Millennials: leading the charge for change.

Millennials: leading the charge for change. No conversation about student leadership would be complete withouta closer look at the population of students who sit in our classroomstoday, their traits and hopes for the future, to determine what kind ofleaders they are likely to make. They are in fact the Millennial--bornbetween 1982 and perhaps 2004--according to Neil Howe, a historian,demographer and renowned authority on generations in America. And theMillennials, also known as the Net Generation and Generation Y, are ageneration like no other. With their love of technology, socialnetworking, collaboration, innovation, and a "Yes We can!"attitude, Millennial are forcing established systems, be it education,the workplace, or corporate America, to take them seriously; toreevaluate how they do business in order to accommodate what is thefirst digital generation in recorded history. Deconstructing the Millennials Each generation has a persona, with core traits, note Howe andWilliam Strauss in their hook Millennials and K-12 Schools, and theMillennials are certainly no exception. Howe and Strauss identified theseven core trails of this population: * Special: Older generations have done much to protect and nurturethe Millenmals, instilling in them their importance to their parents andto the nation. * Sheltered: Millennials have been the focus of the mostcomprehensive youth-protection movement in American history. * Confident: They are very optimistic and trusting that the futurewill be brighter, even though their adults may disagree. * Team Oriented: They have a strong-desire to build consensus, andthey forge tight peer bonds. * Conventional: While their parents may have eschewed norms andrules, Millennals seem to want to reestablish a regime of rules. * Pressured: They feel great pressure to succeed and meetincreasing demands--be the pressure from the outside or because of theirown ambitions. * Achieving: The desire for account ability and higher standardsdrives the education reform movement. It also drives the Millenmals, whoare focused on achievement and meeting these high expeditions. Educating the Millennial and the Role for CTE While their parents and grandparents may have thrived in a'chalk and talk' school environment, the Millennals, withbrains seemingly wired for innovative learning, are bored. More than42,000 high school students were surveyed about their thoughts, beliefsand perceptions in 2009 for the annual High School Survey of StudentEngagement (HSSSE). The 2009 survey covered 103 schools in 27 states.The results showed that just as in previous years, students feel no realconnection to their learning. We could have the same headlines [from past surveys], 'Kidsare bored, not connected to school,'" said Ethan Yazzie-Mintz,HSSSE project director, upon the 2010 release of the survey results."We've got similar numbers in terms of kids who are boredevery day about 49 percent of the kids are bored every day, 17 percentevery class. That's two-thirds of the kids who are bored at leastevery day." Other data from HSSSE: Students who contemplated dropping out citeda lack of engagement with the school as a reason; 50 percent said theyconsidered dropping out because they didn't like the school (51percent, cited this in the 2008 survey); 39 percent said they consideredit because they didn't like the teachers (40 percent in 2008); 42percent because they didn't see the value in the work they wereasked to do (45 percent in 2008. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] At a time when raising student performance is a national concern,and student engagement is being linked to student performance, CTE has areal opportunity to show that it is a primary deliverer of strongacademic preparation in ways that appeal to Millennials: i.e.,project-based learning (think Project Lead the Way as an example) andcareer academies. Howe told Techniques, that there is no "right orwrong" in the learning or behavior traits of the Miliennialscompared to past generations, but their uniqueness does bring forthrealities that must be addressed by the systems in place whether it beeducation or the workplace. To accommodate these learners, schools should redefine how theyeducate students in the classroom, Howe said. Finding out what skillseducators want them to achieve and then designing the curriculum so thatthey can achieve those goals--effectively reverse-engineering thecurriculum has to be an integral part of reinventing education. Whilethe design of today's classroom remains a relic of the past inwhich students have to learn things in the manner the teacher learnedit, Millennials warn to be taught in a way that can understand it. "The rapid spread and huge popularity of careeracademies--small schools for middle and high school students in whichthe curriculum is structured around career "themes'-- provesthat mixing relevance and rigor is a winning formula for Miliennials andtheir families," Howe and Strauss write in Miliennials and K-12Schools. Howe told Techniques that this presents opportunities for CTE, inthat it can offer students a learning environment that is aligned withtheir seemingly preferred learning style a more hands-on approach. Miliennials "are very confident; they are all going to getfour-year-degrees, and what that means for CTE is that you cannotrepresent C I E as second-best. Boomers had fewer problems with that,but not Miliennials," he said. "This gives CTE the opportunityto say that we'll not only teach you a field, we'll get youcollege-ready." He also expressed real concern for what he termed a"scandal" in how K-12 and postsecondary education are aligned.While many Miliennials think they have what it takes to succeed incollege, many find that they don't when they get there, and areshocked by that realization. This requires leadership from communitycolleges and university leaders, Howe noted, to get policymakers toemphasize, alignment between K-12 and higher ed. Perhaps one ray of hope is that, the movement towards standardizedcurriculum requirements with initiatives like Common Core StateStandards, an initiative by the National Governors Association and theCouncil of Chief State School Officers, could do a lot over the nextdecade to bring consistency in what students learn--perhaps fosteringmore seamless transitions into postsecondary education, withoutbedeviling high remediation. Millennials in the Workplace With millions of them reaching the age they can enter the workplaceeach year, they are sure to transform the way employers do business. Forone thing, they want to solve problems; Howe notes that Generation X(Gen Xers; are more likely to say that if they don't like wherethey work, they'll quit, while Millennials are more likely to tryto find a solution. To paraphrase him: If Millennials don't likewhat they see, they are more likely to gel their parents to track down alegislator or some other person with authority to complain so that itmay be corrected. The sort of work style that the Millennials bring to the table isthat of flexibility and group consensus. The Millennials look down onthe cutthroat attitude that was de rigueur of, say, Gen Xers. TheMillennials want everyone to help each other and believe that they areonly as strong as their weakest link. The collective ethos of the GenXers of success by life, and they were willing to take risks to achievetheir goals. But Millennials have lived very sheltered lives and as suchhave very different expectations about life compared to their parents;as such they are very much risk averse. What Motivates Millennials to Become Leaders In a 2008 study, Change It Up; What Girls Say About RedefiningLeadership, the Girl Scouts of the LISA surveyed both boys and girlsacross the nation about leadership, including how they defineleadership; their experiences, failures and successes with theirleadership activities; and their aspirations, hopes and fears. (Theonline survey was administered in 2007 to 2.175 girls and 1.514 boysbetween the ages of eight and 17.) Among its broader findings, the studyfound that the desire to help others is the top reason both boys andgirls want to become leaders. "No matter who the role models are--be it a family member, ahistoric figure, or a celebrity--what girls and boys admire and want toemulate is their commitment to fighting against injustices in society,their focus on helping others, and their determination in overcomingadversity and standing up for beliefs." the report noted. However, there were some significant differences regarding themotivation to become a leader, and they fell along gender lines. Girlsare more likely to want to become leaders so that they can help others(67 percent vs. 53 percent for boys); share their knowledge and skillswith others (53 percent vs. 47 percent); and change the world for thebetter (45 percent vs. 31 percent). Boys are more likely than girls tobe motivated by the desire to be their own boss (38 percent for boys vs.33 percent for girls), make more money (33 percent vs. 26 percent), andhave power:22 percent vs. 14 percent). One thing is for certain--regardless of why Millennials want tobecome leaders, educators and programs need to harness thisgeneration's leadership potential. At. LeaderShape Institute, anonprofit based in Champaign, Illinois, they are seeking to do justthat. LeaderShape has graduated about 42,000 students from leadershiptraining sessions hosted by 70 to 80 college campuses annually. Lastyear, the institute also hosted several students from Chicago'scelebrated charter high school: Urban Prep Academy. One ofLeaderShape's most notable graduates is Google co-founder and CEOLarry Page, who has practically adopted the institute's ethos of"a healthy disregard for the impossible" as his personalmotto. Paul Pyrz, president of LeaderShape, told Techniques that it iscritical to expose young people to leadership concepts at an early age,because it allows them to make decisions about, their lives""based on their passions and values, not necessarily wherethey will make the most money." He said LeaderShape cultivates instudents that "healthy disregard for the impossible" so thatthey may blaze through their own path in life, not that travelled by somany others. In what is becoming a much smaller world, they also need tolearn how to work with others from diverse backgrounds. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "The world is getting smaller and smaller, and successfulleaders, for that matter successful people, will need to have the skillsto build and be a part of communities that, they have not imagined sofar in their lives," Pvrz said. In working with the Millennials, he sees in them a great desire tobe part of something big that will bring about change. "The main difference I see with the Millennial generation andolder folks is an acknowledgment that something has to be done toaddress the issues facing the world. They want to have more meaning intheir lives and demand that they connect with the purpose and mission ofany organization they are a part of. I also think that these youngpeople think change happens much more easily than old folks do, so theyare often disappointed in prolonged el forts and long-term plans." Looking Ahead In his bestselling book Growing Up Digital: The Rive of the NetGeneration, Don Tapscott notes that the Net Generation (his term for theMillennials) is a remarkable one that will truly change the world. Theyare changing the way business is conducted, which school reforminitiatives are embraced, and have even affected politics a la 2008 whenthey showed up en masse to vote in the presidential elections. In Grown Up Digital, a follow-up to Growing Up Digital, Tapscottasks: Will we let this generation reshape the world? He notes, "Aswe enter the new age, the future won't just happen. It will becreated--and primarily by them." We can look at one of the Net Generation's biggest stars.Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, to see that Tapscott's forecastmay be proving right. Alter all, Zuckerberg's innovation is beingused by millions of people, young and old, all over the world, and isparticularly embraced by Millennials who are using it to develop a kindof collectivism like no other. (Not to mention Facebook and other socialmedia helped to facilitate revolution in the Middle East and NorthAfrica.) Tapscott adds: "They are seeking to protect the planet, andthey find racism, sexism, and other vile remnants of bygone days to beboth weird and unacceptable. They will seek to share the wealth theycreate. They will want power in every domain of economic and politicallife." But make no mistake, the Millennials have attracted their fairshare of detractors from academics to journalists to pundits. Many havecalled them lazy, dumber than they should be, too entitled, lacking insocial skills, and unable to handle the real world. Mark Bauerlein, aprofessor of English at Emory University, was blunt in his The DumbestGeneration: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans andJeopardizes Our Future, noting that Net Geners "are a portrait ofvigorous, indiscriminate ignorance" (page 26). Still, it's anyone's guess how the Millennials (or theNet Generation, if you prefer) will be remembered by history, since thathistory is still being written. But one thing is for sure--business asusual just won't cut it in a world where the only constant ischange, and we have a dynamic population of young people who are saying:"Indeed! Change is what we want!" NAHB Prepares Students With Real-Life Job Skills The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Student Chaptersprogram is located at high schools and two- and four-year institutionsacross the country. Administered by the Home Builders Institute onbehalf of NAHB, the program allows students who are studyingconstruction to have access to all the benefits the association offersindustry professionals. Each year, NAHB hosts a Residential Construction ManagementCompetition for its Student Chapters. The competition challenges chapterteams to develop a complete set of workable drawings, a materialsestimate and a construction schedule for a home plan; they then presenttheir project to a panel of judges at the International Builders'Show. This year, California Polytechnic (Cal-Poly) State University, SanLuis Obispo; Pennsylvania College of Technology; and Cumberland-PerryArea Vocational Technical School won the four-year college, two-yearcollege and secondary competitions, respectively. Michael Stone, amember of the Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo team, said he and his fellowteammates were glad to be bringing the trophy back to their college. "This was a great professional experience. Through thecompetition, we got exposure to the real world, learning how to puttogether a proposal and work as a team. It's a far differentexperience than we can get in a classroom," Stone said. N. Susan Emeagwali is managing editor of Techniques magazine. Sitecan be contacted at semeagwali@acteonline.org.