Generation X as teacher
I am from Generation X and am now a teacher. Growing up I was the 'latch-key' kid, schooled in an 'open classroom' and many of the other educational styles of the 1970s.
I have taught for the past 20 years and seen several generatons since me.
It is interesting that the 'millennial' generation really does seem to be different in many ways. Here, I'll focus on expectations. The idea that everyone wins, everyone gets a trophy, everyone is 'great' and can do anything has really become part of their mind set. I don't know how many times in recent years I have heard that "I should get an A, I worked really hard on that assignment" and there seems to be no awareness that sometimes just working hard doesn't produce quality, etc. This is just one of many issues that has surfaced that frankly I find difficult to address. I've often not addressed it. I give the grade that the student earned and hope that the student learns and grows. Just one of many interesting generational issues.
DeShaun,
this is definitely an area where we need to help them improve & to really push their skills as they are lacking in this area.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
My observation of GenY students is they want to be taught to pass a test. They want the chapter test immediately following a lecture. Deductive reasoning and critical thinking are skills they were not taught in public school.
I am a Gen X clinical instructor. I work with both Gen Y and Gen X students. I was a partial latch-key kid but definitely grew up with more self-reliance. I do get frustrated with the attitude of the Gen Y students. I refer to it as the "entitled" generations. Working with these students while they work on patients is interesting. The Gen Y seem to be more focused on getting the "testing" completed during clinic as opposed to the Gen X more focused on patient care. I've had students not complete certain aspects of patient care only because they weren't being tested on it. I think if I can understand the Gen Y characteristics more, I will be able to guide them better in the clinical setting.
I agree! Many in that generation are not being told they did not make "the team" or the "cheerleading squad" and that is not preparing them for life. In the workplace not everyone will get the promotion or pay increase just because they work there. Many of them will quit a job because they cannot handle the rejection.
Amy,
yes, excellent point! And when we have effective communication, we can help them separate the critique of product from critique of self.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
I second this excellent point. By depriving students of walking through their failures, we deprive them of significant learning opportunities. Constructive criticism can also be a good tool, yet recent generations seem to struggle with equating "your work could be improved" with their self-worth and hear "you as a person could improve". Understanding this helps the learning tool of constructive criticism to be delivered with appropriate sensitivity to this tendency of misinterpretation.
Having students from 18-65, I run across them all.Learning to teach to the many different styles can be a challenge at times. I tend to rely on body language in order to alter as we go and get input from my fellow instructors as well as students for that.
Jeaneen,
I agree that this can be very frustrating. And while this generation has more of a "social conscience" there still seems to be a lot of "what's in it for me?" mentality.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
As a gerneration X'er and teacher, I find it very frustrating to deal with the high level of entitlement the generation Y's have. As you stated, because they were all given awards for everything big, small, and insignificant, they have no work ethic or sense of accomplishment. So the day to day challenge is to keep them focused and hold them accountable.
Nick - I love that response. I teach pastry, so that would be a good retort to the entitlement mind set so many of my Gen Y students have. Another observation -- they expect perfection (or perfect functionality) of everything. When I have to instruct people to make a chocolate sculpture, they are often soooo disappointed with their first efforts that did not turn out perfect that many give up and it takes a lot of coaxing to get them to complete the project.
Kenny,
this is a good point. I believe that some of our best lessons & future successes can be learned from our failures. If we protect kids from this, they may not be learning what they need to.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
I really thing that we as a society are doing great harm with this whole attitude of everyone wins and there are no losers. Not winning (on in this case, not getting an A) is a life lesson that everyone needs to learn. That is how you grow as an individual, by learning from your failures. What incentive is there to excel when at the end of the day you know everyone will get a trophy, or an A just for making an effort. I coach youth baseball and find it crazy how the rules have changed from when I played, simply because we do not want to upset the kids. Failing is part of life, and by sugar coating failures, we are doing a great disservice.
Ruth,
you are in a great position to really understand a variety of the generations.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
Great ideas, I am between a baby boomer and Gen X, my son is a Gen Y, so I understand their method.
Mary,
this is definitely a challenge with this younger generation. I believe that too often everyone has been a "winner" & so there is an expectation that all will get an "A."
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
Hi Karen:
I too am a Generation X and a teacher. While I do think I use a variety of teaching methods, often I have found students in Generation Y they expect that if they show up to class that they will get an A. Have you come across this? I too have also had students say, "You took away my A" or "You ruined my GPA." There seems to be a lack of ownership with some of these students in this generation.
I am also a Gen-X instructor, teaching at a school where we have students from all generations. I agree that most Gen-Ys feel that they deserve the grade for just completing the work, (they ask for points on every practice sheet, exercise, etc.) They tend to focus on immediate results, and do not realize that with every practice worksheet, they are mastering the material to achieve an "A" on the exam. Also, in order for them to see that quality does count, I tend to grade projects with rubrics, that way they can see what is necessary to complete/include in order to achieve the 80%, 90%, etc. Using rubrics, the students then realize specifically what they need to accomplish.
Lacey,
I think it does become very important to give those very clear expectations & guidelines for what constitutes an A, B, etc.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
I completely agree! I find myself, even as a generation Y-er, having a hard time getting through to my students, "Yes, you did the work. But no, I'm not giving you an A because...". I always have to justify the grade I'm giving them just because they feel they are "entitled" to an A, they don't like to accept anything less. Which is why, every time I have a test where they have to show their skills, I give them the rubric before hand. One, so they can practice, and two, when they get their grade at the end of the test they know what they need to work on, and No, an A would not have been a fair grade for their performance.
