“Ma…aa…m, could you please tell me the meaning of the word ‘phenomenon’?”
“Ma’am if Adam smith is the father of Economics, then who is the mother of economics?”
Yes, so you all might have noticed a vast difference between the above expressions. I, when studying would, with a tone of hesitation barely ask any doubt with my teacher but when I entered as a teacher inside the class, found something completely contradicting to what I was expecting.
I had surely heard about this ‘Gen Z’ and ‘Millennials’ but had never experienced it. I entered the class thinking that the students are too forward in their thinking and they are smart too.
Just smart? Hugh… NO.
They are only concentrated on finding answers for ‘why’? “Why is it like this?” “Why can’t it be like that?” They may only look young but are astoundingly unique and subjective in their approach and have completely different viewpoints.
Yes, according to my knowledge GenZ’s are the ones born post 2000 and the ones born pre 2000’s are millennials like me. Facing Generation z or Gen Z is not an easy task, I cannot even think of going unprepared to a class filled with Gen Z’s, unlike my teachers who probably would.
Being a teacher made me notice a vast change in the students of today. They are quite practical and tend to know each and every small thing that matters them. A student asked me who was my favourite among BTS and I couldn’t tell a word, as I didn’t know what BTS exactly was. When asked, I got to know that it is a South Korean, but world famous boy band ,and all my students knew its whole history mugged up.
When we , at our times used to crack jokes and get caught laughing , the first thing the teacher did was to call us in front and ask us to share our joke .The sad part then, for us, was she would understand the joke . when I tried the same with my students , yes, indeed they shared the joke , but I was the joker there ,as I could not even understand a bit of it .
Free fire, pubg, clash of clans, clash royal, call of duty, reels, insta stories, youtube shorts, and snaps on snapchat with numerous filters has occupied a large portion of minds of today’s young children. online classes have become a boon to many as it’s an amazing excuse to use some more filters on snapchat .jokes apart , the present generation has got too much exposure at a very small age and that’s why are not able to create a balance between various other aspects of life.
It’s not like we do not use phones, yes we do, But still I can say that we know to create that balance in various aspects other than internet.
I am not saying that this generation is bad, no, not at all in fact I have liked the open mindedness, the hyperactive behaviour, the intelligence and smartness of GenZ. It is just that the gap is really wide, and the students have to be aware of the behaviour to be shown inside the school, with the teachers, with the family and friends.
Thus, only teaching what’s there in the syllabus is not really going to work with the students of today’s generation , it’s really very challenging for the upcoming teachers to reach every dimension of a GenZ’s mind and to bring them up with a good behaviour and character.
All above mentioned are my personal feelings on what I have experienced while completing my internship as a B.Ed. student. I thought it would be a piece of cake to deal with the present students, but it was really an uphill climb.
It’s from my side, an ALL THE VERY BEST to all the upcoming teachers to face the new challenges, as challenges are inevitable but being defeated is optional. So let’s not get defeated but create a beautiful bridge between the two amazing generations ‘THE MILLENIALS’ and the ‘GenZ’.
Lorina Ivy Dsouza is a B.Ed. student at ST Aloysius Institute of Education
Comments
Add new comment