This paper constitutes the literature review component of an ongoing doctoral research project. It responds to the context of contemporary social and cultural transformation and explores the reconfiguration of intergenerational interaction within cultural learning settings from an adult perspective. Intergenerational interaction is understood as a mechanism through which participation relationships and shifts in subject positions are shaped within cultural learning practices. Drawing on a constructivist perspective and adopting Bourdieu’s theory of cultural capital as the analytical framework(Bourdieu, 1984), the study focuses on whether children’s perceptions of art and their behaviours during interaction can exert a reverse influence on middle-aged adults’ motivation and their understanding of art. It further considers whether this process challenges pathways of cultural capital accumulation and transmission.

Since the emergence of New Museology theory (Vergo, 1989), public participation has increasingly become a key focus in museum research. Museum learning is now more commonly understood as a cultural practice that extends across the life course (Trujillo-Torres et al., 2023). At the same time, demographic changes, cultural democratisation, and lifelong learning–oriented educational policies have reinforced intergenerational participation in museum education as an important field of research. Existing studies on intergenerational education have demonstrated positive effects in supporting children’s zones of proximal development (ZPD) (Vygotskiĭ et al., 1978) and older adults in rebuilding social connections. (Webster et al., 2024, Krok-Schoen et al., 2025). While acknowledging these contributions, the study further asks whether the generative intergenerational potential of midlife, often viewed primarily as a stage of transmission rather than generation of value, has been consistently underestimated in research on artistic and cultural participation？

Midlife is commonly understood as a life stage that carries responsibility for maintaining continuity and consolidating existing cultural resources(Infurna et al., 2020). At the same time, it represents a key stage for the accumulation, transformation, and redistribution of cultural resources. Individuals at this stage are often positioned at the centre of intergenerational relationships and experience frequent intergenerational contact （(Kim et al., 2024). It is precisely from this intergenerational nexus that middle-aged adults’ cultural participation experiences are not only related to their own learning and development, but also shape family-based cultural practices (van Hek and Kraaykamp, 2015). In this context, contemporary art museums, as cultural institutions characterised by future-oriented perspectives and interdisciplinary approaches, demonstrate distinctive potential in enhancing public cultural literacy and stimulating critical thinking and social engagement.

However, compared with traditional museums, contemporary art museums demand greater cultural capital and present more challenging interpretive processes(Stallabrass, 2020). Within this orientation, younger audiences have become the primary focus of research, In response to this and further critiques (Burns et al., 2025), this research asks whether approaches might enable more inclusive engagement with contemporary art museums, allowing a wider range of groups to become meaningfully involved? As research perspectives have gradually shifted from individual visitors to more situated and process-oriented understandings of cultural participation, family education has increasingly entered the field as an important unit of analysis. Nevertheless, existing studies in this area remain predominantly child-centred. Building on this, the study further considers whether children can be understood as agentic nodes within family learning contexts, and, adopting a decentring of child-focused perspectives, how intergenerational education might operate through children’s perceptions of contemporary art to influence and reshape middle-aged parents’ understanding of contemporary art?

To address these questions, this study reviews current research on museum education, intergenerational learning, middle-aged adults, and family participation in art museums. Through sustained analysis, it seeks to identify and clarify learning subjects, roles within intergenerational interactions, and modes of participation, thereby providing an analytical foundation for subsequent discussion of middle-aged adults’ participation experiences in art museums.

This study adopts an interpretivist ontological position(Crotty, 1998) and a constructivist epistemological stance(Hallberg, 2006). Meaning is constructed through the analysis of participatory learning processes, contextual experiences, and specific interaction patterns, with the overall aim of examining how new modes of interaction influence middle-aged adults’ participation, learning experiences, and role understandings within intergenerational education. The literature analysis is conducted using a constructivist grounded theory (CGT) approach (Charmaz, 2006). Previous studies are treated as interpretive materials through which intergenerational learning in art museum contexts is conceptualised. Particular attention is paid to the positioning of learning subjects, shifts in roles, and the forms and experiences of intergenerational learning, in order to support the development of the research focus. This study selected literature published between 2016 and 2025, drawing from databases including Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. Articles that were thematically relevant and representative were chosen as analytical materials and examined in conjunction with research data obtained through field observation. The literature search involved systematic combinations and arrangements of keywords related to the research topic. Core search terms included Museum Education, Intergenerational Education, Midlife, Art Education, and Learning in Contemporary Art Museums. In addition to identifying keywords and phrases closely aligned with the research context, synonyms and conceptually related expressions were included to ensure both breadth and relevance of coverage (Fortuna et al., 2025). The initial search yielded thousands of articles. After excluding articles with titles and abstracts unrelated to the research focus, this study included 89 studies for in-depth analysis. Each selected article was read in full and subjected to open coding and conceptualisation, with particular attention to intergenerational interaction, family-based museum learning, participation pathways of children and adults, and role positioning. Through comparative, integrative, and cross-text analysis, the main themes were identified as follows: parental support for children’s understanding of and participation in museum learning; the ways in which family interaction shapes children’s participation pathways; the influence of art experiences on children’s cognition; the positioning of adults primarily as companions; and the role of younger generations in helping older adults alleviate psychological difficulties in intergenerational learning contexts. Through this process of collection and analysis, the study discusses subjects and forms within intergenerational museum education research, providing an analytical basis for identifying gaps and questions for subsequent investigation.

Research in intergenerational learning in art museums reveals limitations in existing studies and important conceptual and methodological foundations for the present research. Studies focusing on contemporary art museums remain scarce, often restricted to aesthetic experience or exhibition content (Chalas, 2016). Furthermore, family museum education frameworks display a strong child-centered orientation. While research provides insights into children’s perception and interaction (Willard et al., 2019), it has also constrained the perspective by framing parents as supportive roles. In addition, field observations show that adult programming remains limited by a reliance on lecture and dialogue-based formats, restricting diverse participation. There still remains a lack of in-depth understanding of middle-aged adults’ participation in museums. Compared with others, this group has long occupied a marginal research position. In response, this study adopts a problem-oriented approach that foregrounds the necessity of addressing “midlife issues” by centering on middle-aged adults as subjects rather than contextual conditions. By foregrounding children’s influence on parents, exploring new participatory models for middle-aged audiences in contemporary art museums. Using a qualitative approach within an action research framework, along with art-based methods, meaning is constructed through the analysis of children’s reverse influence on middle-aged adults, and the interaction processes and specific interaction patterns that emerge in situated contexts. This study examines how children’s perceptions of contemporary art reshape middle-aged adults’ participation and learning, and further considers whether this influences cultural capital patterns and opens new engagement pathways. This research seeks to address age-related imbalances in art museum studies and their limitations for research perspectives. It offers a new analytical lens for intergenerational educational practices in art museums and, on this basis, explores possible forms of pedagogical strategies in museum education. It further examines whether, and how, such strategies may provide new directions for future practice by fostering more interactive and sustainable intergenerational learning.

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