“They’re lazy” “They’re privileged” “They’re spoiled” ‘They’re entitled.” “They’re easily distracted” These are all labels that have been put on “generation millenials” - those folks born between 1988 - 2001. I have come into contact with many millenials in my profession and the only label that I universally adopt for them is my students. And, as a professor to these students, there is a responsibility I feel to make sure that they are learning in the most effective way for them. Of course, students face obstacles when entering college. They face even more as a law student. Because, as we have heard ad nauseum in the profession, one of the most important parts of our job is teaching students to “think like a lawyer” (whether we get them to “practice like a lawyer” is an entirely different debate).
Thinking about this, and with support of both our home institution and the Society of American Law Teachers , Atiba Ellis and I, two professors at WVU’s College of Law, have set out on a quest to truly understand and respond to teaching these students. How do you reach this generation in a way that fosters a learning environment that meets their needs without diluting the fundamental principles that we are trying to instill? In short, what exactly does it mean to teach in the 21st century?
Certainly, technology is a huge component of this: Facebook; blogging; Twitter; texting; podcasts … all of these are developments have gone from nascent to established with such speed that, web surfing (all the rage when I was in law school) is actually quaint in comparison. Many professors (including one of us) have chosen to ban the intrusion of all student-driven technology in the classroom. But is that really necessary? What if instead, we made the technology work for us? We hope that part of our journey will answer these questions.
But while technology is certainly the most tangible aspect of the changes during this generation, it isn’t the only one. The constantly shifting culture, with all of its attendant references guarantees that allusions to Ferris Bueller or the Sugar Hill Gang will be met by millenials with vacant looks. Luckily Beloit College’s mindset list can help us bridge the cultural reference gap – but is that enough? And do we really want to? Oftentimes cultural references serve as a means of gaining familiarity. But is that what these students would like? Is this generation craving accessibility or formality?
Finally, is there anything different about this generation’s collective personality that drives the way they learn? Is multi-tasking now the only way that a student can actually focus? Given the many images and speed of light changes that are streaming at them 24 hours a day, can a student truly learn in a way that is the same as the teacher teaches? Are the main traditional teaching styles: auditory, visual, verbal, and kinesthetic, even valid anymore? What style of learning is triggered by watching a You Tube video? Or tweeting your response to a webcast? Is it simply old styles in new clothes? Or is something fundamentally different happening here?
And given that, how does this impact the teaching of law? Is the Socractic method, pioneered in 1879, still the best way to approach learning in 2010? Or are there other, more effective ways to make students engage?
These are the questions we will be exploring during our journey. We hope to present our thoughts during the annual S.A.L.T. conference in Hawaii in December. Where the journey goes after that, it’s hard to say. But we welcome and appreciate your thoughts, comments and teaching tips along the way.
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