Summer 2006 - The member magazine of the Elementary Teachers

y Barbara RichterSome researchers believe that people are defined as much by their times as by theirparents or upbringing – perhaps more so. Regardless of differences in backgroundsmembers of the same age group share a common social environment that helpsshape who they are and how they relate to their work, their colleagues, their familiesand their friends. Members of a generation experience the same historical events,technological advances and economic shifts. They worship the same heroes, listento their own music and create their unique fashions.Researchers have classified the four generations populating our workplaces andour unions according to the time period in which they were born: Traditionalists–1920 to 1943; Baby Boomers –1943 to 1960; Gen Xers –1960 to 1980; and EchoBoomers (Nexters, Millennials, Gen Y) –1980 to 2000. 1 Social scientists are scramblingto understand the impact of these generational divisions on our lives.One thing is certain: generational differences can lead to conflict. Understandingthe differences can lessen that conflict.TraditionalistsBoomers(1) These dates may vary depending on the individualresearcher but the general trend is to define the generationsin approximately 20-year segments. In addition to thosewho fall squarely within any of the generations, thereare also those who were born somewhere between– sometimes know as “cuspers” because they span thecharacteristics two generations. The research used for thisarticle is based on experiences in North America.Photos - Anne de Haas.Forged by two world wars, the Depressionof the 1930s, and the Korean Warin the early 1950s, Traditionalists wereraised in long-established family structures:male breadwinner, mother athome. In their era, advanced technologymeant rotary dial phones, radios, phonographsand movies with sound.Traditionalists are hardworking andloyal – to their country, faith, institutions,employer and family. For themrules and duty come before pleasure.Respecting authority, they accept a hierarchicalchain-of-command leadershipstyle. They believe in “saving for a rainyday” – forgoing today’s pleasures fortomorrow’s security. They are the lastgeneration to embrace this ethic.When traditionalists became teachers,one-room schools dotted the province.Hired on individual contracts, they hadlittle say about their wages or workingconditions. Once married, womenwere forced to resign; if allowed tostay, they worked on temporary annualcontracts. Rural teachers were expectedto clean and maintain their classrooms.It was only during wartime, with menoff fighting, that married women wereallowed to work outside the home; infact, they were encouraged to do so, tomake up for the labour shortage.Barbara Richter is an ETFO staff member in Professional Services.Born after World War II, Baby Boomersare part of an enormous populationbulge that, because of sheer numbers, hada significant social and economic impactfrom the outset. Between 1950 and 1951enrolment in Ontario’s elementary schoolsjumped from 19,500 children to 42,000,then rose to 58,000 in 1952. As part of thisbig crowd, Boomers learned to be competitivebut also collaborative. They had tocompete for attention and recognition.Raised by parents who fought “a warfor freedom,” Boomers were instilledwith a sense of mission. They would get agood education, achieve more than theirparents had, and make the world a betterplace. They grew up in the years markedby the Cold War, the space race, the civilrights movement, the anti-Vietnam warmovement, women’s liberation, the Pill,the sexual revolution and the beginningsof the environmental movement. Theyare the generation with a cause.Boomers also experienced rapidtechnological change: TVs with severalchannels, transistor radios, hi-fi and stereo,touch-tone phones, and movies inTechnicolor, 3-D and Cinemascope. Atwork there were hand calculators, photocopiersand mainframe computers.They were the first generation to be constantlyexposed to mass advertising.etfo voice SUMMER 2006 15