficulties, guests both in the same retirement Home. The specific objective is to understand if some conditions favorable to the construction of a generational bridge can be created through music and the influence that these conditions exert in removing age-related stereotypes, distorted relationships and negative attitudes between people of different generations. The "mixed" research method, phenomenological in the objective and grounded oriented in the data analysis, has facilitated the identification, in the heuristic phase, of the recurrent themes in the verbatim of the older adults interviewed. From the analysis of the data four noteworthy topics emerged: the social commitment, a sense of self-esteem and the general feeling of well-being, positive attitudes towards young people, music as a "mediating object" between different ages of life.