Thoughts on Generations

Abstracts:

"Talking About Their Generations"
This article defines the major generations of the education system, focusing on four generations in particular. Those four are as follows:
Silent Generation: Born 1925 - 1942, currently ages 62 - 80
Boom Generation: Born 1943 - 1960, currently ages 44 - 62
Generation X: Born 1961 - 1981, currently ages 23 - 44
Millennial Generation: Born 1982 +, currently ages 23 and younger
Strauss explores the generations and their relations to the history of the education system. The article focuses more on defining the X and Millennial generations so that they can be better understood.

"Harnessing the Power of Millennials"
This article further explores the Millennial Generation mentioned in the first article. Howe brings up America's general low expectations of the current youth and confronts some of the misconceptions. He then talks about the traits of the Millennial Generation, from their beginnings as "trophy kids" to their role as a sort of "public property". The article serves as a sort of "overview" of the current generation for teachers and encourages them to look beyond the stereotypes.

Reflections:
I thought that each article was useful in it's own way. I really liked the first article more so then the second. The first felt like it was a sort of history lesson on education and that felt helpful in understanding my chosen profession. I could see the traits of people I know and educators I have been taught by. What struck me the most about this article was the way that major movements and events in education, from the uprising of social moments in the 1960's, to the Columbine tragedy, to the supporters of No Child Left Behind -- all of it can be filled into it's respective generation and explained via that generations traits. That sort of organization is interesting and I was surprised at how much it all made sense, based on the generation definitions provided in the text.

The second article was interesting and informative, but it was also sort of over the top. The title itself was dramatic: "Harnessing the Power of Millennials". Like that generation is a sort of extra magic group or something. In a way, this is explained in the article, because Howe writes about how the Millennial Generation has been regarded as extra special throughout time, but it is also ironic because America has notoriously low expectations of today's youth. I thought the suggestions offered were good, but I think we need to be careful at how much we define learning by the given traits of a generation. As long as we make sure we're teaching to the student and not just a general group, the practices mentioned will automatically find their place in the classroom and we will succeed as educators.