Session 12 – Michael McQueen, NextGen Impact

• Will help you get inside the heads of Gen Y.
• Often hear they are disrespectful, disloyal, … want to separate the fact from the fiction.
• How do you engage them as educators? You are also engaging them as managers of them.
• 2004 – year when Gen Y entered TAFE / Uni / work. Brought different expectations – pay, promotion, start in middle management. Employers asked who they were, where they came from, why a sense of entitlement, what do we do with them?
• Works with them to train them for school-to-work.
• Very consistent generation – all schools, places, and countries. They are the first ones tapping into a popular culture from everywhere. High level of frustration among teachers and employers and parents.

• “Print on Demand” 2007 book.
• Slide 3 - "I assume that this is not brand new stuff. Baby Boomers then Gen X then Gen Y then Gen Z."
  • Builders – early 1900s to mid 1940s.
  • Baby Boomers – mid-1940s and mid 60s.
  • Gen X – mid 60s to early 80s.
  • Gen Y – early 80s to late 90s.
  • Gen Z – late 90s to 2013 – addicted to technology; want instant results (never used a film camera); highly risk-averse (protected); lack adventure and innovation.
• Common reactions: Heard this before. Isn’t that just boxing people?  Etc.

• But this area of sociology is more than boxing people.
• Generational theory = each cohort has identifiable patterns of behaviour that can be characterised. Those characteristics can be traced back to formative influences that shaped them.
• 80-90% of the charter and world view and personality are set in the first 10 years of our life.
• Look at how the different generations handle an empty Vegemite jar. Builders = waste not, want not. Gen Y = throw away age.

• Paradigms are different. Break down to simple terms = perception with a judgement attached. Shaped by a range of factors, but the generation that we are part of is one of the biggest.
• E = An established generation – builders + boomers + start of Gen X:
• Y = Gen Y:
• Neither paradigm is right or wrong.
• Paradigm rift = areas where the differences are greatest. Cause most friction and tension.

• Concept of truth: right and wrong for E – show me the facts. External symbols are important – your title, where your office is in the building, letters after your name. modernist mindset. Use the word ‘should’ – takes a neutral idea and adds a judgement. That word bounces off Gen Y – they get ‘shoulded” every day – they ask why should I? that question is not always a confrontational question. Gen Y will not worry about different ideas. Post-modern lens says that ‘should’ is wrong – don’t use it.

• Assumptions of respect: respect elders or institution e.g. police. Respect is conferred. Gen Y don’t follow that idea of respect, but it is a core value for them. “Don’t diss me” = currency of relationships. Will show respect if it is reciprocal or if it is based on relationship.

• Communication: can tell which generation by the way they use their mobile phone. Older Gen got one for security – e.g. breakdowns.  They leave it off – no waste of battery; don’t want to be contactable. Nightmare for Gen Y – what if someone has broken up and I don’t know. Gen X = convenient tool. Gen Y = extension of their identity (how much bling has your phone got?) – have own phone/sms language. E.g. attitude to textspeak. Communicate correctly = Gen X. Gen Y – more about function than form. Texting rather than phoning is just the way that they do it – not meant to cause offence. Every generation defends the language of their parents from their children.

• Patience: patience is a virtue = Baby Boomers. Necessary part of every endeavour. Delayed gratification – start at the bottom and working their way up. Gen Y = patience is pointless; frustrating; unacceptable. “If I am not getting what I want, I swap paths.” Conditioning – “next meal free if you have to wait for 5 minutes at McDonalds.” Always had the internet / microwaves / just do it / good things come to those who make it happen. Not stick at things – apprenticeships – make them self-paced, not time-based. The piece of paper is not the attraction for them. This economy allows them to make big money with no qualifications.

• The Future: Baby Boomers = life long career; gold watch at the end, unless you are a teacher. No lifelong careers now. Gen Y will come and go – need to lower the barriers to coming back. Gen Y – average length of tenure – 17 months. Gen X – 4.2 years. Builders = 10 years. Gen Y grown up in an era of low unemployment. Will be able to switch jobs – sectors. Gen X = security minded.

• Gen Y saw the parents get shafted in the last economic crash – so did not see loyalty given to them.
• Gen Y are being told that loyalty and longevity are unhelpful. The "Curse of Experience" = if have more than 4 years in the one job, want to know if they lack drive, lack creativity.

• Learning: Gen X = in schools with boards that were black. Work at school and home silently for regurgitation in class. Focus on memory. Shift to: what did you learn last week? Look at where they study – multi-tasking and multiple conversations. And they can and do learn with noise – technotasking. Change images every 7 seconds or boredom. 2 exceptions – some auditory learners are distracted by noise so don’t play music in class; have to model exam conditions at times – to help them learn to cope with exam silence.

• How to engage Gen Y: technology is a tool, not the strategy. They will engage most in high touch, supported by high tech. What you do as a person.

• 1. Put relationship before role. Treat them as people, not just students. Do not use the power-and-control method. I don’t care how much you know until I know how much you care. Be authentic. (Gen Y has a great BS meter.). You must walk the talk. Admit error. Be interested in them as people.

• 2. Use stories to make your point. Narrative is powerful with them. Do not tell me, show me it works. They learn best through stories. Narrative takes a principle and puts it in the context of human experience. Don’t just tell your good stories; tell them when you stuffed it up. Not a confessional box; need boundaries.
• Today’s students learn teachers, not subjects.

• 3. Adopt a facilitator role. Historical role is the fountain of knowledge approach – started with the church schools of the Middle Ages. Gen Y has more information at their finger tips than past nations. You can’t beat Google with your knowledge. Focus on asking the right questions, not giving the right answers. How you ask the questions is critical. Never start a question with ‘why’. You will get the answer that they think you want. Use ‘what’. Change your expectations about what is a valid response. Lazy learners – knowledge is a click away. Make them think, reason, think critically.

• 4. Use recognition and positive affirmation. They will work for recognition. They will not take anything but positive feedback. “Whale Done!” – Blanchard. How they train whales to jump out of the water by raising a bar from other the water to above it. Catch them doing the right thing and reward it, rather than catch them doing something wrong and punish them. Positive affirmation is sustaining; negative reinforcement stifles progress.

• Gen Y – reputation is a tough exterior, brashness; hides insecurity. Desperate for leadership, boundaries, mentoring, connection with adults. The fatherless generation; lack role models. If they do not find these things in school and families, they get them from advertisers – merchants of cool – very effective but defective.