Teaching and Communicating with Millennial Learners

Abstract

Younger cohorts are often stereotyped as being lazy, entitled, or self-absorbed and have been for thousands of years. Although the concept of generational differences has been contested, “generations” are groups of people impacted by world and cultural events which shape their lives and can influence their preferences, priorities, and responses. Although discussion of generations in general terms feeds into stereotypes which may not represent all people, it can be beneficial to look at a generation as a whole and identify commonalities to better serve them in a teaching format. We will briefly review some of the currently working generations here.

The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers.

—attributed to Socrates by Plato