Talking About Their Generations and Harnessing the Power of Millennials

Abstract:

The article Talking About Their Generations discusses the era's in which different generations were brought up in and how it affected their morals and life styles, especially those who became future teachers. Strauss, the author, generally talked about the recent for generations, Silent, Boom, Generation X and Millennial generations. The Silent and Boom generations grew up during the Depression and WWII, attending school during a time of strong community and civic confidence. Boomer's parents saw public school as institutions of purpose and meaning. The Gen-X children were raised in a time where the needs of children were put last, and therefore, parents were not very protective of their children. They were expected to learn alone under weak standards. Because of their upbringing, Gen-X parents are more protective of their children and family and are more likely to question the public school system. The Millennial generation were parented by either Boomer's, who trust the educational system, or Gen-Xer's, who expect direct access to the system to provide the best education possible for their children, leading Millennials to be the center of attention.
After describing attribute of each generation the article went on to describe what each of these generations contribute to the teaching profession. Boomer's make up the older teacher corps, reflecting strong commitment to education and their personal values. Gen-Xer's are dedicated to lifelong learning and adaptability. With Millennials entering the teaching profession, it is important that administrators encourage respect for each others generations.
The second article, Harnessing the Power of Millennials, discusses the misconceptions of the Millennial generations, showing that they are more confident and successful then they are given credit for.


Reflection:
Talking About Their Generations helped me learn a lot about my own generation and others; things I'd never known or thought of before. As aspiring teachers, soon to be entering school systems with current teachers from all different generations, we need to be fully aware of the values and morals of teachers and parents may hold. The article really stressed the idea that specific generations were brought up under certain circumstances that molded who they are and their beliefs. We all are the way we are because of our generation and our parents generation molded together. We must be aware of our fellow teachers principles. We must also understand the generation of the students we teach, in order to fully teach to their needs.
The Harnessing the Power of Millennials was beneficial in some ways, but also bugged me in a few ways. Being in the Millennials generation, I was kind of irritated at how many generalizations were made about our generations (and other generations in the previous article for that matter). Not every one from a certain generation is brought up exactly to same or holds the same values. Therefore, as teachers, we must acknowledge generational similarities but not teach to them and only them.