Share Paper: Civic Participation, Public Sphere Pedagogy, and Blended Learning Produce an Intergenerational Town Hall Meeting

  1. Helen Teague, Pepperdine University, United States
  2. Charle Pruett, Pruett Gerontology Center, United States
  3. Chris Kyker, Texas Silver-Haired Legislature, United States
  4. Ashley Bryan, Abilene Christian University, United States
Monday, November 14 4:20-4:40 PM Edison F

Abstract: This paper describes an Intergenerational Town Hall Meeting including six generations of participants. This paper establishes the protocol of the Town Hall forum mediated by intergenerational, civic participation, blended learning technology and social media tools for pre-service, pre-certification students at a private, Southwestern U.S. university. A partnership between a university research center, state advocacy group, and state, county, and local community organizations provided the Public-Sphere Pedagogy of the Town Hall Meeting. Qualitative pre-event survey data and post-event reflective data was collected and analyzed. These data sources found a correlation between a Town Hall Meeting learning experience and increased awareness, empathy, ...