Nation Taiwan Ocean University (NTOU) launched Taiwan's first Intercultural and Intergenerational Co-Learning Mandarin Chinese lectures and held the final intergenerational workshop in Keelung City Indigenous Cultural Hall on November 15th. During the workshop, International students coordinated with the community old people and stepped into communities by visiting attractions around NTOU. Accompanied by old people, international students also gained a deeper understanding of aboriginal and ocean culture by tasting local cuisines. Thanks to the co-learning intercultural lectures, NTOU students and senior citizens acknowledge more about each other's culture. They successfully developed the competence of being global citizens by respecting, empathizing, team working despite the barrier of countries and ages.

intergenerational workshop in Keelung City Indigenous Cultural Hall

         Intercultural and Intergenerational Co-Learning Mandarin Chinese Lectures are based on intergenerational learning, focusing on the value, experience, and competence sharing between generations. Intergenerational learning allows youth to rebuild their relationship with older by having more chances to get along. For the elderly, Intergenerational learning helps them adapt their new characters and activate their lives and values. With a well-organized intergenerational learning plan, Intergenerational Program may be developed to enhance trustful interaction. As associate professor Ya Ying Huang, investigator of Higher Education SPROUT Project USR-HUB sub-project 1, claimed, "Learning how to communicate with fellows from different cultures and generations is now a must-needed. NTOU, as the base of intercultural co-learning, promotes intercultural understanding between international students and old people."

International students learn about local culture from banquets with seniors

         According to the approximation conducted by National Development Council, Taiwan will enter the edge of a Super-Aged Society, which means that each 1 of 5 citizens will be senior. Meanwhile, foreign workers have already accounted for over 2.5% of the population in Taiwan. These statistics show the importance of bridging relationships between foreigners and old people. Since NTOU owns furnishing resources of local-international power and leading marine science technology research, NTOU attracts outstanding graduate students worldwide. On the other side, NTOU senior citizens learning camp members are mostly retired seniors. They are willing to share both local culture and life experiences. These advantages make NTOU an excellent field for international students and the elderly co-existence, co-glory, co-benefit, and co-survival. With the support of MOE teaching practice research program, the co-learning program is optimized properly, and looking forward to conducting interdisciplinary research with the field of mind, brain, and learning.

         "Making new friends by assisting foreign students learning Mandarin Chinese is a meaningful way of national diplomacy," a senior participant said. Any senior members who are willing to join the project are always welcome to sign up by filling in the form: https://forms.gle/5AWbEbqxDiSmEnE29