What we can learn from intergenerational collaboration in research?

Abstract

The purpose of this biographical paper is to reflect generational changes in the landscape of educational sciences during the last 20 years. Rapid change within the educational science generations on the one hand, and in the gap between the research-generations has been observed in the last years at the international level. despite this fact, the intergenerational collaborative research has had impact on carrier advancement of younger research generations. Therefore, this paper aims to find out the evidence on what we can learn in intergenerational research collaboration. The theoretical background of the current paper is based on the human collaboration concept in the form of transfer and transforming the best practice patterns and developing self-experience with new knowledge, skills, and attitudes (špona, 2018: 18). The ethnomethodology of ex-post-facto ‘innerdialogue’ was chosen to find answers to the research question, targeted on reflecting on collaboration as social life impact on selected different researcher generation cases with the career advancement from school teacher to scientific institute director as a method of analysis of the human collaborative practice of perceiving people, places and events as “categories” of “collaboration,” and to use these to explain collaborative actions. the evidence of scientific, social and practical impact of intergenerational collaboration, and the sustainability of collaborative research will be explained, based on experience with the excellent team of West-Timisoara University. Biographical intergenerational collaboration stories of three research generations have impacted research career advancement and will contribute to the international discussion on what we can learn from intergenerational collaboration in research.

Keywords

• educational research
• generational change
• intergenerational collaboration