The Loop Spring 2015 web.pdf

CREATING LEARNING COMMUNITIES, AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT
INTERGENERATIONAL CARE
CHURCHES OF CHRIST CARE, EARLY CHILDHOOD CENTRE, SOUTHPORT
By Robyn Pointing
BACKGROUND
Upon reading an article related to the KITE (Kids Interacting
with the Elderly) program ((St Michael’s Collegiate; OneCare
Limited; Vincent Fairfax Family Foundation, 2012), an idea
was formed to look at the potential of this program within our
own organisation. Churches of Christ in Queensland are a
group of mainstream Christian churches operating a range of
missional and community care services throughout Queensland
and Victoria. The organisation’s care service division, Churches
of Christ Care, is active in the areas of early childhood, child
protection, community housing, community care and residential
aged care.
Drawing upon our values and aspects of our philosophy by
“using the connections within our organisation and wider
community to support children, families, educators and staff”
(Churches of Christ Care, 2015), contact was made with a
local Churches of Christ Aged Care facility, Marana Gardens,
to seek out the potential of implementing the KITE program at
the Churches of Christ Care Early Childhood Centre Southport.
During this period of time within the organisation itself, there
was a focus on visualising and creating integrated care
facilities. This saw the creation of sites such as Mitchelton where
several service stream areas were co-located within the same
facility. Using our own emerging version of the KITE program,
the potential of looking at future expansion of integrated care to
also include an Intergenerational Program was then considered.
An Intergenerational Program is a planned intentional
interaction of different age groups, infant to elderly, in a variety
of situations at a level that provides close communication,
sharing of feelings and ideas and co-operative activity in
meaningful tasks (Peacock and Talley, Intergenerational
Contact: A Way to counteract Ageism 1984).
An opportunity arose to take part in the Workforce Council
Action Research Project: Creating Learning Communities. This
was funded by the Australian Government under the Inclusion
and Professional Support Program (IPSP). The focus of the
Action Research Project was aimed at looking at not only the
potential of Intergenerational Care but to also investigate the
learning community that evolved as a result of implementing
the KITE program within the Early Childhood Centre Southport.
With such a broad cross-section of the community coming
together from toddlers to elderly, carers and educators from
both ends of life, as well as the families of those involved,
there were bound to be some key learnings occurring. The
diversity of people involved having both children and adults
as participants reflected the ideology of what a community of
learners can encompass.
“The idea of a community of learners is based on the premise
that learning occurs as people participate in shared endeavours
with others, with all playing active but often asymmetrical roles
in sociocultural activity. Children coordinate with other children
and with adults, contributing to the direction of the endeavour,
with overall orientation and leadership provided by adults but
with some leadership provided at times by children.”
(Rogoff, 1994)
A temporary change in work role enabled a broader reach for
the Action Research Project as other Churches of Christ Early
Childhood Services within the far western region of Queensland
were visited. This created an opportunity to make comparisons
with remote communities and the relationships between elderly
and children occurring within these areas.
The action research
project was guided by
the following two
research questions:
What is the potential of
Intergenerational care?
How can we best achieve
this to benefit both
children and the
elderly?
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IN THE LOOP