Beloit Mindset - A list into understanding present students

All of the research presented in class Tuesday night was extremely interesting.  I felt all of the research shown provided important information to today’s teacher; both teaching in the field and those working towards becoming teachers.  I chose however to take a closer look at the research presented by the professor’s of Beloit College. 

Each year, since 1998, the professors of this college have compiled a list of what life has been like for the incoming freshman class. I find this an absolute fabulous idea.  From year to year, the world has changed so much; with each class experiencing life in a slightly different manner.  I think for professor’s to effectively teach their classes, they need to know and understand what the students have experienced and how they have viewed the world.    

I thoroughly enjoyed reading the list for the 2016 class.  The main, over riding theme of the list I found, was that these students have always lived in a world of instant communication; a world of technology.  I found it sad that these students have probably never seen a bound set of encyclopedias or a real plane ticket and yet when I thought about it, the question of “why would they?” popped through my mind.  They have grown up in a world where everything can be found searching the internet and in an age where everyone is going “paperless”.  I then thought, is this generation and future generations missing out on something?  To answer this question, yes I do feel that they are missing out on things.  I feel that life is becoming so fast paced, that the little moments are meaning less.  Things that people should know and have once known this generation and present generations never will.  

I feel that in order to be an effective teacher and to really be able to reach your students, an educator needs to keep up with what is the norm for their students.  No matter what grade level you teach, whether it be kindergarteners or college students, teachers need to know what their classes are being exposed to.  They need to do the research to see what is normal for their students; what technology are these students using and what cultural norms are they being exposed to.  Teachers then need to take this information and use it to effectively reach their students.  Life is ever changing and teachers need to be able to change along with it to reach their students the most effective way possible.

From this research, I agreed with most on the list, although some points I did not.  There were a few things on the list that I felt freshman students would know (i.e., biblical terms - people still use these terms so I feel at some point they would have heard them and had someone explain to them what it meant), so I feel that this list is a great guideline but should not be taken as sole fact.  I also felt that this list did not portray students in one way or another; positive or negative.  I felt the list was just stating what these students have experienced in life up to this point and in order to better understand them, professors need to understand this information.

The midset list. (2012).  Retrieved September 3, 2012, from, http://www.beloit.edu/mindset/2016/