Potential of schools to promote spatial solidarity by recognising intergenerational power relations: Staff perspective

Abstract

The paper is based on a study where 24 staff members of a school in Finland were asked to complete fictional post-apocalypse stories in an investigation interested in the rationales underlying sources of solidarity in school. The research was motivated by the idea that intergenerational solidarity is vital to young people’s wellbeing because it can promote young people’s participation in schools. Drawing on the concept of spatial solidarity, the analysis reveals three sources of solidarity: interdependency, norms and values, and intergenerational conflict. The findings highlight that solidarities in school derive from place-based power dynamics that can sustain adult centric hierarchies but also have the potential to lead to genuine intergenerational collaboration. Understanding these sources of solidarity can help adults working with young people to critically reflect on how they contribute to the world beyond the individual and how a democratic outlook on power relations can be realized in intergenerational communities.