Writing Quote I Agree with

"The first thing I want to say to you, who are students, is that you cannot afford to think of being here to receive an education: you will do much better to think of being here to claim one. One of the dictionary definitions of the verb "to claim" is: to take as the rightful owner; to assert in the face of possible contradiction. "To receive" is to come into possession of: to act as receptacle or container for; to accept as authoritative or true. The difference is that between acting and being acted-upon…" –Adrienne Rich

I have to concur with Rich on this quote.  Regrettably, our public education system has created a sense of “being acted upon.”  If there is a doubt, simply ask the students who are "products" of public education: they complain of the reading they HAVE to do; they complain of the writing they HAVE to do; they complain of HAVING to be in school and “march to the beat of ‘someone else’s” drum instead of their own.   

Partly, I believe this is true simply due to teenage rebelliousness and angst: there are always thousands of things more engaging for me than reading, writing, and being in school.  However, I was talking with my high school senior just this week who had seen “Shift Happens” for the first time in her high school.  I have been showing this same YouTube video to the 8^th graders who come to campus since around 2008. . . .Yet she acted as this was “new stuff” to her.  That is because she was engaged by the instructor who was “talking” her language: digital delivery. Her video experience in fall 2012--along with the experiences of her three, older sisters--confirm for me that public school is really geared for students to "receive" not to "claim."

 

 

Secondly, I have to confess the Sir Ken Robinson has also had an impact on my thinking.  His little video, "Changing Education Paradigms" certainly validated for me my own thinking about public schools: the schools in North Carolina are still in the early to mid 20th century factory mindset. Schools look like factories (unless they have been built in the last 15 years or so).  Schools move students around by the ringing of bells.  Schools batch students like "products" in terms of their ages, even tho' any self-respecting educator realizes students learn at their own pace and in their own way.

Lastly, I have to agree with Rich's assertion that students must "claim," e.g. "take as the rightful owner," their education.  The idea that adult students are "tabula rasa" has been refuted over and over again. Students come to post-secondary, and even secondary education, with a plethora of experiences and knowledge upon which they can stake the claim to THEIR education.  Certainly, with our digital natives, we have to acknowledge that students believe they no longer need us for information.

However, as I keep reminding my faculty, our students DO need us to place this information into a useful context and we offer a safe place for them to explore wide ranging information they may not pursue in their homes or their "home community."  Faculty still have a critical role in students' lives and their success! And I believe that is the heart of Rich's quote: students take claim and faculty facilitate that process for them.

Who Are the Enigmas and How Are They Different from Millennials?

You can search YouTube and find a huge amount of information about the Millennials (those who are 16-34 years of age). We all know about the Millennials:

• They are extremely flexible & adaptable (see how our understanding of marriage has changed simply because of  Millennials and their value of diversity.)
• They are the first digital natives (see Mark Prensky's work to more fully understand this term.)
• They tend to be collective in their thinking, their work habits, and their social behaviors (my daughters--while in high school--defined "dating" as a group of friends going out at once instead of a single "boy/girl" pairing. As the father of five daughters, I appreciated this "newer" definition!)

Millennials are moving into the work force at a rapid pace because 10,000 Baby Boomers are turning 65 years of age each day, 365 days a year, for the next 6 to 10 years!

But at this point, I am interested in exploring the NEXT generation, the Enigmas: those who are in our elementary and middle schools NOW. Those who are already posing a puzzle for educational programs, network shows (at least as networks are today since they are teetering on collapse), clothing designers, foodies, and the huge list of others who are always chasing the next new thing. Let's consider what we know now.

First, we DO know that this generation behind the Millennials are--like their older brothers or sisters--digital natives. My high school seniors are already complaining how the younger sibling at home had his/her first cell phone at age 4 or 5. And these younger siblings are as adept as the older ones about such things as scanning the web, using Web 3.0, using cell phones as alternative "television" (which we already know the Millennials have abandoned network TV), social media users and music "rippers." One of my 16 year old students commented how his younger sister was listening to music from the TV show Empire--which her mother refuses to allow her to watch because of the show's sexual themes. "How," her mother asks, "are you finding music that you do not hear on the program since I tell you to leave the room when the show airs?" Perhaps this middle school daughter is already using Web 3.0:

What else do we already know about the Enigmas: they are bored with school. They are bothered with having to get up, travel to school, sit in their places, move only to the sound of the bell, eat only at the sound of the bell, and follow rules that they do not understand nor had input in shaping. The Millennials have already "been there and done that," but the Enigmas are realizing that this 19th century model of education is clearly not for them and would rather "check out" than "Rage Against the Machine" (which was more of the Millennial reaction.) Consider this clip:

We are now hearing how this elementary school or that middle school is giving tablets to the students so the students can "learn" 24/7" because of access to the technology. As the links I have included illustrate, teachers are realizing that learning, particularly deep and lasting learning, happens outside school time. On the other hand, these very teachers realize that their educational goals must compete with a universe of games, social networks, and media made available through these tools.

Another aspect of this "Enigma" generation is that they are increasingly lost within the rapid rate of change they embrace through being digital natives. Consider the changes that have occurred for this young people:

• 15 years of war delivered to them whenever, where-ever
• gender identification shifts that defy the traditional bi-gender models of their parents and grandparents generation
• family dynamics have shifted dramatically with blended families or single adult families increasing the "norm" in contrast to the "Ozzie and Harriett" generation of mom and dad and 2.5 children
• 24/7 access to the world of entertainment which pitches a narrative of conflict across all lines: racial, gender, generational, national, economic, and so forth
• values changing at such a rate that school-age children are hard pressed to explain what values they hold

This list could go on and on, But we do know that the Enigmas are even more adept than their Millennial elders at living and working in a digital world and that they are fed-up with 19th century educational models and that they are "dazed and confused" by this world that the can access by their handheld device that is nearly always in their hands (watch young people in public who carry their phones with them).

We know that the Enigmas are a "puzzle"--for those of us who are intent in helping them develop and for themselves!How do we understand this metaphor? Obviously, the puzzle image suggests the "connection" they live by. Watch middle school children and how they group as an example of this "connection." Also consider how each piece has a role but that the old idea of the "queen bee" seems to have dissipated. There is not as clear a hierarchy among this new generation. It may evolve, but I doubt it. I believe that the Enigmas will continue a more egalitarian move into young adulthood.

Let's consider this puzzle metaphor further: each piece is relatively equal in importance and it takes all to produce the finished product or image. Clearly the Enigmas believe this concept, whether they are doing school work, social networking, or even thinking about their own identity. They are a contributor along with their "friends" in terms of who they are becoming. Consider the images of these late elementary and middle school children of their older selves: they still think in a collective sense. They see themselves and their "group" as moving forward together, even though the also realize that family lives are extremely mobile. Perhaps this investiture  in their  friends is an attempt to holdback what they know is the inevitable: fragmentation is looming on their horizon, yet they really wish for some sort of stability.

We can also conclude that these young people will wait longer to get into relationships. Part of this reason is that Enigmas, more than any other generation, believe that they can explore more fully who they are. They are taking in input from all over and they want to experience all they possibly can. We are seeing an explosion of gender identity explorations more than ever in this country and it is driven by the Enigmas who are searching for it all: not only sexual identity, but gender, cultural, inter-personal. Just to illustrate: what is the cultural identity of the United States today? How do late elementary and middle school students really see themselves?

We know that the "melting pot" metaphor is no longer in play with these students. They may buy into the "salad" metaphor, but the Enigmas aren't sure yet if they are the greens of the salad (or which nuanced difference they may be of the "greens.") Maybe they are something like a tomato (are they chopped or cherry?) Or maybe they seem themselves as the dressing--what kind of dressing are they: low calorie? regular? sugar free? And these questions are answered even before selecting the "flavor": Ranch, French, Italian, Thousand Island, and so forth.

And one other thing we have to wrestle with (I mean "we" as adults who are invested in our educational system) is that the students in elementary and middle school ONLY socialize f2f at school since the "neighborhood" school model is no longer in play. Schools of choice and changing population patterns (the "re-gentrification" of downtown areas) are leaving the schools as the only location for "face time" among our students. Certainly, they are capable of communicating through their virtual lives, but we all know that relationships differ significantly between f2f and virtual.  How can a teacher "manage" this need for social interaction? And if a teacher is "managing" is this teacher "educating"? Also, if the "sage on the stage" is dead for 21st education interaction, how does this teacher "facilitate from the side" while managing social demands from students?

I know that some may see this post as tenuous at best. Please feel free to post comments (I am planning on enabling that option as I finish this document). I relish the opportunity for us to enter into a conversation about the last of the Millennials and the arrival of the "Enigmas." If nothing else, we may be able to come up with a better name for the generation in today's elementary and middle schools! Until then, however, we can use this puzzling term in our conversations.