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← Two Generations, One Lesson

Two Generations, One Lesson

Three short lessons for a grandparent and a grandchild: the elder teaches something they know, then the two of you teach a third person together, and you notice what the teaching taught you.

Spark & Whetstone · sparkwhetstone.org/learn/two-generations-one-lesson · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Answers are at the end, so you can try each question first.

Lesson 1. The elder teaches

Older people are usually cast as the learners: shown how to use a phone, helped across a website. Turn it round. The elder chooses something they know well and teaches it.

It can be anything practised for years: a recipe, a game's rules, how to mend, how the town looked once, a word in a home language.

People often understand their own knowledge better when they have to explain it. Researchers call this learning by teaching.

Question. In this lesson, who is the teacher?

  1. The grandchild, who knows the technology.
  2. The grandparent, who knows something from years of practice.
  3. Whoever is older than ten.

Say it back. In your own words: why should the elder be the teacher here?

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Lesson 2. Teach a third person together

Once the grandchild has learned it, the two of you teach it to someone else: a parent, a cousin, or a character in a child's learning app who is pretending not to know.

Split the teaching. One shows; the other explains why. Afterwards, ask the learner to say it back. If they cannot, the two teachers work out which step to show again.

Question. The cousin you taught cannot say the recipe back. What do the two teachers do?

  1. Say the cousin was not listening.
  2. Work out together which step to show again.
  3. Write the recipe out and hand it over.

Say it back. Say it back: how do the two of you share the teaching?

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Lesson 3. What the teaching taught you

End by each saying one thing the teaching showed you. The grandparent might find a step they had never put into words. The grandchild might hear a story behind the recipe.

Keep it short. One sentence each is enough, and it is often the part people remember about the afternoon.

Question. What is the last step of the afternoon?

  1. Each says one thing the teaching showed them.
  2. The grandchild is tested on the recipe.
  3. The grandparent marks how well the cousin did.

Say it back. In your own words: what might the grandparent learn from teaching?

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At the table: The two-teacher afternoon

Players: a grandparent, a grandchild, and one more learner. You'll need: whatever the skill needs: a recipe and a kitchen, a deck of cards, needle and thread.

  1. The grandparent teaches the grandchild one thing they know well.
  2. The grandchild says it back, then tries it.
  3. Together, the two teach a third person: one shows, the other explains why.
  4. Each says one thing the teaching showed them.

Answers

  1. The grandparent, who knows something from years of practice. — The elder teaches something they know well, which turns round the usual direction of help.
  2. Work out together which step to show again. — If the learner cannot say it back, the teachers find the step that needs showing again. That is how teachers improve.
  3. Each says one thing the teaching showed them. — Each person says one thing they noticed. There is no test and no mark.