ABSTRACT
The service-learning approach in education, which integrates community service with academic classroom learning, is gaining national prominence. Utilizing this framework, intergenerational service-learning aims to connect older and younger generations in meaningful and productive interactions within a community setting, at the same time benefiting elders and students and meeting community needs (Larkin & Newman, 1997; Roodin, 2000). Fostering such intergenerational exchanges is particularly important because of the considerable geographic mobility of American families since the middle of the twentieth century, often resulting in infrequent contact between the generations (Newman, 1997). Intergenerational programs offer the promise of facilitating the kinds of intergenerational contacts and linkages that traditionally occurred spontaneously in geographically proximate families. Elders can develop a relationship with younger people and continue to contribute actively by sharing their life experiences, while students can learn about the older generation, have the opportunity to gain insights about their own aging, and develop a sense of community responsibility.
