Transfer of Knowledge From the Third-Aged Generation to the Youngest Ones as One of the Forms of Informal Upbringing and Education: Experience of Kazakhstani Families

1. Introduction

In view of the problems of economic development that require their solution, the theory of human capital can come to the rescue. Currently, the formation of new (qualitative and quantitative) parameters of human capital is observed, affecting the quality of life and in future [1]. When mentioning human resources, we mean a certain set of qualities and characteristics of a person which characterizes his ability to perform a kind of activity. And that concept can be applied to a single organization and even a whole state. Human resources can be viewed from the point of potential of a society as a whole through the use of sociological research. Human resources are people composing the workforce of a particular organization, business sector, economy, and state [2]. These workforces are people capable of working.

In Kazakhstan like all over the world, in the century of fast technologies, it is meaningful to keep up with times to be able to adapt to constantly changing conditions to survive. It concerns an individual and a society as a whole as well. Lifelong learning is a modern trend of the present time. Now elderly people are witnessed to try gaining new knowledge, improving their qualifications, acquiring skills for a new profession and simply feeling helpful to society because they are a whole repository of accumulated knowledge of the past, professional experience and bearers of a cultural fund. According to UN calculations, in the period from 1950 to 2050, the world population will gradually age and by 2050 the share of older people will even exceed the number of the younger generation by 25% which can greatly affect the economies of countries [3].

Elderly people come to a period of life when they are already free, they do not need to get an education to earn a living, they do not need to raise children or solve housing and economic issues. As a result, at this age they become less responsible. Now they devote all their time to those things that they only dreamed of and put off for later. They are still full of energy and ideas, have already acquired knowledge, developed skills and abilities, have extensive work experience behind them, so they want and can gain new knowledge more easily and with more interest.

It has been noted that the higher education and social status of an individual, the easier it is to adapt to a new society [4]. The world is changing quickly, and you need to keep up with it. For this purpose, many adults go for a second, third and even fourth education. In connection with the increase in the average age, there is a need for employment of representatives of the older generation. If longevity of up to 100 years is now observed among the older generation, this leads to an increase in active age from 35-40 years to 55-60 years, respectively [3]. If previously the knowledge acquired in educational institutions was enough for a lifetime, then in our fast-paced time, knowledge needs to be constantly replenished. Also, now more and more often the disappearance or extinction of certain professions is being recorded due to the fact that they can be replaced by robots or automated. This trend also pushes for the need to be flexible and adapt to current realities and be able to organically integrate into a changing world with its ever-new requirements.

However, it is worth noting that the third-aged generation can play a key role not only for the country’s economy, but it is important human resource that must be used to educate the next generation. Their rich intellectual baggage education, professional and life experience should and can be used in the formation and development of descendants.

So, we would like to notice another side of elderly people – they are the necessary chain that connects us with previous generations. Thanks to them, we remember and honor our language and traditions. Following Migala-Warchol, the more educated a society is, the higher the level of living in that country [5]. This means that educated people over 60 can have a significant influence on the upbringing of their grandchildren, helping them get an education, broadering their horizons, and so on, which contributes to their further development and achievements. The third-aged people are necessary chain in raising the younger generation.. Since parents are struggling not only to earn big money, but to build a career, constantly increase and improve the level of professional competencies, in order to meet new challenges, they are forced to call on the older generation for help [6]. In this case, grandparents can turn out to be important helpers and provide the necessary aid not just as babysitters, but as educators as well. Moreover, people over 60 have more free time due to retirement, they take an active part in raising our children. As it is well-known, the upbringing of children is influenced by the people around them, and this includes grandparents. The upbringing of children is influenced by surrounding people, and these are parents and grandparents. To cultivate professional-developing character in the familial setting the grandparents can/should stimulate their young generation to gain knowledge and encourage them to learn lifelong. Furthermore, it is imperative to foster educational and developing skills in children. Grandparents play a crucial role in ‘family community generation’ as an essential part of the world community. If a family is strong and resilient, children in them are of sure physical, moral, psychological, and intellectual well-being [7].

Education is the most important task of any nation since process defines human’s existence and being. From the social and historical point of view of education, one can agree that education has always existed and it evolves towards perfection in line with the historical life of humanity. When defining and creating the policies in the field of education, it is possible to study two possibilities: emotional and rational aspects of education. Our emotional attitudes, just like in the issue in question, are very meaningful and teaching can transform individuals, meaning that these aspects can become the content. The issue of education’s future became the subject matter for philosophers, leaders, and great thinkers. It may also be a good way of ensuring the future for humanity to entrust children’s education to experts who do not have an account with time.

In the socialization of grandchildren, grandparents share their experience [8], observe customs and traditions through storytelling that imply respect for ancestors, when the image of a person of the older generation was closely related to the category of life experience, its gradual accumulation and transmission to the young. Upbringing is not only based on material facts but grounded as well as on choice values. The grandparent is inclined to speak, to tell his grandchild his problems and experiences and his weakness, but to require reasonable solutions in accordance with his own and to the benefits of the grandchild. These pieces of advice are free of selfishness, self-importance, and emotions. They are short and not forcing the kids to act foolishly, but persistently to perform the only right solutions. Due to the prolonged life, the grandparents do not want to rule, to subordinate, adjust or apply pressure, but are always anxious to demonstrate humility and care between the ages. That’s why parents benefit from their mutual help and concern. Grandparents help shape the right behavior in various situations, are authority figures for the child, and prepare them for personal growth. They assist in revealing natural talents, become friends in efforts made to deal with boredom, and lessen stress by helping with homework. Breadth of science knowledge, cooperation, and ethics are the result of the life experience of the most qualitative category of labor assets, represented by the elder generation. Elders are also the holders of wisdom. Therefore, they have a significant role in the preparation of the new generation of qualitative human resources. The present study determines some pedagogical measures to enhance the educational impact on the younger generation by the third-aged generation. Advantages in education and upbringing include complex, cognitive, and emotional development of a child; intergenerational solidarity; raising a child as an independent person, responsibility, and respect towards the elders; and confidence and trust in the continuity of spiritual and practical family values. This process is mutually helpful. The process of raising facilitates the necessary connection among the grandparents’ availability, voluntary involvement, respect, and cooperation reward.

However, there is another way of looking at this point of view. in today’s rapidly changing world, this style of grandparenting remains irrelevant for grandchildren as it presupposes overprotection and excessive care for them. For this reason, children become dependent, self-centered, infantile, and not adapted to modern society [4,9].

However, the point of view that the classical upbringing of grandchildren by people over 60, and especially educated ones, has a place to be, will be supported in our study and is based on statistical data from they survey and interviews.

However, due to the fact that grandparents are aged 60+, a number of problems can arise in raising children: 1) a large age difference leads to conflicts; 2) the necessary control over the children is often carried out due to health problems of grandparents of retirement age; 3) the lack of sufficient education among grandparents does not provide the opportunity to provide the required psychological and pedagogical assistance to children; 4) presence of negative experience in raising own children; 5) the different values that parents and grandparents instill in their children [10].

The problem of cooperation between generations is one of the significant problems of today. Having analyzed different sociological researches [8], questionnaires, and examined the families, we can ascertain that children can learn specific cultural traditions, customs, ethics, and values from their grandparents. According to the previous studies, the role of grandparents in all the families is powerful in upbringing their grandchildren. However, little is known about the generational transmission of knowledge about common hands-on-activities, as well as public service activities and participation in the discussion of unresolved dilemmas of everyday life. In our opinion, the traditions formed in daily communication pave the way for the formation of abilities and skills necessary to take crucial steps. The younger generation should understand the essence of the activities’ outcomes [11]. This is how to maintain organizational and community coherence. Most of our activities, including daily and routine work of a person living in a collective, create the foundations of the similarity, resonance, and integrity of the boundaries of the self and the other within the frameworks of life values and motivational structures [12]. Our daily routine enables us to draw some boundaries within which we form perception of accessibility and develop approaches to solving new hard issues.

It is well-known the problem of preserving and accumulating a large part of knowledge of an individual and/or collective experience which definitely has empirical basis. This type of experience represents knowledge about how to live and behave, it passes down from one generation to the next in the family, namely from grandparents to children and then to grandchildren. During the session at UNESCO, many reports conveyed the idea that this issue received a wide range of responses in various countries. In this regard, the international “Memory of the World” program was launched, which is an example of a systematic approach to collecting, describing, preserving and transmitting knowledge [].

Let us consider the category of educated senior citizens aged 60 years and above and their impact on the younger generation as one of the factors of formation of qualitative human resources. To show their benefits in raising children, we researched older people with higher education, who can make a positive contribution to the development of children through promoting the values and necessity of receiving education throughout their life and love and devotion to their motherland.

2. Review of the literature

Available literature within the topic of the continuity of knowledge pays considerable attention to the role of grandparents regarding their grandchildren. Theoretical and empirical perspectives of these relationships are described properly. Grandparents are usually associated with provision of emotional and practical support and babysitting while grandchildren are associated with continuation of a family that is full of energy, strength, laughter and fun [8,14].

The analysis of presented research shows their majority have a quantitative character. They make clear understanding the structure and peculiarities of the establishment and realization of continuity. Such situations are shown in the absence of clear classification characteristics of continuity in the present time, the possibility for its practical use, and the methods for identification and assessment [7,12,14].

Despite scientific interest in studying the influence of the older generation on the lives of young people, the formation of qualitative human resources under grandparents’ control through the continuity of knowledge nevertheless remains unexplored. Reason for this can be due to the minor examination of all methods of the older generation aimed at self-development and nurturing future human resources of grandchildren [15].

A. Intergenerational Knowledge Transfer

Nurseries, kindergarten and other educational institutions in which the child is involved in an educational process to some extent, can organize the upbringing process. In this aspect, the question of daily adults’ involvement in an upbringing process, not only in the process but also in the organized specific educational process, is very important. Let us not forget the fact that currently, a person is known as a qualitative and accomplished professional, who knows something very well and can put it into life, whose abilities expand, grow, develop, and replenish their life experience. All these functions represent only the former generation of theoretical models, at the same time, aimed at the future life, is included in the child’s soul, consciousness, and is consolidated. If such models are laid down and expressed or applied to the child’s education, what will be the result of this child’s life, and consequently, the result of the educational process? In this case, questions become especially important: how precisely and who will be engaged in educating their own grandchildren, whose knowledge as future quality human resources, both at the social level and at the country level, is especially significant.

Preschool age is the most sensitive period of a person’s cognitive development. There is a necessity for efficient increase in knowledge, development of general erudition, experience, and acquisition of skills in the period preceding school [9]. However, it is known that attaining a high level of knowledge and development of all abilities preceding general readiness for school is possible only if a daily educational process is organized during the first days of the child’s life. It is known that all human life is an educational process, and the more intensive the child is engaged in education by adults, who possess memory, wisdom, experience, and the ability to effectively transfer all that is related from life, the more successful this training will be.

The process of passing on, from older family members to younger ones, their life experiences, traditions, national customs, techniques of doing domestic work, values of hard work and thrift, morality, as well as care and respect for one’s content is the basis of family knowledge transfer [16]. Taking care of children’s development and willingness to help in this process is the first step to understanding the mysteries of life and fostering a sense of love, honor, and respect for family. Obtained in childhood the ability to learn lifelong, among many abilities, is the key to creating a person highly valued both in family and in society. The general flow of learning is the peaceful existence of two generations. Through the struggle for solidarity, they love, protect and invest in the future. Family is a predictable social environment with its strong foundations. It nurtures future leaders able to develop inner strength and energy [17].

We continue the discussion on knowledge continuity, focusing on the process of family knowledge transfer to younger generation from grandparents aiming to leave behind strong enough descendants able to grow, thrive, develop, and glorify nation and country [18,19]. This topic is inherent to any society and is discussed in the works of numerous researchers of different spheres [14,20].

B. Emotional and Cultural Significance of Grandparent-Grandchild Relationships

A cultural aspect of relations between generations is revealed through this theme is reflected in culture, in particular, in religions. Positive emotions are beneficial not only to the individuals feeling them, but also to society as a whole. Positive emotions can also better an individual’s perspective on themselves, the people around them, and their communities. They boost pro-social behavior and dampen anti-social inclinations [9]. Since society itself is a network of relationships, and human emotions are the profound furnace upon which these connections form, a healthier society can be identified by the strength and resilience of its web of relationships. Emotional pollutant: happiness would stop aspirin consumption for anxiety in its tracks. Happiness has come back to life as a subject of increasing responsibility in different realms of contemporary society, including education, work, and health. Indeed, recent studies suggest that emotional states can reduce several behavioral risk factors for major chronic diseases and act as mechanisms to foster physical health. Conduct-regulating issues involved, particularly the interactions between emotional states and the processes by which parenting practices may impact children’s emotional well-being. Emotional well-being in childhood is important for children’s development and positive relations with peers and parents. Emotional and behavioral problems developed in childhood are frequently continued with problems in adulthood. Little is known about parenting predictors of errors and adjustment has focused mostly on a comparison of maladaptive processes with the past.

Emotional well-being is one of the most desirable states in psychological science. It is a central aspect of overall well-being. When people experience gratitude, love, happiness, awe, serenity, inspiration, amusement, and other positive emotions, they are more likely to feel they are living a good life [21,22]. Angner [23], states that subjective well-being is one of the concepts measuring emotional well-being, indicating the life satisfaction of the individual, the frequent occurrence of positive emotions, and the infrequent occurrence of negative emotions. These dimensions are attributed to their importance for predicting consequences including criteria relating to personal relationships, cognitive and social activities, and physical health. Due to their importance, increasing attention is given to an international consensus that the measurement of subjective well-being should be more professionally undertaken. Subjective well-being is determined by an individual. It occurs as a function of feeling well physically, forming close relationships, establishing a satisfactory career, and actively contributing to personal circumstances and those of higher community. Although the political, social, cultural, and economic structure of a society has various effects on the subjective well-being of the individuals in that society, it is each and every individual factor and personal reference that constitutes the flow of well-being.

It is observed that effective communication (verbal and nonverbal as well) is “an excellent tool for the pursuit of integral care for the health needs” of elderly people [21]. It means that the more the older people have the chance to express their thoughts participating in social life, the more protective effects are for their health. Many studies proved that social participation involving physical activities and cognitive function lead to a better life [22,24,25]. Grandparents are very concerned about the life and fate of their children and grandchildren and feel their problems to be their own. This state they are involved in the problems of loved ones, they often correlate the goals and plans of their lives with the events of younger people (grandchildren’s education, wedding, etc.). An elderly person often describes the life of children and grandchildren, focusing on their successes and achievements. Shakhmatov argued that reorientation to intrafamily relationships is a natural stage in the mental life of an elderly person that preserves the prospect of personal development []. The child is given the task of feeling love for collective creative work, the result of this interaction, and the family heir in a real way contributes to the child’s “need to learn” [17].

Children are our future human resource, that is the valuable capital of the country that guarantees its stable and constant development. Therefore, the early a value-based attitude towards their native country, its history and cultural heritage children will form the better. This should be the first place in education goals in the early stages. In particular, we need competitive human resources, that is the quantity and quality of people sustainable in their biological, psychological, intellectual, cultural, and professional parameters that are able to meet modern ideas about innovative people.

It should be noted that an enormous role in raising children is played not only by love and care for them, but also by assistance in spiritual, mental, moral development, the transfer of social experience to them, the protection of rights and freedoms, the choice of an educational institution, etc. A minor, with the help of their legal representative, acquires the status of a full member of society. Thus, one of the important aspects of the study was to clarify data regarding personal status, age, and education of grandparents.

It is important to emphasize the choice of a certain form of education, as a rule, it is not accidental. Some sociologists revealed after some research that the low level of the welfare of the modern family, the cultural and religious traditions of society affect female behavior at all stages of preparation for motherhood, however, the characterization of personality socialization, value guidelines, behavioral models and worldview potential have more influence [22]. Teslenko [19], suggests that children absorb the lifestyle of our parents. If the family is mononuclear and dysfunctional, then this is one of the reasons for leaving the child in an orphanage. That, in turn, is associative and will not bring much benefits to society. The extended families rarely experience such cases, because grandparents advertise a complete family, a family with traditions and certain order. According to studies, children taken under the care of their grandparents speak warmly about them and give more details describing life together with them than with their natural parents who abandoned them [19]. This once again proves the need to involve the older generation in the raising in order to fill the child’s upbringing with family values, positive emotions and continuity of knowledge and experience.

The percentage of children leaving orphanages or foster families is low among those who went to receive higher and/or tertiary education. Accordingly, they choose blue-collar professions and other types of semi- and unskilled jobs. Attention should be paid to the developmental features of the child, his psychological characteristics, learning capabilities and further adaptation in adulthood. It is well-known that orphans have the opportunity to enter any educational institution in Kazakhstan free of charge and without competition and obtain education, but for various reasons, a small number of orphans take the advantage of this chance. This is primarily due to low performance at school and the lack of exciting activities in their free time. (Meshelova et at., 2024) Accordingly, all other students at educational institutions come from families where there are at least educated parents and at most educated grandparents too who advise continuing their studies to get a chance to live a better life. This tells us about the large role of family in the fate of a child. After all, only relatives are interested in discovering children’s talents and abilities, his growth in the professional field, spiritual and psychological health for a happy life.

Children can get upbringing and education by older teachers in kindergartens and schools when there exists a lack of teaching staff because the management of the institution does not allow their elderly teachers to retire.

Nowadays, especially in cities we experience some kind of lack in communication between generations, as children are captivated by gadgets and some features of associative behavior begin to appear, and modern pensioners start their old age more actively, enrolling in courses to improve the level of knowledge, attending various leisure activities, events that organized for the silver generation, or even going into business. For communication to occur, it is necessary to bring two people together so that a process of two-way exchange of information occurs, leading to mutual understanding. In the most general terms, communication is the interaction of two or more people, consisting in the exchange of information between them of a cognitive or affective evaluative nature. Frank E.X. Dance defines communication as the kind of interaction in which the intent of the sender is achieved as a result of the communicative event [10,27].

Although children and the elderly belong to different social classes, they have similar characteristics. For example, they both are limited in contact and are dependent on relatives. If intergenerational communication took place in adulthood, then in old age the success of such communication is guaranteed, due to the fact that an understanding of each other has been developed. To strengthen intergenerational interaction, the organization of joint activities contributes. For example, in Kazakhstan pensioners go to Longevity Centers, and universities operate “Silver Universities” for representatives of pre- and retirement age. They participate in numerous social events where children and youth are attracted.

The notion of generation has many definitions given by different authors. Isayeva defines a generation as a community of contemporaries formed due to objective socio-demographic and cultural-historical conditions who have typical socio-psychological, ideological, moral and ethnocultural characteristics, similar spiritual values, social experience and lifestyle [18].

Also, it depends on the aim of its investigation. By generation, anthropologists understand the genetic and genealogical characteristics of people; for ethnographers, a generation is an ethnic group of a certain age, united by common traditions and social institutions; historians see specific historical events in the formation of a generation, where people of one generation have common spiritual and moral ideas and belong to a certain type of subculture. If we take the cultural approach we can assume that a generation has a social community of people within definite age boundaries, which are characterized by similar conditions of socialization and life activity, typical needs and value orientations.

The idea arises that when analyzing the process of changing generations, only the second half of the period of human social activity should be considered, since the beginning of the social life of the new generation is absorbed in the struggle for power with the old. The problem of generations becomes aggravated during periods of social transformation, government reform and modernization of the country.

Previously, a representative of the older generation was a model of life, that is the path that the children should follow. Namely, the relationships between age groups are regulated, everyone knows what and how they should do, when a person makes his professional choice or is looking for a job, or seeks a life partner. Nowadays when the world is changing extremely fast, the knowledge and experience of elders is often considered as useless or even harmful due to new circumstances. Currently, that system is failing somehow, and the reason for this is that we follow the advice of specialists, scientists and the government.

American psychotherapist Bern [28] puts forward the idea of so-called parental programming of the fate of children who have to obey and calls it a script. “A script is a gradually unfolding life plan formed in early childhood, mainly under the influence of parents. This psychological impulse pushes a person forward with great force towards his destiny, and often regardless of his resistance or free choice”.

In many cultures, and in Kazakh’s as well, there exists the notion “knowing your seven paternal grandfathers”. Scientists have proven that genes play a huge role in the development of a person as an individual. And being aware of your roots allows you to get to know yourself better, discover previously forgotten and lost talents and, finally, find your true purpose in life. From one generation to another pass on not only wealth but also strategies for processing conflicts, worldview and relations [14,29].

Research questions: 1) to reveal the current situation of relationship between grandparents and their grandchildren and 2) prove the necessity of grandparents’ participation in grandchildren’s raising as their tremendous contribution in human resources qualitative formation.

3. Methodology

The methodology adopted in this research focuses on the investigating the process of children’s engaged interactions and dialogues with grandparents, as the main channel for the transmission of the general and family experience including the historical memory and ethnopedagogical traditions, is based on the “Situated learning and developing thinking” research method [9]. This survey method allowed reconstructing the general holistic process of transmission of experience, which refers to the unique unity of individuals who possess unique historical memory and successfully use them to transmit their knowledge and skills to cultivate a Corpus of collective and national knowledge. The method combined techniques of situational conversations and analysis of situations, methods of survey statistical data collection, accounting, and subsequent analysis of quantitative data. Such an approach to methodology provided comprehensive, reliable, and multiple solutions, allowing us to consider a phenomenon with the maximal possible complexity.

The model of nurturing future high-quality personnel through the continuity of experience is based on understanding the formation of the “first professional layer” [30], during children’s family socialization in the early stages of their life. This model describes the process of the emergence, development, and functioning of an emotional confidence of children in the form of close, confidential, and trusting relationships. Emotional confidence may mature into sophisticated emotional awareness that is subtle, delicate and focused on searching for mutual understanding of one person about another, the collective the member of which he is, own place and activities in this world. The absence of this emotional security in the early stages and afterwards may result in the inability of individuals to appreciate the values offered by national identity, history, and the cultural heritage of their ancestors [4]. This will lead to withering and, ultimately, the disappearance of the nation, people, and even country.

A. Research design

The analysis of several interrelated social phenomena, each of which describes a unique situation, is a key point. The analysis of a system situation over a period of time, which is thought to be a long enough period of time, is a key point. The primary area of the application of survey method in family research is revealing the parenting tactics used within a child-rearing process. The majority of case studies are conducted by means of in-depth interviews and observations. As a consequence, they are often treated as a specific type of an interview and observation study. Given the research design: the data collection technique, sampling procedure, tactics for conducting the interviews, and data processing algorithm, the present study may be classified as a survey method based.

It was conducted, the information was analyzed and the findings were generalized in June 2024 in Kazakhstan in two stages where the first was the questionnaire consisting of ten questions about personal information (name, age, sex, location, education, employment) and the participation of respondents in raising their grandchildren. The second stage includes the interview with each of them to obtain more details of their way of upbringing and educating children. In the research about 100 respondents from different parts of our country took part. That is why the interview with some of them is organized online via mobile phone and video call.

B. Participants

The randomly selected participants are both women – 90% and men – 10% where the youngest ones are 60 years old and the oldest are 95 years old. Most of them live in urban places (85%) and only 15% in rural places. They all are representatives of different nationalities, but certainly Kazakhs prevail in quantity (80%).

C. Data collection tools

The paper uses different sources of data. The primary goal of using information from the questionnaire and interviews is to capitalize on the complementary strength of each source to enhance the understanding of grandparents’ knowledge transfer. Information from the questionnaire and interviews was used in the study. Long interviews were conducted online with respondents to collect relevant data aimed at clarifying the main processes of knowledge and cultural transfer (which instruments, at which stage of family development, what significant factors affect this). These interviews gave the necessary information that could not have been gathered from a mere statistical analysis.

The questionnaire and interview were carried out in two languages (Kazakh and Russian) to cover a larger number of populations of different nationalities.

Many theories provide a better basis for data analysis and enhance understanding of behavior and business. To identify factors influencing the direct and indirect transfer of knowledge from grandparents to grandchildren, a variety of theories are used in the paper.

An online questionnaire consists of ten questions to make it easy for older people to complete. It was based on information from several articles on this topic over the past two years and an observation form was developed by researchers. The questionnaire involves collection of personal data such as names, sex, age, education, location (urban, rural), nationality. Other questions were to collect general images about relationships with their grandchildren.

The subject of this study is the impact that the third-aged people have on their grandchildren’s quality of life via raising them. The character of the study is exploratory because the participants were asked to share their caregiving experience of grandchildren through exchanging knowledge and life background with them as a kind of informal learning. So, a qualitative approach was required since it gave the participants the possibility openly to express their thoughts and feelings, dreams and aims the research authors better to comprehend the depth of their relationship and the mutual positive impact on each other. Berg and Howard [31], state the qualitative approach allows properly investigating definitions, meanings and nature of the phenomena. Therefore, in this study this approach was applied.

Interview was conducted online via phone video call, Skype or Zoom. It comprises more than 20 questions involving all spheres of daily routine with children: homework, responsibilities in family, entertainment, traditions, holidays, etc.

D. Data analysis

1) Quantitative data

In the beliefs of the Kazakhstani population, the ideal model of a person is described as those who have preserved the national atmosphere in themselves. Representatives of the older and middle generations consider such properties as prudence, hospitality, and care about the closest relatives, cult of ancestors, national thinking, respect for older people, and polite behavior. They explain these orientations to the representatives of the younger and preschool generations, encourage them to take over these orientations and preserve them in themselves. With preschool children, grandparents discuss ethical rules using moral narratives, making concrete cases with the characters’ actions, which lead to different consequences for these characters. In the narrative, they cannot only be associated with the children’s account, but these must be an indistinct understanding and comprehension of the narrative plot’s content as well.>/

The paper is about the continuity of knowledge from grandparents to grandchildren, which is characteristic of Kazakhstani families. The aspect of Kazakhstani society’s continuity is the grandparents’ mentoring their grandchildren. They do it indirectly through their behavior, comments, and advice. The mentoring respects the content of traditional wisdom, has not only a cognitive but also a moral character, and has an educational purpose. Each side, both the old-tomes and the younger family members, have their own specifics in this process. The grandparents teach moral and spiritual dogmas to their grandchildren through narrative explanations and in a concentrated way, as they do not talk about them frequently. They ask the youngest family members to remember them and to perceive them as mandatory.

2) Qualitative data

The first issue for discussion is the professional activities of the grandparents. This issue can cover jobs, offices, organizations, and enterprises concerning the individuals of the research. According to the research participants, their grandparents held the following positions at work, such as peasant, herder, driver, livestock specialist, coal miner, farmer, accountant, secretary, carpenter, engineer, teacher, historian, chef builder, policeman, and others. So, grandparents were engaged in vocational activities involving mental or physical work, in the fields of industry, education, science, domestic activities, state service, and private entrepreneurship. There is a significant difference between jobs related to specific periods and periods of economic development in our country, such as during the Soviet period and periods of Kazakhstan’s independence during the thirty years since it seceded from the USSR. Most of the research participants graduated from higher education institutions. These experiences are reflected in the life paths of the respondents, allowing the participants to adapt to constantly changing challenges and pass their knowledge on through interaction. The above date gives us a clear idea about the characteristics of the professional activities of these individuals at work.

4. Findings or Results

It is clear that the above-mentioned educational problems are due to a lack of understanding, estrangement, different lifestyles, and habits of the two generations. The differences are due to different worldviews. In homes where three and even four generations coexist, grandparents are the preserves of this important tradition in a rapidly changing society. The grandmother primarily transmits the positive traditional values to her grandchildren, and these are often separate these generations. The unfulfilled aim of aging people not only causes psychological discomfort but also results in a negative self-assessment. The elderly person feels like a burden to the lives of children, suffers, and attempts to be uncompensated, particularly for the better ensuring of the family’s economic well-being. As the family’s financial situation improved, new problems emerged on how to establish relationships with children. Conflicts often arose because the older generation was imposing unfounded requirements on children. The parents of the grandchildren stood out as defenders of the innocently prosecuted and decision to divorce, change jobs, residential relocation, and other decisions to be made about their child. The problem of communication between the older generation and younger generation often arises when the grandparents want to educate their grandchildren. The poor communication of young people with their children and grandchildren was also noticed by other researchers.

A. Findings based on quantitative data

As the first stage of the study the questionnaire was conducted among elderly people who live in urban (85%) and rural (15%) settlements. In it the women (76.9%) and the men (23.1%) were involved as respondents among whom 56% are unemployed and 44% (mostly women) continue to work. According to the questionnaire the respondents are aged of 64-82 years old where people of 60-64 are most in number. Below the Figure 1 with the respondents’ education level can be presented. As you can see the majority of respondents (99%) continued education after school and some of them (11%) even obtained several qualifications. It means they value education highly and promote this idea among the younger generation while 64% of the respondents live separately from their grandchildren and 36% live together. This 64% state that they have no conflicts with their grandchildren while 33% have seldom and only 2% – often. Their grandchildren respect and share their problems (60%) with parents, then (38%) with grandparents and siblings (2%). The grandparents or the third-aged people occupied the second place in the hearts of grandchildren because they are of different worldviews and possess a categorical attitude to young ones.

The questionnaire revealed the big desire of elderly people to devote themselves to family and raising grandchildren. 49% replied that caring for grandchildren and their upbringing is the most important thing for a pensioner, grandchildren are the whole meaning of life after retirement. With this statement another 48% agreed partly because they would like to fill their life else with the things they dreamt about (hobbies, traveling, self-perfection, etc.), and 1% of respondents completely disagreed.

There is an opinion that grandparents are less strict with their grandchildren, taking care of them and pampering them. 92% of respondents more or less supported this belief explaining they feel emotionally and spiritually enriched by being with their grandchildren. For this reason, they (64%) are ready to spend most of their day with grandchildren. When having time together they (90%) talk a lot. For example, they speak about family and national traditions, and history through telling fairy-tales, singing songs, celebrating holidays, and organizing numerous activities; they share experiences through discussing various difficult situations taken from their own life. Only 10% of respondents leave these functions to their parents and regret it.

B. Findings based on qualitative data

The interviews revealed a number of themes highlighting the variety of knowledge that is preserved via the grandparent and grandchild relationship: livelihood, which include knowledge about the work (professional activities) of one’s grandparents, primarily its conduct and specific features; household and its management; an invironment and its relations; everyday life and its specifics; the stages of marriage, family creation, family interaction through parenting, and family values; bringing up the health of the family members and their caring for it. These categories reveal the general themes contained in the categories the answers corresponded in context. Respondents’ answers are contained within these themes. It follows from this that the topics of conversations are often aimed at the social aspect.

As the questionnaire showed, most of elderly people pay much attention to the content of children’s upbringing. Our respondents said they speak about family and its worth in an individual’s life. They teach to respect parents and care they give. Below it is presented statements from individual respondents describing in more details their interaction with their grandchildren. The answers of other respondents generally agree. The respondent \#5 recalled us:

… there is one Kazakh proverb “Child upbringing starts from the cradle”. It means that raising of a child should start from the cradle. And it is right because we have another proverb proving it “A son grows up looking at his father, a daughter grows up looking at her mother” (the son takes an example from his father, the daughter – from her mother). If the relations between family members are warm and ties are strong they similar each other.”>]

Through this love they instill love for the motherland – the place they are born, their nationality, language, ethno-culture, and traditions. The respondent #35 describes:

We, having consulted with the whole family, decided that we need to raise a true Kazakh from our firstborn (first grandson). His parents are Russian-speaking, which means my grandson will also speak Russian. This way you can forget your language, your roots. So, an entire people could disappear. Therefore, we set a goal – to give our grandson a pure Kazakh upbringing. We all agreed to speak to him and in his presence only in the Kazakh language, to adhere to national traditions at home, to tell Kazakh fairy tales, to sing Kazakh songs, to explain Kazakh history.

When parents (and siblings) are out at work (school), grandchildren ask why they are left at home, why their parents (and siblings) are always busy somewhere, the respondent #11 told:

When I see the upset face of my grandson I explain the necessity of working. I describe his parents’ professions, their importance and benefit to society. And when my elder brother returns home from school we ask him to teach us what he learnt at school today and we try to apply this knowledge in practice.

Many families have professional dynasties, and the younger ones are encouraged to continue on this well-trodden path. Grandparents and parents put their best efforts into it – they take children to work to let them see how it all works, they provide definite literature to read and education to get; they can share the current issues at work while having dinner at home. The respondent \#24 told:

I tell my children all the time now that my grandson will be a philologist, just like us, because everyone in our family and relatives are linguists. We know all the strengths and weaknesses of this profession, we can help with admission and job placement. Then we can also help solve work issues. It is better to follow the path where knowledge has already been accumulated and develop it further.

Researchers have noticed that in families where grandparents have higher education, children and grandchildren actively attend various courses and tutoring, study excellently, take prizes at olympiads and conferences, and are sure to continue their education at a university, master’s degree (and doctoral studies). The respondent #24 told:

I myself am a candidate of sciences, because I am always demanding of myself and others – after all, quality should come first. I value quality. Everyone in my family: both my children and grandchildren studied and are studying excellently. My children, I can say with confidence, are professionals in their field. I now tell my grandchildren that everything must be done as it should be. Knowledge is always needed, it will help.

5. Discussion and Conclusion

The current format of relationship finds out that moralizing teaching of the elders in oral narratives involves interest and enchantment of shared communication. It is also an illustration of the importance of jointly solving problems emerging during the process of continuity of knowledge from grandparents to grandchildren into the network of mutually acceptable solutions. The people over 60 can share life wisdom, stories of loved ones, and offer reciprocal conversations in the spirit of mutual support. It is worth to note in a relaxed and trusting atmosphere, when the upbringing moment proceeds as a pleasant ceremony of a family dinner or spending time together without edification, instructions and recommendations. All together, they spend the evening chatting and drinking tea.

The discussions from a hermeneutic perspective so far have clearly shown that the continuity of knowledge from grandparents to grandchildren in Kazakhstani families is a social process. This process of transmission of practices, for many people, can look like an activity.

In the course of study, we determined the influence of the continuity of knowledge from grandparents to grandchildren on the formation and development of future human resources, whose distinctive characteristics were elucidated in Kazakhstani strategic documents. The motivation for this study was the preservation and transfer of valuable life experiences of elderly people who provide the continuity of knowledge. We believe that we are contributing to the promotion of school children’s intergenerational relations and the development of the older generation.

The study highlighted the problem of accumulation, transfer, and use of knowledge gained by grandparents in the process of their personal development, labor, and professional activities. It revealed the influence of continuity of knowledge from grandparents to grandchildren on the formation and development of future human resource. The results showed that through conversations with grandparents and thereby lay the foundation for a future profession. The authors of this research conclude that the extent to which knowledge is classified as valuable and important must be established not according to the tradition itself, but according to the learners.

In Kazakhstani families, the created knowledge is great in its variety. The main types of transmitted knowledge are the transmission of the traditions of celebration, of Kazakh food, of language and the Kazakh alphabet, and of the teaching of the profession. To some extent, the continuity of knowledge transmission is supported by education and willpower. The main difficulties pertain to the desire to motivate the children to be interested and to balance limited time. Young people see their grandparents and their knowledge as old-fashioned and do not perceive useful and relevant traditional knowledge due to the high ambitions, globalization, and rapid technical modernization of life.

Let us sum up. First, what kind of knowledge is transferred? We inquired about the content, the cultural and professional aspects of the transmitted knowledge. Second, in what manner is the knowledge passed from one generation to another generation, and what are the main difficulties? The dialogical method helped us to feel the atmosphere frame of intergenerational relations.

This study focused on upbringing for grandchildren in the context of the importance of elders in Kazakh society. This study identified means of preserving the traditional role of grandparents as the first educators of grandchildren. As a result of grandparents’ desire to educate their grandchildren on national traditions and culture, and the specific support and encouragement they provide during breaks, national values – such as hospitality, respect for elders, and willingness to help – are transferred from one generation to the next. The findings of the study showed agreement with the identified values.