The presentation deals with intergenerational learning in the workplace. Intergenerational learning as a research topic has been a relatively new addition to the educational sciences discourse despite its being an inseparable part of learning and education in the occupational and profession-related context. The importance of intergenerational learning has recently been emphasized by many factors: population ageing, increasing chances of healthy old age, and prolonged job careers create opportunities for several generations meeting in the workplace; knowledge in its turn economy increases the need for creating, expanding and sharing knowledge; etc.

The objective of the project is to describe and explain processes of intergenerational learning in the workplace as an environment with a significant potential for this type of learning. The findings will help to develop the knowledge base and the – so far underdeveloped – theory of intergenerational learning. The main research question of the research is: What and how do members of different generations learn and which opportunities for mutual learning do they get in various environments and situations in life?

Hatton and Yeo (European Approaches to Inter-generational Lifelong Learning, 2008, p. 3) define intergenerational learning as “a process through which individuals of all ages acquire skills and knowledge but also attitudes and values, from everyday experience, all kinds of sources and in all ways in their own ‘lived worlds’”. Researching intergenerational learning in the workplace (family businesses, small and medium-size businesses), we want to focus on informal intergenerational learning. Informal learning in the workplace is a relatively traditional research topic (Novotný, 2009) while its intergenerational dimension has received less interest (Spannring, 2008).

Work teams however consist and are bound to consist of members of different generations, mainly due to the shifting retirement age and the ensuing longer period of economic activity among seniors. Age diversity in the workplace may bring a number of benefits, e.g. generate respect for senior staff and increase these people's initiative, or provide them with opportunities to belong and be an integral part of society, involve them in support social networks, inspire others to deal with problems based on the experience of other generations and so on (Schlimbach, 2010). How work teams deal with this variety and how they use the potential for intergenerational learning will be at the core of our research.

Research project "Intergenerational Learning in Various Social Environments" is supported by Czech Science Foundation (GA13-07234S).

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