Web Monthly
School Library Monthly/Volume XXVI, Number 7/March 2010
Generations by Generations, Part I
by Greg Byerly
Greg Byerly, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor at the School of Library and Information Science, Kent State University in Kent, OH. Email: gbyerly@kent.edu
Whether you are a Baby Boomer teacher teaching Generation Z children of Gen X parents or a new Generation Y teacher trying to teach digital natives about The Greatest Generation, an understanding of American cultural generations is essential. This is the first of a two-part column on generations—what they are (Part 1) and how they affect learning and teaching (Part 2).
It has become customary to label generations and then group them by years of birth (with some variations)—the GI Generation (1901-1924), also known as The Greatest Generation, thanks to Tom Brokaw’s book; the Silent Generation (1925-1942); the Baby Boom Generation (1946-1965); Generation Jones (1955-1965), a subset of the Baby Boom Generation; Generation X (1966-1976), aka the 13th Generation or Baby Busters; Generation Y (1977-1994), aka Millenniums or Echo Boomers; and now Generation Z (1995-date), aka iGen.
Web sites included in this column provide background information about these generations as well as the issue of "generation gaps." More information can be found in the links to in-depth articles or reports. While these Web sites and materials help with an understanding of these generations, they can also serve as an introduction to a unit on cultural or historical generations.
Getting Started with Generations
Cycles in U. S. History: Remembering the Future
http://www.timepage.org/time.html#cycles
Generations: The History of America’s Future, 1584 to 2069 (Morrow/Avon, 1991), by Neil Howe and William Strauss, identified various generational cohorts and proposed a theory of cyclical generations that progresses from idealistic to reactive to civic to adaptive over an eighty-year period. Within this cycle, four different generations, with different personalities, are inexorably linked. This Web site is not associated with the book, but does provide an excellent summary of the theories and generations explored by Howe and Strauss.
Generations
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqOXT6c0ECM
Start an exploration of generations by watching this YouTube video which uses contemporary music and pictures to trace the baby boom and subsequent generations from 1946 to the present.
The Generations: Introduction
http://www.lifecourse.com/mi/insight/generations/intro.html
This Web site provides an excellent overview of American generational theory and attempts to identify "the persona of [each] real-life generation" by considering first the generation’s common beliefs and behavior; second, its common location in history; and third, its perceived membership in a common generation. The social roles and phases of each generation are chronologically defined through Childhood, Young Adulthood, Midlife, Elderhood, Late Elderhood (age 84+).
The Six Living Generations in America
http://www.marketingteacher.com/Lessons/lesson_six_living_generations.html
This Web site offers good lists of key characteristics of the six living American generations, but it also includes an exercise (and template) that requires students to consider how to market a laptop computer to the different generations. Suggested answers for each generation are provided.
Generation Gap
Forty Years after Woodstock, A Gentler Generation Gap
http://pewsocialtrends.org/pubs/739/woodstock-gentler-generation-gap-music-by-age
This new study released by the Pew Research Center in August 2009 finds that there are "big differences between younger and older adults in their values, use of technology, work ethic, and respect and tolerance for others," but also concludes that "this modern generation gap is a much more subdued affair than the one that raged in the 1960s, for relatively few Americans of any age see it as a source of conflict—either in society at large or in their own families." Good current statistics and survey results are available in this report which is part of the Social and Demographic Trends Series by the Pew Research Center.
The Generation Gap
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRhWsqdtkkw
This is another excellent YouTube video. It shows the "the growing gap between analogue values and digital values. And between digital natives and digital immigrants," specifically "how these differences in values are affecting the media industry and in particular the distribution of newspapers in both print and digital form." It is produced by Ericsson, a major Swedish telecommunications company, as part of its highly-recommended Telecom Report series.
A Global Generation Gap: Adapting to a New World
http://people-press.org/commentary/?analysisid=86
The impact of cultural generations is not only an American phenomenon. Based on surveys in forty-nine countries, this 2004 study by the Pew Research Center explores the worldwide existence of generation gaps. In addition to the United States, Western Europe, Australia, and New Zealand have significant generational gaps. However, the study also found this issue to be "virtually nonexistent in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East."
Generations by Generations
The Greatest Generation (also The GI Generation)
GI Generation (born 1912-1927)
http://cil.templecil.org/node/35
Since members of this generation are now in their mid-80s and older, it is difficult to learn about the G.I. Generation from its members. However, the Intergenerational Center at Temple University offers a free multimedia online course entitled "Capturing Experience." Module 1 is designed "to increase your understanding of the defining moments" of the G.I. Generation.
G.I. Generation
http://en.allexperts.com/e/g/g/g.i._generation.htm
This is a factual, encyclopedic overview of the G. I. Generation provided by AllExperts. The real value is the lengthy lists of G.I. Celebrities (e.g., Louis Armstrong and Walt Disney), Cultural Endowments (e.g., Coming of Age in Samoa by Margaret Mead and Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison), and Foreign Peers (e.g., Hirohito and Marlene Dietrich), all with links to biographical and cultural Web sites.
The Greatest Generation
http://books.google.com
No exploration of the G.I. Generation can be complete without mentioning Tom Brokaw’s book The Greatest Generation, especially since this has become a new name for the G.I. Generation. For information, reviews, and a limited online preview of this and other related books by Brokaw, search on Google Books.
The Silent Generation
The Silent Generation
http://jamesrbrett.com/TheSilentGeneration/
This Web site deals with various generations, but its coverage of the Silent Generation is especially useful. After a detailed overview, it looks at different aspects of The Silent Generation—Silents in Government and Politics; Silents in the Arts, Entertainment, & Sports; Silents in Science, Technology, and Industry; and Honorary Members and Personae Non Grata.
Traditionalists (aka The Silent Generation)
http://legalcareers.about.com/lr/traditionalists/415958/1/
Presented from the perspective of the legal workplace, this Web site provides insightful details about common characteristics of Traditionalists (as it terms the Silent Generation). Readily identifiable character traits include hardworking, loyal, submissive, tech-challenged, and traditional. Click on See More About: Traditionalists for a lengthy list of online articles about "traditionalists."
The Baby Boom Generation
The Boomer Century: 1946-2046
http://www.pbs.org/boomercentury/
The Boomer Century: 1946-2046 was a two-hour PBS documentary broadcast in 2007 that looked "to the baby boomers' past for clues to how this generation of 78 million Americans will shape the future." As with any PBS production, this complementary Web site is excellent and includes a Boomer Timeline, Things You May Not Know about Boomers Today, and Resources that provide links to other related Web sites, books, and movies about the Baby Boom Generation.
Baby Boom Generation
http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h2061.html
This Web site attempts to answer the question, What is the Baby Boom generation?, by describing, decade by decade, the events and actions of the Baby Boomers from the fifties into the 21st Century.
Baby Boomers: From the Age of Aquarius to the Age of Responsibility
http://pewsocialtrends.org/pubs/306/baby-boomers-from-the-age-of-aquarius-to-the-age-of-responsibility
Baby Boomers: The Gloomiest Generation
http://pewresearch.org/pubs/880/baby-boomers-the-gloomiest-generation
These two lengthy reports from the Pew Research Center provide detailed facts and statistics about this generation, but also explore changes as the baby boomers begin to move into retirement.
Life (Part 2)
http://www.pbs.org/lifepart2/
Life (Part 2) is a current (2009-2010) PBS series intended to "ensure that baby boomers overcome their denial and face facts: the time to do something about age-related issues is right now." This Web site offers videos on topics such as Generation Gaps, Reinvention, and Spirituality from the baby boomer perspective.
Generation Jones
The Latest with Generation Jones
http://www.generationjones.com/
Although not yet accepted by all demographers and cultural historians, the existence of Generation Jones is becoming well established. The Associated Press Trend Report ranked the "Rise of Generation Jones as the #1 trend of 2009." The term was coined by Jonathan Pontell in 2000 to separate the last ten years of the Baby Boom Generation, those born between 1954 and 1965, from the older members. This Web site is a good source of information about Generation Jones and its growing impact on American society.
Generation X (also 13th Generation or Baby Busters)
Characteristics of Generation X
http://www.denvergov.org/Portals/229/documents/Characteristics%20of%20Gen%20X.ppt
This twenty-slide PowerPoint does a good job of describing the chief attributes of Generation X.
The Gen X Files
http://www.thegenxfiles.com/
This is a Web site and a blog on "generational issues, especially those relating to the 13th Generation, born 1961-1980." Click on First Time Reader? and then begin by viewing the ten-minute webinar, The Cycle of Generations. Continue to explore the other webinars, charts, and resources to learn more about Generation X. Topics blogged about include "Understanding how generations affect our future" and "Watch Out Teachers: Gen X is gunning for you…."
Understanding Generation X
http://www.voirdirebase.com/pdfs/gen_x.pdf?eSESSION=5974c0044b13e143
This is a seven-page pdf document published by Zagnoli McEvoy Foley LLC in 2001 that succinctly characterizes Generation X and identifies generational traits such as "seeking stability" and "projecting cynicism."
Generation Y (also Millennials, Net Generation, or Generation Next)
Growing Up Digital
http://www.growingupdigital.com
This Web site complements the book, Growing Up Digital, by Don Tapscott (McGraw-Hill, 2008). This book contends that "if you understand the Net Generation, you will understand the future." Be sure to view the video documentary by Tapscott and Mercury Media, "Us Now," for real insights into Generation Y (http://vimeo.com/4489849).
The Millennials
http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1437/millennials-profile
This is another excellent series of reports from the Pew Research Center that explores "the behaviors, values, and opinions of the teens and twenty-somethings that make up the Millennial Generation."
Generation X/Generation Y
http://wfnetwork.bc.edu/topic.php?id=6
From the Sloan Work and Family Research Network, this Web site provides extensive links to resources about Generations X and Y. Categories include Statistics (62 items), Definitions (2), Audio/video (16), Overviews & Briefs (19), and Resources for Teaching/Training (12).
Generation Z (also iGen or Digital Native)
I Am Generation Z
http://www.iamgenz.com/
This is a blog by an employment consulting firm that focuses on Generation Z—"today’s children and students (aged 14 and younger) and tomorrow's employees and leaders." As the full first generation of digital natives, "a Generation that has never known a world without computers, the Internet, cell phones or social networking," Generation Z is even now beginning to radically change education and schools.
The impact of Generation Z on American society, especially education, and its members' interactions with the adults in the earlier generations is addressed in Part 2.