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P.O. Box 2334
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“Instead of thinking about a teenage mind as an empty house that still needs furnishings, educators and parents would do better to understand it as the rough framing of a house that still needs wiring, plumbing, flooring, and windows. Avoid treating teenagers like adults: they’re not.” ~ Eric Jensen
Researchers are all in agreement that today’s learners are unlike any other learner of past generations. We are all products of our environment, and children really do learn what they see, even more than what they are taught. To understand the attitudes to working and living of today’s generation, it is first necessary to provide a brief summary of the past four or so generations for comparison. The information presented below, has been collected from a number of sources and reflects the situation in the Western hemisphere.
History has taught us that each generation is different from the one before. This is largely accredited to the fact that each generation has been influenced largely by the very different times in which they grew up. Each generation’s experience impacted their outlook on life and their expectations of life.
Veterans (born 1925-1945): The “silent generation” or the “Veteran or war generation is a label given to the generation born around the great depression (the severe worldwide economic downturn of the 1930s) and World War 11 (1939-1945). These individuals grew up in times of economic hardship, which led them to become disciplined and self-sacrificing.
Characteristics
Baby Boomers (born 1946-64): A baby boomer is a person who was born during the demographic Post-World War II baby boom. This is a large generation large generation who grew up in economic prosperity after World War II in strong, nuclear families with stay-at-home mums. They are competitive, optimistic, and focus on personal accomplishments. They are workaholics, who “live to work,” and often take work home. Their job or profession defines them, and they like to feel valued and needed. They have no work-life balance; many have sacrificed a home life for a career, and for those who tried both, it has been a juggling act. This generation has dominated the workforce for many years, and now hold significant positions within it.
Characteristics
Generation X (born 1965-1976): These individuals grew up in very different circumstances from the previous generations. These are children and grand children of the Baby Boom and Veteran generations, and for many of these children, having divorced parents, single parent household and mothers who work was the norm. This led to their characteristic resilience, independence, and adaptability.
Characteristics
Generation Y (born 1977 to 1990). This is the largest group since the Baby Boom generation.
Characteristic
Generation Z (born 1991 to present): The characteristics and qualities of the generation Z has to be completely set apart from the others and they are the newest generation in their own category. Generation Z are people who were born after the 1990 and by then technology was ruling the world. The generation Z is also called the silent generation, iGeneration, generation quiet and net generation.
Today, the generation Z makes up for nearly 18 percent of the world’s population. For generation Z, computer technologies and the Internet is the common place. All their communication takes place on the internet and most of their formative years are being spent on the World Wide Web. They are used to instant action and satisfaction due to internet technology. They live in the virtual world and they can reach out to any place through the internet. They are less likely to travel and step out of their homes for anything. They lack severely in the areas of expression, verbal communication, confidence and interpersonal skills. For these reasons, they may not gel very well with the generation Y, who are exactly the opposite.
They are very impatient as they desire instant results. The Internet is there and they take it for granted. They do not consider it to be the greatest tool for mankind as it has always been there for them. Their means of communication is mainly through online communities like Face Book, Twitter and Google. They do not believe in personally meeting their friends and developing relationships. They are capable of making huge communities and have massive collaborations using the Internet without knowing anyone personally. They may not do very well in areas of public speaking and regard privacy to the core. They may consider living with others as intrusion of space. They can get everything to the place they live. Today most of these children and adolescents have at least two gadgets like cell phone or an Ipod and they cannot live without these.
They are very individualistic in their character and believe to have their own persona. Generation Z does not believe in getting agreement or living according to social norms. Their society exists on the internet where they speak their mind out and express their opinions.
Generation Z being bad listeners have less regard for what others have to say and they do not pay attention to others. Education and work plays a minimal role in their lives and they do not see education as a means of survival. They regard intelligence and knowledge about technology more. Being born during the digital boom they adapt to technology like no other generation.
The Environment Today
The information above shows definitively that over the last 85 years, the home and world environment for children have undergone drastic changes. In our current world, children have been growing up in a very different environment.
When we add the changes in family lifestyles, the narcissistic values of hip-hop, the many temptations that exists for a child today, we can now begin to realize how very different the environment of today’s child is from that of 15 years ago, even.
In next week’s article, we will turn attention to what brain research has to say about how these changes have impacted the brains of today’s learners.
Disclaimer: This information is intended to serve as a catalyst to propel educators and parents to think more deeply on the challenges of educating today’s children and is not intended to be a definitive authority on the topics discussed. Over the course of the next few weeks, we will share many different perspectives, and does not position any one as “the right way,” but rather we position each article as “one of the right ways” for accomplishing an objective. We assume that readers will evaluate the merits of each article and use the ideas they contain in a manner appropriate for their specific situation. The articles are all written by people who are actively engaged in this profession — not by journalists or freelance writers. Submissions are always welcome, as are suggestions for future topics. If you wish to submit articles and/or ideas, please contact via this website.
References/Sources
Sousa, David, A. How the Special Needs Brain Learns. Corwin Press, Thousand Oaks, CA. 2007
The eLearning Guild’s EMagazine, Sept 22, 2008. Retrieved on August 17, 2010 from http://www.c4lpt.co.uk/articles/understandinglearners.pdf
Generations: Baby Boom, X & Y. Retrieved on August 17, 2010, fromhttp://www.niagaraworkforceboard.ca/userfiles/file/Working on It 4 Generations, 1 Workforce - Communiqué - 2007.pdf
Generation Z. Retrieved on August 17, 2010, from http://www.babyboomercaretaker.com/baby-boomer/generation-z/Generation-Z-Characteristics.html
Article 1: New School Year, New Attitude for Success.Testimonials from Teachers who attended a NEF Training
Jamaica Observer article on the Conference
Boys can learn as well as girls, says US professor - By LUKE DOUGLAS Career & Education writer editorial. Click on the link below to retrieve the article
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/magazines/career/boys-can-do-well---Kelly-King-
Conference Partners/Sponsors
Boys can learn as well as girls, says US professor
BY LUKE DOUGLAS Career & Education writer editorial http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/magazines/career/boys-can-do-well---Kelly-King-
Conference Partners/Sponsors

PR Services provided by
Tracey Hamilton & Associates
&
Gli-Anne Campbell
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Testimonials from Teachers who attended a NEF Training
Jamaica Observer article on the Conference
Boys can learn as well as girls, says US professor - By LUKE DOUGLAS Career & Education writer editorial. Click on the link below to retrieve the article
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/magazines/career/boys-can-do-well---Kelly-King-
Conference Partners/Sponsors
Boys can learn as well as girls, says US professor
BY LUKE DOUGLAS Career & Education writer editorial http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/magazines/career/boys-can-do-well---Kelly-King-
Conference Partners/Sponsors

PR Services provided by
Tracey Hamilton & Associates
&
Gli-Anne Campbell
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Falling Through the Cracks Conference & Workshops October 11-15, 2010 IBEROSTAR, Montego Bay, Jamaica
Make plans now to join fellow educators on October 11-15, 2010 at the magnificent IBEROSTAR Resort, in Rose Hall Montego Bay, at the must-attend Western Staging of Falling Through the Cracks© Special Education Needs Conference and Workshop.
Meet and learning from expert educators and on ways to improve the performance of students who are struggling, failing, have a disability or are at risk in your classroom. Meet our trainers...
Meet the Team
Mrs. Kelley King
Associate Director & Master Trainer, Gurian Institute
Colorado Springs, USA

About the Gurian Insitute
The Gurian Institute was founded in 1996 by Michael Gurian. He is an educator, therapist, corporate consultant, and the New York Times bestselling author of twenty-five books published in twenty one languages. He has been called "the people's philosopher" for his ability to bring together people's ordinary lives and scientific ideas, and has pioneered efforts to bring neuro-biology and brain research into homes, workplaces, schools and public policy.
A number of his ground-breaking books in child development, including THE MINDS OF BOYS, THE WONDER OF GIRLS, THE WONDER OF BOYS, BOYS AND GIRLS LEARN DIFFERENTLY!, and NURTURE THE NATURE, have sparked national debate. His most recent work, THE PURPOSE OF BOYS (April 2009), provides a revolutionary new framework, based in neuro-biology, by which to understand and care for the social and emotional needs of boys from birth into their twenties.
The Gurian Institute has trained over 50,000 teachers in more than 2,500 schools and districts. Schools and districts that utilize their resources have been featured in Newsweek, U.S. News and World Report, People Magazine, the Washington Post, on the Today Show and PBS, and in Educational Leadership, Education World, and other public and professional media.
Website http://www.gurianinstitute.com
Client Testimonials
Coretta Scott King Young Women’s Leadership Academy, Atlanta, GA (CSK)
The Gurian Institute was privileged to begin working with CSK during their first year of operation (2007-2008), providing professional development to all administrators, faculty and staff of the newly designed school in creating a girl-friendly learning system. As a choice school, girls who were entering 6th grade had the opportunity of attending this single-sex middle school. The school expanded to 7th grade in year two, and to 8th grade this year.
After much dedication and hard work by the principal, Melody Morgan, and her outstanding staff, CSK made AYP in its second year (2008-2009). CSK exceeded the GA state pass-rate in both Language Arts and Math. CSK team members have participated in the GI Summer Institute for two years, Master Gurian Institute Trainer Lynn Ritvo is a consultant for the school, and CSK is now a Gurian Institute Model School. CSK is currently moving into their new school building.
ROOSEVELT MIDDLE SCHOOL, OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA
Submitted by Marilyn Vrooman, Principal.
In 2005, we had a gender gap in reading achievement of 17%. Our boys scored 55% satisfactory on the 8th grade CRT reading test and our girls scored 72%. I began looking for strategies that would correct this problem and came up with gender separation in classrooms. The teachers agreed, the parents agreed and we separated the boys and girls in language arts, math and technology education.
Immediately, we saw positive results with the girls. They took to it like ducks to water. We are 100% free lunch; 65% Hispanic, 25% white, 8% black, 2% other. We are an urban school district with 900 students grades 6, 7 & 8. The boys were not so quick to work. They complained that they needed the girls, the classes were louder, and the maturity differences in the boys caused problems in class.
So, researching more, I came upon the Gurian Institute that had many books written about learning differences in males and females. I contacted Kathy Stevens and had her come for two days. T he first day, she just observed classes, took notes and studied behaviour. The second day, she conducted an all day in-service for our faculty. She helped us understand the differences in boys and girls regarding brain based learning, behaviour and strategies for success. After she left, our teachers were charged up again. The teachers realigned their classrooms to meet the needs of the genders and changed the materials used to teach.
We have found that our boys do not like touchy feely stuff. They like non fiction, cars, action, etc. Keeping totally with our state standards for each class, the teachers used different materials to teach the standards, and the boys took off. And in terms of discipline success, our total fights on campus went from 125 to 30. On our CRT scores, at the end of last year, our boys scored 71% satisfactory on the reading CRT and the girls scored 80%; narrowing the achievement gap to 9% in one year. This year is the first year we have been off the states "at risk" list in four years. This year, we have students separated by gender in all core subjects and in computers. In order to overcome the maturation problem with the boys, we have the students grouped by ability, using last year's test scores.
Honestly, we would not have had the success we had if the Gurian Institute had not come in a worked with us on teaching strategies by gender.
Humboldt Elementary School
In February of 2005, Dr. Colgan followed up on his earlier assessment of the influence of Gurian Institute Training on St. Joseph School District. Dr. Colgan wrote:
"Since your extensive training sessions here, our district has made great improvement in Missouri's statewide assessment test. We are particularly excited about our progress in closing the gap that existed between male and female students.
"One of our schools, Humboldt Elementary, has had exceptional results in the area of literacy. When the Gurian Institute's work in our district began, 56 percent of the students were reading at or above grade level as per the state test. Today (2004), 90 percent of our students are at that level. Furthermore, in 1999, Humboldt's girls were outperforming boys as indicated on the statewide achievement test: 21 percent of girls were scoring in the top levels of this test, while only 11 percent of the males were in the upper levels. Today, this gap has closed."
Dr. Colgan continued, "We believe the reason for our district's dramatic improvement is twofold: improvements in teacher/student relations (especially in teachers' abilities to understand and teach to those boys who might first appear to be difficult) and best instructional practices in the classroom (practical methodologies that make instruction work)."
Source: http://www.gurianinstitute.com/succeedingSchools.php
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Lecturer/Head Institute for Gender
and Development Studies, UWI

Participants going through a "Brain Break" exercise during "Empowering Boys to Succeed" workshop with Kelley King of Gurian Insitute
Who said learning cannot be fun? Here participants clearly having a good time during Falling through the cracks workshop session.
Kelley King of Gurian Institute one of the Falling through the cracks trainers engaged in deep discussions with Reverend Joseph Falconer, Pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church
Participants getting reading to go through a workshop activity...
Mrs. Kelley King making her presentation during the "Empowering Boys to Succeed" Workshop on April 7
Mrs. Kelley King Gurian Institute, Colorado Springs, USA
Participants learning how to make learning fun and engaging for boys and girls during the "Empowering Boys to Succeed Workshop" with Mrs. Kelley King on April 7
Participants learning how to make learning fun and engaging for boys and girls during the "Empowering Boys to Succeed Workshop" with Mrs. Kelley King on April 7
Two Participants networking during the break at th Empowering Boys to Succeed workshop, April 7
L-R Kelley King, Gurian Insitute, Tara Malphrus Literacy Specialist of Texas, USA, Senta Greene, Full Circle, California, Christine Staple-Ebanks, NEF and Gemma Gibbon Child Development Psychologist doing a quick consultation during the break
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Disclaimer: This website has been compiled by the parents of a child with disability. The content available through the site is for informational and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for the professional judgment of the health care professionals. We do not give medical advice, nor do we provide medical or diagnostic services.
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6 Montgomery Road
P.O. Box 2334
Kingston 8, Jamaica 00000
ph: (876) 857-4425
info