Generation Z could be the key to driving change in an outdated educational system by Lisa Nielsen
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May 25, 2011 By: Guest Blogger
May
24
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5/24/2011 11:24 PM
Career advice guru Penelope Trunk explains that baby boomers changed politics, Gen X changed family, Gen Y changed work, and she predicts that Generation Z, born between 1995 and 2010 will change education. Below are some of the trends Trunk predicts for this generation of students.
Home Education will go mainstream creating a more self-directed workforce.
Trunk
says what many parents, educators, and students already know but often
don’t say out loud. The public education in the United States is
largely terrible. While there are pockets that are exceptional, because
of our new
data (not passion) driven culture
in education, they are rarely public. She explains that we have an
education crisis on our hands but Baby Boomers were too scared to solve
the crisis with home educating noting that doing so takes hem out of
the typical ways to measure how well kids are doing in the competition.
She explains because they wanted to work full-time and because they
couldn’t handle removing their kids from the competition instead they
got kids tons of tutoring and extra help after school.
Trunk explains that because
Gen X is more comfortable working outside the system
than Baby Boomers the Gen X women are fine quitting their jobs to take
care of their kids. She says that home education among Gen X parents
is becoming more mainstream for parents who know public schools are
broken and don’t have $20,000 a year for private school.
- Implication:
Gen Zers will be able to figure out what they want to do with their life
The growing number of home educated kids who grew up with a largely
self-learning, self-directed model will be more accustomed to figuring
out what they like to do, and doing it on their own. Unlike previous
generations, the crisis to figure out what to do with one’s life will not last so long because they know how to learn on their own.
Alternative education children will be better prepared in life than traditionally schooled
Gen Y has been vocal about being mad as hell that they were duped into believing
school then college would prepare them for work. They did everything they were told and it didn’t help them get a job and we now have a national crisis
because Gen Y is now also known as “Generation Debt” as a result of
the huge debt from college and little ability to pay it back.
Trunk
explains that children whose parents have provided alternative
schooling option will be better prepared for careers. She explains
that because of the emphasis on independent investigation, Generation Z
will be the first group of knowledge workers who were trained to do
their job before they started working. For example, Generation Z will
be great at synthesizing information because they will have been doing
that—
rather than memorizing—the whole time they were in school.
- Implication:
Gen Z will have no problem directing their careers and keeping up with change
Those
who have not been traditionally schooled (where they are dependent on
adults to know what to do now and what to do next), will know how to
figure out what skill to learn next, and they will have more
self-discipline to do it on their own.
Trunk
explains that when Gen Z enters the workforce, the older people, Gen X
and Gen Y, will work to live, not live to work. This will be something
Gen X and Gen Y fought hard for. To Gen Z it will be easy to do and
self-learning will take center stage in their work day. So, as
qualifications for the workplace will rapidly change and older people
who don't keep up will be outdated, it will be Generation Z that is best
at keeping up. Not because they are young, but because they understand
that unschooling is not a movement for kids, but a way to live a life, and it doesn’t stop when you start getting a paycheck.
College degrees will become less popular. Entrepreneurship will rule.
Trunk
believes the The home education movement will prepare Generation Y to
skip college, and like Will Richardson who writes eloquently on
why his kids don’t have to go to college, Gen X is out-of-the-box enough in their parenting to support that.
I’ve
shared my frustration both here on The Innovative Educator blog and in
The Huffington Post around a goal of education being “College AND
Career” readiness.
College is just not worth the cost and is unnecessary for many careers today. Trunk sites Zac Bissonnette's book Debt-Free U
where he explains why no one should go into debt for college. It’s
just not worth it. He says, even if your parents have the money to pay
for college, use it for something better—like buying yourself a
franchise and learning something that’ll really help you establish
yourself in the adult world.
She explains that Baby Boomers are too competitive to risk pulling the college rug out from under their kids. And
Gen Y are rule followers—if adults tell them to go to college, they will go. Gen X is very practical and is also the first generation in American history
to have less money than their parents. So it makes sense that Gen X
would be the generation to tell their kids to forget about college.
Predictions for Generation Z in the workforce
When they reach the workforce, for those Gen Zers who’ve escaped traditional public schooling, Trunk predicts they will:
- Not be team players.
- They will actually be able to get things accomplished at work without needing a team meeting about it!
- Be more self-directed.
- Unlike the good-student rule-followers of the Gen Yers, they will be able to figure stuff out for themselves.
- Process information at lightning speed.
- Their brains will be wired to deal more efficiently with more information.
- Be smarter.
For the full articles visit Generation Z will revolutionize education and What Generation Z will be like at work. Lisa Nielsen is best known as creator of The Innovative Educator blog http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com and Transforming Education for the 21st Century http://ted21c.ning.com
learning network. Lisa is an outspoken and passionate advocate of
innovative education. She is frequently covered by local and national
media for her views on "Thinking Outside the Ban" and determining ways
to harness the power of technology for instruction and providing a voice
to educators and students. Based in New York City, Ms. Nielsen has
worked for more than a decade in various capacities helping schools and
districts to educate in innovative ways that will prepare students for
21st century success. Her first book “Teaching Generation Text” is set
for a fall 2011 release. You can follow her on Twitter @InnovativeEdu.
Disclaimer:
The information shared here is strictly that of the author and does not
reflect the opinions or endorsement of her employer.