Choral Singing and Intergenerational Service-Learning: Tcanto, a School–Nursing Home Partnership against Ageism
Abstract
Intergenerational choirs may foster wellbeing and prosocial attitudes, yet evidence from real-world educational settings with immediate assessment remains limited. A pre–post pilot study was designed within a university service-learning (SL) framework, involving one school–nursing home dyad with 26 choir children (M=10.58 years) and 18 older adult residents. Following a structured preparation phase at both sites, a 60-minute intergenerational choral session was conducted. Older adults completed measures of affective state (SAM), session experience (SEQ), and intergenerational closeness (IOS) before and after the session. Children completed measures of ageist attitudes (FSA), socioemotional well-being (BES), and interpersonal closeness (IOS) at both time points. Results show immediate affective improvements in older adults (valence and relaxation) and reduced ageist attitudes in children, specifically in antilocution and avoidance, alongside high intergenerational closeness in both groups. BES showed no robust change, interpreted as reflecting psychometric limitations for this age group. The format proved feasible and produced immediate affective benefits; attitudinal findings in children are promising. The Tcanto project warrants scaling with higher dosage, longitudinal follow-up, and controlled designs.
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References
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