Walk into a school, airport, shopping mall, or even a church and the
image is always the same, teens and tweens have their heads down, ear
buds on, and a mobile device in their hand. This generation is commonly
referred to as Generation Z and
they are coming of age with a new set of rules, expectations, and
mannerisms. Born between 1995 and 2009, the oldest of this generation is
coming of age this year and headed off towards adulthood. What can they
expect of their future work experiences? What will employers expect of
them? What can educators continue to do? What can teachers do to better prepare them?
Does Gen Z Learn Differently?
There is plenty of research and articles circulating around out there
about how this generation learns and what the future workforce will
hold for them. In an online article entitled “Workforce Preview: What to Expect From Gen Z” by Dennis McCafferty in April 2013 he shared the following statistics:
• 60% of this generation like to share knowledge online, a sign of collaborative skills
• 64% contribute to websites because they like learning about new things
• 76% feel that online experiences help them reach goals
• 66% say that technology makes them feel like anything is possible
The Pluses Come With Minuses, Too.
But just as technology has provided this generation with many strong
technical attributes it has also produced its share of negative traits.
Generation Z lacks the ability to effectively communicate ideas, share
an opinion, or debate an issue. After spending the majority of their
formative years in front of a computer this generation of employees are
unfamiliar with collaborative teams, face-to-face discussions, and
public speaking. Instant feedback and immediate response to inquiries
also limits the coping skills of this generation to problem solve.
The skill to explore multiple solutions for a problem is not as
mature in this generation as in previous generations. “Yvonne Sell, Hay
Group’s director of leadership and talent in the UK, believes that
Generation Z will have a desire for change, stimulation, learning and
promotion that will conflict with traditional organizational
hierarchies.
'Generation Z will want to be heard no matter how junior they are, and
perhaps may have little tolerance for working with those who don’t
share their views.’ Sell warns that organizations need to be aware that
Generation Z may have less concern for responsibility, accountability
and understanding of consequence.”
In just a few years there will be five generations in the workforce.
That diversity alone in how employees view their job stability,
relationships within the workplace, and the education needed to get the
job has started to change the way businesses advertise for new hires and
the environment in which they will potentially work. Yet the skills
needed to succeed in the transformative knowledge era are still lacking
in many of the students known as Generation Z.
Bubble sheets and multiple choice exams have robbed our students of
the ability to explain, defend, and elaborate on their understanding of a
topic. In addition a highly compact curriculum with little time to
“brew” over the material also imparts little of the self-directed and
intellectual curiosity skills that will be demanded of our students.
Unfortunately, these are the very same soft skills that employers are looking for in their future employees.
Seven Survival Skills (For the 21st Century)
Tony Wagner’s Seven Survival Skills as defined by business leaders in
their own words should be the focus on how educators should be
teaching. These include:
- Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
- Collaboration Across Networks and Leading by Influence
- Agility and Adaptability
- Initiative and Entrepreneurship
- Effective Oral and Written Communication
- Accessing and Analyzing Information
- Curiosity and Imagination.
- Educators should model and hold as a standard these survival skills.
There is a lot of information to be gleaned from the Internet and a
lot of tools to help educators in communicating and putting into
practice these skills. A good place to start is with a familiar tool
like the KWL chart and start having students produce answers using the
upgraded KWHLAQ chart.
Just starting with “H” can lead to more depth of a subject and not
just a superficial glance of a web page. How do I find out? How will I
know when I have found the right answer? How does this apply to the real
world? How will this change the way I look at or feel about something?
Followed by the “A” – What action will I take? Will this action change
my opinion? Will this action change my answer/understanding? What is the
consequence of this action? And all of this should end with the “Q” –
What new questions do I have?
Technology and information will continue to grow and evolve. Mobile
devices and that sense of connectedness are here to stay. So while
educators can’t change the hardware that their students use they can
influence and model the behavior, expectations, and soft skills that
employers expect of their employees within the workforce.
Author: By Karen Van Vliet on April 24, 2014
Source: Edudemic.com via Feedspot
http://www.feedspot.com/?dadi=1#feed/f_35027/article/1016526055?dd=19957787
NOTE: Whether these are first or second language learners, the message applies equally well.
A reader asks if there is a distinction to be made between the words particular and specific.
In some contexts, the words are close synonyms, but not in all.
Both particular and specific mean “distinguished in
some way among others of the same kind,” so the following sets of
statements would have the same meaning:
Do you have a particular company in mind?
Do you have a specific company in mind?
Do you have a particular movie you want to see?
Do you have a specific movie you want to see?
To me specific has a more formal connotation than particular. Although the meanings are identical in these examples, I’d probably choose specific in the business context and particular in the leisure context.
Specific has several technical uses. It can mean “pertaining
to a distinct species of animals or plants. For example, “Gaspard
Bauhin, a Swiss botanist of the late 16th and early 17th centuries,
designated plants by a generic and a specific name.” In medicine, a
“specific remedy” is a remedy supposed to act on a particular ailment or
part of the body.
In the study of logic, a statement that is true of all of a group is a universal statement, while a statement that is true of a certain kind of thing is a particular
statement.
For example, “All fish live in water” is a universal
statement; “Goldfish are often kept as pets” is a particular statement.
In general usage, the two words are used interchangeably when referring to plans:
Did you ever have any particular plans at the beginning
of your career, any particular vision of where performing would take
you?
The Barons did the show and, as an amateur group without particular plans,
Asked about the future, Paul Simon says he has no particular plans.
Source: Daily Writing Tips
Insight into a set of words you may hear occasionally.
A reader has asked for a discussion of the word bespoke:
I keep reading it in articles, and at least half the time
I see it I end up looking it up because it just doesn’t seem correct to
me.
Bespoke is an adjective that comes from the archaic English verb bespeak. One of the meanings of the prefix be-
is “about.” When miserly Samuel Pepys dreads that a man wants him to be
his son’s godfather–an honor that would require some outlay of cash–he
says,
[The man] who I feared did come to bespeak me to be godfather to his son.
That is, “who he feared had come to speak to him about the prospect of his standing godfather.”
In early usage bespeak could also mean “to speak out,” “to
ask for,” “to tell about,” and “to predict,” as well as the meaning that
has survived in the bespoke of the reader’s question: “to engage beforehand; to order goods.”
Bespoke and bespoken are past forms of bespeak. For example,
A new set of chains was bespoke. (A new set of chains was ordered.)
She had arranged or bespoken to have him killed. (She had talked about a hit.)
In its current use as an adjective, bespoke refers to
custom-made goods in contrast to goods that are ready-made. The
adjective can also refer to a person who provides such goods, (e.g., “a
bespoke tailor”).
In England the expression “bespoke suit” is a common way of referring
to a tailor-made suit. In the context of conspicuous consumption, bespoke seems to have something to do with the desires of hedonists who don’t know what to do with their money.
Watchmakers look to bespoke design to court the
super-rich:” We will offer a bespoke service where the customer has a
say on everything: the material, the case, the dial, the hands,” said
Thierry Andretta, president of the firm where prices for custom-made
watches start at 100,000 Swiss francs ($113,000).
Gourmet dining, private flights, bespoke safaris, slimming clinics and art auctions emerging as top status symbols
The Privileged World City: Private Banking, Wealth Management and the Bespoke Servicing of the Global Super-Rich
American speakers of less extravagant means and tastes are more
likely to refer to the things they special-order as “custom-made.”
Source: Daily Writing Tips
