It Is All About Culture

The meaning of culture leads to shared values, perspectives, beliefs, ethnicity and
historical lineage. Culture is a culmination of social structures that include shared
economic considerations, segregation of socioeconomic groups of people and political
alliances between generations.

Culture sets the stage for social, political, and economic continuity in our society. It is
the social anchoring of our existence. How we perceive different relationships in our
lives (personal emotional, financial and work-environment) determine our means and
our ability to alter life-fulfilling outcomes.

To be progressive is to house a mindset that originally stems from anarchism and is
later transformed into ideas for change. As quoted by Nathan Schneider in the book
Chomsky on Anarchism, “anarchists figured out how to organize themselves in a
functional egalitarian and sufficiently productive society”. Cultural norms are an outcome
of many perspectives by millions of people. It is fundamental to ensuring society’s well-
being and continuity.

Change is the upending of cultural norms as society becomes emboldened to act on the
inevitability of progress. Schools must deal with cultural norms across society. It is a
blend of generational thinking from Boomers, Generation Xer’s, Millennials, and
Generation Zer’s laying foundational guideposts for which schools can function as
educational institutions.

Classrooms provide the template of thinking and deliver learning environments that rise
to generational expectations. The collage of different thoughts, perspectives, and
expectations makes development of progressive educational initiatives, at times, at
odds with student needs. Students brought along a pathway of least resistance
established in schools and at home will deal poorly with developing their ability to foster
resiliency in their lives.

Differences in generational expectations, within school learning environments, cause
conflict in the deployment of curriculum. What cuts through this maze of competing
expectations is a consensus for fundamental concern of students’ well-being. Student
preparation in schools must deal with addressing development of the mental fortitude to
surmount challenges that they face in their lives and to develop their ability to work
collaboratively with peers and solve problems. This is the goal of education.

This intersection between school curriculum and school culture places educators in the
crosshairs of conflict. Divergent values, traditions, and identities clash with educational
goals. Curriculum can reflect the importance of knowledge, but multigenerational perspectives cause discourse in what is determined to be the most important to teach students. A multigenerational society will struggle when deciding desired educational outcomes and the legitimacy of presented pedagogy.

As a seasoned educator for 30 years, I see this struggle played out in classrooms.
Content may be eternal, but the delivery and expectations teachers have for students
becomes a collegial multigenerational interpretation. This decade of immense social,
economic and technological change will tax our education system to its breaking point.
Hopefully this crisis in social, environmental and economic foundational pillars of our
society will ultimately drive consensus among educational shareholders.

Corporate lawlessness, threats of fascism, unchecked executive governance and an
economy lacking resources to see to the needs of people lay the groundswell for an era
of crisis for our country. From Boomers to Generation Zer’s, the consequences of a
crisis faced by society call upon people, from their position of legacy experiences with
knowledge and understanding, to bring forth a commitment supporting and fostering
needed change. Education of our youth is the challenge, and change will require
empathetic relationships between educators that act as the rudders of a ship, thereby
helping to steer a progressive course through this tumultuous time in history.