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Innov Aging
Innov Aging
innovateage
Innovation in Aging
2399-5300 Oxford University Press US 

10.1093/geroni/igaa057.1773
igaa057.1773
Abstracts
Session 5055 (Symposium)
AcademicSubjects/SOC02600
Innovation In Gerontology Education: An Adventure of Grand Ideas and Good Intentions
Bradley Dana  
University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, Maryland, United States
2020 
16 12 2020 
16 12 2020 
4 Suppl 1 Program Abstracts from The GSA 2020 Annual Scientific Meeting “Turning 75: Why Age Matters”544 544
© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America.2020This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Abstract
Gerontology educators continually innovated over multiple decades to create a field characterized by its diversity of programs with a variety of structures to meet a wide range of educational experiences. This paper explores the rich history of how innovations emerged and shares insights on how these grand ideas became broadly accepted practice. Since early 1970’s 6 distinct innovations emerge with sticking power, including convergence upon a core intellectual foundation; support of interdisciplinary education; offering internships or practicums; integration of gerontological training with opportunities provided by community/organizational partners, research affiliates, and alumni to foster applied learning experiences in research, policy, and practice; and, development of leadership across and among generations through the Emerging Scholar & Professional Organization (ESPO).