Across The Generations

Presented by Ella Gaffel, Tania Gudenswager, Susan Hayes,

Darren Hooklyn and Nicole Jackson

Are Baby Boomers and Generation X having to unlearn the traditional teacher focused educational theories to fit into the knowledge based economy that Generation Y and Z are creating?

Knowledge based economy “is an expression coined to describe trends in advanced economies towards greater dependence on knowledge, information and high skill levels, and the increasing need for ready access to all of these by the business and public sectors”. http://stats.oecd.org/glossary/detail.asp?ID=6864

Education is the transmission of values and accumulated knowledge of a society. This covers three different intensities:

Formal

Informal

Accidental/Incidental

Born 1946 – 1964 Population spike after the end of WW2 John Fitzgerald Kennedy Martin Luther King Jnr Vietnam War Civil Rights Movement

Characteristics:Fought for equality, both sexual and civilFreedom of choice relating to body and

mindBeginning of the political, social, sexual and

civil revolutionNuclear families (father, mother, two

children and the white picket fence)Higher Education enrolment increased

dramatically between 1965 and 1980.

Learning to teach as a baby boomerTeachers College consisted of a 2 year

degree with limited hands on classroom experience

Teachers College similar in format as High School

In the classroom corporal punishment used as behaviour management

More work done from blackboard to paper (chalk and talk)

Limited resourcesStudent sat “Scholarship” exam to progress

into senior education

A large majority of male students left and sought a trade

The Principal set examsPrincipals had a greater involvement in the

classroomsSchool Inspectors insured curriculum and

syllabus standards were being metNo allowance for relief teachersNo Teacher performance ratings although

teachers were expected to be neat and tidyMost students were able to pass their

exams.

More accountability Increase in Technology Greater focus on professional standards

http://stats.oecd.org/glossary/detail.asp?ID=6864 accessed 20/5/2008

Wikipedia accessed 22-05-08 The Baby Boomers Grow Up:

Contemporary Perspectives on Mid-life by Krauss (2000 p13) publisher Routledge London UK