Generation Animation: Participatory Action Research and Intergenerational Pedagogy

This paper explores the intergenerational media practice pedagogy at work in the Generation Animation project. Using a participatory action research (PAR) methodology this project developed out of a small community in Northern Ireland. In this post-conflict community, the project aimed to make space for children’s voices. The project sits in a specific post-conflict context known as ‘Shared Education’. In this context, primary school pupils from schools divided along denominational and sectarian geographies come together as a means of learning and understanding the other. When teachers from two such schools approached Ulster University to support them in developing a program of digital animation for their (8–10-year-old) pupils, an intergenerational learning environment was established which included staff from the primary schools, students and staff from the university and the primary school pupils. The PAR approach enabled the facilitation of learning through media practice (animation) as these pupils used the animated screen space to explore the UNICEF Rights of the Child. This paper offers an examination of the complex pedagogical interplay at work between the key participants and offers insights and conclusions on the impact of the PAR on the participants and the wider community.