Robertson + D’Orsie: Generation Z needs school choice

Lead Beyond via Flickr Lead Beyond via Flickr

Opinions and ideas swirl around the school choice debate. We’re debating money, outcomes, and — occasionally — the kids our arguments affect. But an often neglected angle on the school choice discussion is Generation Z — how they’re wired, what they’re like, and, most importantly, how they learn. 

What if the best thing for the first generation that grew up with smartphones is options? What if traditional public schools only work for a fraction of Gen Z students? What if resisting change to K–12 education costs us the best this generation has to offer? These are important questions that few are asking and even fewer are answering. The crucial first step is to understand them.

Gen Z in a Nutshell

Gen Z and their younger counterparts, the Alpha Generation, are the first generations to be fundamentally wired differently. This generation cohort (people aged roughly 30 and under) accounts for 52 percent of the world’s population, and a major chunk of that number are school-age kids. 

What’s distinct about Gen Z and Alpha is they’ve grown up in a postmodern “perfect storm” of rapidly changing cultural dynamics. This dramatic, seismic shift — one that no prior generation experienced — has marked their formative years. This group has witnessed a remarkable, sudden transformation in technology, news, social media, parenting, and leadership. Their values, communication style, manner of engagement, and means of making connections are foreign to older generations — hence, how this younger cohort earned the endearing moniker of the “alien” generation.

A Green World

This “perfect storm” is a cultural phenomenon that every generation has to navigate. If we assign this perfect storm the color yellow and the older generations (Millennials and Boomers) the color blue, blue thinking must adapt to an influx of yellow cultural facts and characteristics. We are forced to become green in how we associate, engage, and connect with the world. If we don’t, we become irrelevant and obsolete. 

Gen Z and Alpha, on the other hand, are inherently green. That means half of the world — those under 30 — are adapting to the conditions the perfect storm has wrought, becoming more like this “alien” generation.

Understanding How Gen Z Learns

In this green new world, access has replaced ownership. Decades ago, owning a cassette tape or encyclopedia was the only way to listen to music or look up a fact; now, that same effort manifests through a smartphone and a host of online streaming options. 

Simply put, the landscape has changed. We are now operating in a subscription-based economy. Consumers can turn their preferences on or off with the click of a button. This option-rich environment isn’t Gen Z’s cultural learning curve; it’s their home base. The window for Gen Z’s attention is an ever-shrinking time frame that can only be captured with meaningful, engaging, bite-sized pieces of information.

In the classroom, this phenomenon translates into a need for options. It means choosing your school in the same way you choose a restaurant or streaming service. 

Unfortunately, traditional public education models have not and will not thrive in such a world. The only way to get Gen Z interested, engaged, and committed is through a bounty of choices that allow them to discover, explore, and work on projects. 

Public school is a choice, but it cannot be the only choice. The à la carte generation needs an education apparatus that provides options instead of mandates.

For Teachers

It’s important to remember that our current public education system started during the Second Industrial Revolution—a time that scarcely resembles the atmosphere our children live in today. 

To prepare them for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, where information is ubiquitous and immediately available, today’s teachers must transition from instructors and lecturers to mentors and guides—out with the “sage on the stage” and in with the adviser who can show the most self-taught, self-led generation in history a path forward. They should focus on strengthening Gen Z’s weakest four muscles: problem-solving, communication, gratitude, and perseverance. 

As teachers, parents, guides, and mentors, we must build these four muscles for our “alien” generation. We owe them an opportunity to excel. 

Education will always provide that opportunity, but it will be a different path than the one we followed. To adapt and prepare Gen Z for tomorrow’s workforce, educational options are the only choice. If we resist this change and stick to the old ways, we not only risk leaving this generation behind but also impede their ability to carry us forward.

Older generations often criticize younger generations, and there are legitimate shortfalls Gen Z should develop and address. But if we, the older and supposedly wiser generations, dismiss their values and skills and constrain them into a single mode of education, we will have failed to adequately prepare them for an economy that desperately needs them to flourish in every conceivable category. 

Steven Robertson is a speaker, trainer, business consultant, and author of “Aliens Among Us: 10 Surprising Truths About Gen Z.”

State Rep. Joe D’Orsie represents Pennsylvania’s 47th House District.

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