What is the Intergenerational Classroom?
Offered in partnership with Christie Gardens, a Toronto-based retirement community and long-term care home, the Intergenerational Classroom is an experiential learning offering of a Public Health Studies undergraduate course on 'Aging and Health' that brings together older adults and undergraduates in one shared classroom. Half of the students are University of Toronto undergrads; the other half are residents of Christie Gardens. The result? A dynamic, age-diverse learning environment that challenges stereotypes and fosters connections across generations.​​
Mission
-
Facilitate knowledge exchange, mentorship, and collaboration between all ages
-
​Foster meaningful cross-generational connections
-
Reduce ageist attitudes
-
Build a more age-inclusive community
-
Raise awareness of issues in aging
-
Amplify the voices of older adults​
-
Introduce students to opportunities in gerontology and geriatrics
​​“An age-friendly world enables people of all ages to actively participate in community activities and treats everyone with respect, regardless of their age. It is a place that makes it easy for older people to stay connected to people that are important to them. And it helps people stay healthy and active even at the oldest ages and provides appropriate support to those who can no longer look after themselves.”
(World Health Organization, 2017)
Course Format
Over the duration of approximately twelve sessions, the Intergenerational Classroom covers the fundamentals of health and aging.
​​
​​​​​​​​​​​​Session topics include:​​​​​​​​​​​
-
Theories of Aging
-
Social Isolation and Loneliness
-
Caregiving
-
Ageism
-
Health, Illness, and Injury
-
Cognition and Dementia
-
Aging and Disability
-
Polypharmacy
-
End-of-Life Care
Seminar-style sessions offer opportunities for collaboration and hands-on engagement with the lecture material. A series of discussion prompts, known as “Age Cards,” encourages the exchange of perspectives on topics such as views on aging across different cultures or medical assistance in dying (MAiD). Furthermore, the older adults are formally enrolled as students, which allows them access to the syllabus, textbook, and lecture materials and makes them eligible to complete all assignments and assessments. Students are expected to do the assigned readings (from a variety of sources, including current journal articles) prior to each session to maximize engagement and understanding of course concepts.
What's Next
Following its success in 2023 and 2024, and after continuous implementation of learner feedback, the Intergenerational Classroom is now running for its third year at Christie Gardens Apartments & Care.
We are also in the process of formalizing the Intergenerational Classroom model to scale our initiative to other retirement communities looking to provide this opportunity to their own residents. The model will include the components and support necessary for classroom implementation and content delivery, while also leaving room for customization according to the setting, context, and needs of the students and residents.
In the longer term, we hope to translate the Intergenerational Classroom model to other contexts, such as healthcare and employment settings, that would also benefit from generational exchange and mentorship.