This work presents a project called “ESium Project”, whose main objective is to create new spaces for social participation and a relationship between two different age groups: the young Social Education students and the elderly. It has a double purpose: to promote that reciprocal space for cooperation and interaction in a way that avoids the risk of disengagement and to promote a professional perspective. Target students will become future professionals who will also work with the elderly collective. Furthermore, a research-action method aims to make the participants protagonists of the educational actions that are carried out by using qualitative techniques as essential strategies for the work of collectives. Not only do the results regard the intergenerational stereotypes, they also show the assessment of the satisfaction by the involved participants, the international acknowledgement of the educational activity developed, and the possibility to use this in other contexts. In this way, it can be concluded that there is a need to tackle intergenerationally in teacher education from a wide-open inclusive perspective to take advantage of senior talent and innovation.

This research addresses teacher training at different generational stages, with the aim of analysing the training actions developed by school teachers and the intentionality of linking them to their professional development, in order to offer a broad perspective of the paradigm of smart schools, allowing for the adjustment of the quality of training to real demands. To this end, a systematic review of articles published between 2012 and 2022 in the main databases (WoS, Scopus, Eric, Dialnet, and Google Scholar) was carried out. After applying the inclusion criteria, 56 articles were selected and analysed following the PRISMA 2020 statement. The findings showed the interest and importance of initial, continuous, and lifelong learning among teachers as a driver of professional development. The results also showed that research is mostly focused on novice teachers and qualitative methodologies predominate, although this is limited to certain countries and specialised publications. However, generational differences were observed. While younger teachers are more highly trained in ICT, older teachers have a higher level of competence at a processual and relational level in the classroom. In conclusion, it should be noted that teacher training linked to professional development has an impact on school improvement, especially if it is carried out from an intergenerational collaborative perspective, and the acquisition of new skills.

El estudio presentado examina la imagen que poseen los niños de las personas mayores a través de programas intergeneracionales desarrollados entre centros escolares dependientes de la Consejería de Educación de la Región de Murcia (España) y la red de centros sociales del Instituto Murciano de Acción Social (IMAS). En estos dos escenarios, además de detectar la existencia de ciertos estereotipos por parte del alumnado hacia el colectivo mayor, se pretende conocer de que manera inciden y que aspectos pueden cambiar en todo su proceso hasta la finalización del programa. Teniendo en cuenta los aspectos marcados que facilitan la detección de estereotipos, se ha utilizado una metodología de carácter cuantitativo a través de cuestionarios. Entre los resultados más relevantes, se descubre que el desarrollo de estos programas minimiza ciertos prejuicios y estereotipos hacia la vejez, así como un reforzamiento de la imagen positiva hacia las personas mayores por parte de los niños.

It is considered that the social educator from a multi and interdisciplinary perspective, is the professional adequately qualified to project and carry out basic actions at the community level, for the development of actions that favor active aging. For this reason, the objective of this research was proposed to analyze the negative stereotypes towards old age that may exist on the part of the students of the Degree in Social Education. Data were collected using the Negative Stereotypes Towards Old Age Questionnaire (CENVE). The results obtained refer to the highest proportion of stereotypes in the students related to the health factor. Lower levels of stereotypes were related in students who were in the last years of the Degree in Social Education compared to those in initial courses, where significant differences were observed (t = 2.76; p = 0.01). It can be concluded that as students increase their academic trajectory during the Degree in Social Education at the University of Murcia, their level of stereotypes towards old age is lower, although their eradication is not achieved at the end of their training. The need to review the curriculum in the direction of increasing knowledge related to older people is pointed out.