Growth Rings: God Bless Teachers

Growth Rings: God Bless Teachers.

“It takes a whole village to raise a child.” African Proverb

This phrase has been repeated many times in recent history, not as a fact, but in remembering and longing for a time past. Raising children in American communities was once a shared responsibility amongst families, neighbors, schools, and churches. Unfortunately, this is not so today. 

Being a “baby boomer,” I can remember playing outside and having free run of the neighborhood “until the street lights came on.” My behavior and the behavior of my friends were closely monitored by neighbors. They watched out for us. Their direction was just as meaningful as if it had come from my parents. Adults were trusted. Churches and schools were on the same page as parents in teaching and reinforcing morals, values, and citizenship. Sadly, this is not the case today. 

Children and Families “At Risk”

There have always been “At-Risk” children in non-traditional families and historically, “The Village” used to step in to help and assist. We see this across history, from Moses being abandoned by his mother, to Jesus being born to an unwed teenager, mothers selling their children as indentured servants during the American Colonial Age, and families sending their children out of England during WWII. These historical situations exemplify how extreme situations have impacted families and the challenges of raising children. 

Fables, books, movies, and TV shows time and time again have lifted up this condition. Cinderella and Snow White had to put up with wicked stepmothers. Dorothy, from The Wizard of Oz, lived with her Aunty Em and extended family. My Three Sons was the story of a father navigating life with his three boys and no mother. The Andy Griffith Show featured bachelor Andy raising his son Opie with the help of an extended family. Then there was One Day at a Time, Family Affair, The Brady Bunch, Welcome Back Kotter, Different Strokes and more recently Full House, Reba and This Is Us. All of these reflect the challenges of raising children and the impact, or lack of, “village” assistance. 

For human beings, music is an emotional release and songs like "A Boy Named Sue" "Fancy" "Time Marches On" "Papa Was A Rolling Stone" "Never Again" "Grandpa Tell Me about The Good Old Days" and "Where Were You When The World Stopped Turning" reflect just how deep family feelings go. 

God Bless Teachers
Children spend more time today in preschools, schools, afterschool programs, and sports than they do with their biological parents. Working moms and dads, divorced families, children born out of wedlock, and non-committed fathers, amplify the challenges children have in growing up. Not belonging to a faith community, and in many instances grandparents raising their grandchildren, biological parents feel isolated, frustrated and guilt. Teaching acceptable social behavior has become an unfunded mandate and an inferred responsibility for teachers to teach.

Special Education programs now not only include student academic goals, but also behavior goals. It has been my experience that in some instances to help the child, you have to help the parent/caregiver as well. This all comes at a cost, both emotionally and financially for all involved. Going forward, healthy and thriving 21st-century communities must address this. Teachers are not fully trained or equipped for these overwhelming challenges. More importantly, the current educational system is not designed for the social, emotional, behavioral, mental, and basic physical needs many students bring to the doors of our school houses each and every day.

It’s a wonderful life.
I rewatched the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life” the other day. The story, which I am sure most everyone has seen, centers around George Bailey and the impact he had on his community.

Towards the end of the movie on Christmas Eve, financial tragedy hits, and George panics. He comes home to find his young daughter Zuzu sick and in bed. Her teacher had given her a flower. Zuzu had come home, in a winter storm, with her coat unbuttoned so as not to damage the flower, and got sick. George, already upset, goes upstairs to check in on his daughter. He consoles her and then hears the phone ring downstairs.

He goes downstairs to find his wife, Mary, talking to Zuzu’s teacher. The teacher had called and was concerned about Zuzu and her health. George got on the phone and proceeded to yell and demean this well-meaning teacher. Mary is humiliated and pulls the phone from George. George leaves the house, in the winter storm, and driving his car runs into a tree.

He then enters a local bar for a drink. The bartender is a friend of George’s, and he consoles him. A patron at the bar overhears the bartender says George’s name and becomes very angry. As it turns out, the patron is the husband of Zuzu’s teacher! Angrily, he yells at George, proclaiming the dedication his wife has for her students and in a rage, punches him in the mouth. 

At the end of the movie, George returns home and is greeted by family and friends that help him with his financial challenges. The movie ends with George holding Zuzu in his arms. They hear a bell ringing. Zuzu says “The teacher says that every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings.”

For me this is powerful. It was Zuzu’s teacher who was on the receiving end of George’s anger and frustration. But in spite of that, it was Zuzu’s teacher that planted a seed in her about goodness and good works. It was Zuzu’s teacher that made a difference to the little girl even while her family’s life was in chaos. Ultimately, it was the teacher’s lessons that remind us all of faith, of love, the importance of family and friends, and perhaps most of all, of Peace on Earth, Good Will Towards Man.

Many children, through no fault of their own, live today in chaos. Their parents are doing the best they know how to do, but need grace and support. My prayers reach out for teachers to have grace and strength to provide the support their students and their families need during this Holiday Season. 

Thank you for your words, your deeds, your care for students and families. You make the difference!

God Bless Teachers!

Growth Rings: Human Beings: Handle With Care

Growth Rings: Humans Beings: Handle with Care
There is no doubt that we are living in a time of deep systemic change. Technology is accelerating change exponentially at a rate that current system thinking, and institutions, are struggling to keep up with.

Growth Rings: The Industrial Age and The Consumer Society
Since the 1920s, the United States has been psychologically conditioned to consume, to buy on credit and not to save. To keep manufacturing plants running and people employed, the strategy of planned obsolescence, advertising to manipulate consumer spending and making purchases on credit also accelerated. Mass media was leveraged by mass production to increase sales which in turn, create mass debt. The internet, Social Media and technology is being powerfully used today to keep this never-ending cycle running.

Hooked on Technology
“We are in the game. The object is for us to play and give our attention to the game. Once we give our attention to the game, the game makers will try to sell us something or influence us.”

                                                                                                      Joshua Abramson, Owner, Cypress Technology

Because of consumerism and marketing, we have become addicted to technology. This is becoming especially true for our children. Video games are designed to be very appealing, visually stimulating, engaging and draw the user in. So too is Virtual Reality. If not used correctly, participants get hooked, lose track of time, and are consumed by the experience.

Because of applications for your cell phone and computer, like Waze and Mapquest nobody uses a map anymore. Cell Phones have become powerful minicomputers allowing the user, if they can catch a signal and connect to the internet, to stay in constant contact and have access to the world.

Artificial Intelligence devices connected to the internet, like Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa, have the capacity to link and control all electronic devices in your home or car. Everyday technology is seamlessly being meshed into our lives. We are moving from relying on technology to do something with us to trusting technology to decide something for us.  This is a slippery slope.

Screen time for our children. 

Emerging research is suggesting that students’ computer use is impacting reading scores. It appears that heavy screen time is contributing to lower reading scores in 4th and 8th grade. The journal, JAMA Pediatrics recently reported that: “Excessive screen time can impinge on children’s ability to develop optimally; it is recommended that pediatricians and health care practitioners guide parents on appropriate amounts of screen exposure and discuss potential consequences of excessive screen use.”

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has recommended limiting screen time based on a child’s age. AAP believes it is important for healthy child development that parents model healthy tech use and monitor their child’s tech usage.

Growth Ring: Physically and Emotionally Well-being?

Today we fixate on quick solutions with not much thought on the long-term ramifications. It seems things we want; we want right now. This aligns with materialistic beliefs if you can’t pay for it now, buy it on credit. We have sought pharmaceutical answers and solutions to our daily challenges. If something is wrong, from weight loss to tension, to depression, take a pill. 

Our physical and mental health has been neglected. Business Insiders reports that “American millennials are seeing their physical and mental health decline at a faster rate than Gen X did as they age, a Blue Cross Blue Shield report found.”  Millennials are being labeled the loneliest, most financially broke generation. The stress of change is taking its toll.

The Breakdown of Empathy

Iowa Department of Education consultant Teresa Jurgensen lifts up that Empathy is key in reducing bullying, breaking down diversity, promoting positive behavior, building trust, supporting community and most importantly creating a civilized society.  Dr. Michele Borba has outlined that “Empathy is diminishing in our students: a 40 percent drop in the last 30 years." For students as well as adults to be truly “successful,” they also need to be able to put themselves in someone else’s shoes and think “WE” not “ME.” The absence of empathy in today’s society is contributing to negative thinking and behaviors. 

  

Growth Rings

As we move from the Industrial Age, with its consumer and materialistic focus, into the Digital, Information age, new core beliefs and practices are emerging. It is apparent that buying stuff, especially on credit, does not translate into long term happiness. Play now and pay later is not a good equation. The stress of chasing the American Dream is affecting our physical and emotional health and our dependence on technology continues to rapidly grow.   

Authors Rick Smyre and Neil Richardson’s suggest in their book, Preparing For a World That Does Not Exist - Yet, that humanity is heading into a new era, a Second Enlightenment.

 

It is exciting to be alive at this point in history and have an opportunity to shape what the new age will be.  As we go forward it is important to remember: Humans Beings: Handle with Care. 

Growth Rings: TRUST in the Digital Age

TRUST in the Digital Age

When Googling the word, TRUST,  it’s evident that the word is both a noun and a verb. The noun, TRUST, means a reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something. The verb, TRUST, means to rely on the truthfulness or accuracy of, belief, to place confidence in, rely on, to hope or expect confidentiality. In both instances, TRUST is grounded in both truth and actions. 

TRUST is foundational for having healthy interpersonal relationships as well as contributing to one’s well being. Without TRUST there can be no hope or faith. For the purposes of this blog, it’s important to look at the evolution of this word, TRUST. What did TRUST use to look like and what does TRUST look like today? As we move from the Industrial Age to the Digital Age what will TRUST become?

Growth Rings: What did TRUST look like?
As a Christian, in matters concerning how to conduct one’s life, my default is the Bible. Throughout the Bible, TRUST is lifted up, defined and connected to one’s actions, both words and deeds. In the Old Testament, Moses gave his followers the 10 Commandments which included “Not bear false witness.” In the New Testament, Mathew 5:37 reads, “Let your yes mean yes, and your no mean no. Anything more than this comes from the evil one.” Trust is built not only in what a person says but more importantly, in what they do. A person not speaking truth cannot be Trusted.

Earning TRUST takes time and is demonstrated not only by one’s words but also by deeds. The biblical core belief was that one’s word (promise) was their bond. Actions support this. Over the years, the concept of TRUST was applied not only in everyday human interactions but also in commerce and in conducting business. A handshake and verbal promise were sufficient to seal any business deal.

Growth Rings: TRUST in Business and Industry 

When business and industry evolved during the Industrial Age from locally-owned, sole proprietorships to publicly traded stock owned companies, TRUST was reframed. Locally owned businesses were trusted by their customers. There was a transparent relationship, an unwritten understanding, if you will, that the proprietor would stand by their goods and services. If something went wrong or needed to be fixed, the proprietor could be trusted to fix or correct problems, should they arise.

During the Industrial Age, however, this changed. With the growth of big business and publicly traded companies, there was no longer a transparent relationship. Decisions were no longer made locally but at the “home office” somewhere by a board of directors. The company’s focus was on profit for its investors with decisions being, “bottom line-driven”.

Investment in publicly traded companies during the Industrial Age was open to anyone. For the company selling shares of stock, this expanded the risk of doing business and provided financial capital. For the stock purchaser, TRUST was grounded in there would be a return on their investment. The consumer economy emerged! This new economy was grounded in: Buy it, Use it, and Throw it away! The cycle then continued with consumers buying a newer, better and “shinier” model, even if this purchase meant going in by using credit. 

Getting a return on investments meant creating conditions to buy more stuff. Marketing, branding, slogans, celebrity spokespersons, and linking products/services to sex, health, and well-being, bombarded consumers. Psychologically, society was conditioned to buy. TRUST was hijacked and diluted. 

Growth Rings: TRUST and Employment
Employees once went to work for companies and trusted them. The corporate promise, “If you work hard, we will take care of you, provide employee benefits to include health insurance, paid time off (PTO) and a pension plan.” Depressions, recessions, housing crises, energy crises, and overhead costs, all affecting the “bottom line,” changed all this. Baby Boomers had pensions, generation X has self-regulated 401K retirement plans, and Millennials, with student loan debt, who knows what they will have. 

Growth Rings: Interpersonal TRUST.
Today there seems to be a lack of TRUST in interpersonal relationships. Commitment to raising children, fidelity to a life partner, relationship scandals with clergy, elected officials, and sports figures all seem to appear daily. Sadly, in many cases, the word, “Yes,” does not necessarily mean “Yes,” nor does, “No” mean, “No.” In contemplating this stark reality, an important question arises, “What lessons are being taught to today’s children - those children that are sometimes known as Generation Z?”

Growth Rings: Trust in the Digital Age
All the aforementioned, are signs that we are transitioning from the Industrial Age into a New Age. We are at the beginning of the journey that may be frustrating because we are only getting a glimpse of what TRUST will look like moving ahead.

Social Media and technology are drivers in redefining TRUST. Rachel Botsman’s book, “Who Can you Trust?” raises many interesting conditions on how technology brought us together and why it might drive us apart. The premise is that humans are putting more TRUST in machines and Artificial Intelligence (AI) than into each other:

• 10 years ago, no one would ever think about getting into a car with a complete stranger. Today, rideshare apps like, UBER and LYFT, make this acceptable and the norm.
• People are so desperate for companionship that there is a growing dependence on apps like Tinder, eHarmony and It's just lunch.
• Food delivery apps, GRUBHUB and DOORDASH, have the potential to transform restaurant fine dining. Why go out to eat when it can be delivered to your doorstep
• AIRBNB has become the number one site globally for folks looking for a place to stay. Ten years ago, who would have thought it OK to TRUST your house to strangers? 

It is important to note that with these apps, comes a new level of transparency. Not only is the customer rating the service, the provider is rating the customer. These emerging conditions are redefining TRUST and relationships. Nobody thinks twice about leaving the towels on the floor when staying at a Marriott hotel, but one would never think to do that at an AIRBND.

These are all 1st generation applications of Blockchain, systemic thinking. Leveraging technology, Blockchain moves TRUST from third party institutions to individuals. Logarithms are constructed based on user information, gathered either actively or passively. With feedback from both the “seller” and “buyer”, the technology creates TRUST between participants. The TRUST between the participants is based on the technology itself, not the third-party.

Growth Rings: TRUST in the Digital Age
The application of Blockchain systemic thinking and Artificial Intelligence is game-changing. Author Rachel Botsman suggests presently we rely on technology to do something. In the future, we will trust technology to decide something. From business and commerce to education and health care, technology is redefining the concept of TRUST.

Growth Rings: Where did the cheese go?

Growth Rings:  Where did the cheese go?

It takes a significant emotional experience to cause people to change. This experience has to be emotional so as to generate enough energy to break out of established patterns and routines. The experience can be something really good, like falling in love or the birth of a child, or something very hard like being fired from a job or the death of a loved one. The experience can happen with the speed of a thunderbolt or be something that has built up over time. But for change to happen, emotions must be engaged. 

Spencer Johnson’s book Who Moved My Cheese? tells the story of dealing with change. It is an insightful quick read that in many ways illustrates emotions and beliefs people today have regarding change. 

The story’s four characters, two mice, "Sniff" and "Scurry," and two little people named “Hem” and “Haw”, live in a maze. Their search for security and happiness in the maze leads them to “Cheese Station C”. Hem and Haw believed the cheese would be there forever, become comfortable, establish routines, and settled. 

The two mice, Sniff and Scurry, pay attention over time and noticed the cheese at Cheese Station C is dwindling. They mentally prepared for the day when the cheese would run out and they would have to search for new cheese.

One day Sniff and Scurry arrive at Cheese Station C to find no cheese left, but they were not surprised. They had prepared for this and took off to find new cheese.

When Hem and Haw arrive at Cheese Station C later that day, they found the same thing, no cheese. Hem and Haw had not seen this coming, were unprepared, became angry and cried out, “Who moved the cheese?” When Hem and Haw realized the cheese was not coming back, Haw suggested going into the maze to look for new cheese. Hem, frustrated and disappointed, rejected the idea.

Searching for new cheese, Sniff and Scurry found it at “Cheese Station N”. Back at Cheese Station C, Hem and Haw paralyzed by fear, could not let go of their old thinking, and blame each other for their condition. Haw finally realizes Hem was not going give up his old thinking, decided to move on, enter the maze to seek new cheese. Before leaving, Haw left Hem a message written on the wall of Cheese Station C "If You Do Not Change, You Can Become Extinct". 

As Haw overcame his fears in the maze, he comes to ask himself “What Would You Do If You Weren’t Afraid?” Haw smiles and with his new mindset, begins to enjoy life again. He finds some bits of cheese which sustains him and keeps moving him forward. He still worries about the unknown but brushes his fears aside realizing that "When you move beyond your fear, you feel free." Haw decides to go back and share with Hem what he has learned.

Returning to Hem, Haw shares what he has learned. Hem rejects Haw’s discoveries. Sadly, Haw leaves his friend and returns to the maze to seek new cheese. Haw decides to leave writings on the wall to help Hem should he decides to follow, realizing that Hem needs to decide his fate for himself. 

Growth Rings

For Sniff and Scurry, they realized a change was coming and mentally prepared for the day. For Hem and Haw, when changed happened, they became angered, frustrated and grieved. Haw finally excepted change and moved on. For Hem, he could not get past grieving. 

Haw’s Handwriting on the Wall

• Change Happens. They Keep Moving the Cheese
• Anticipate Change. Get Ready for The Cheese to Move
• Monitor Change. Smell the Cheese Often So You Know When It Is Getting Old.
• Adapt to Change Quickly. The Quicker You Let Go of Old Cheese, The Sooner You Can Enjoy New Cheese
• Change. Move with the Cheese
• Enjoy Change! Savor the Adventure and Enjoy the Taste of New Cheese!
• Be Ready to Change Quickly and Enjoy It Again. They Keep Moving the Cheese.

This story speaks on many levels. As we move from the Industrial Age to the Post-Industrial Information Age, the cheese is indeed being moved. Our mindset and how we choose to react to this will determine our mental health and “if we become extinct.” As you think of yourself which character do you identify with, Sniff, Scurry, Hem or Haw? As you think of your co-workers and friends, which character would they be? 

Growth Rings

Change is happening. Enjoy today’s cheese, but be aware, and be prepared to seek new cheese.  Begin now to reflect and develop flexibility, creativity, and courage in your thinking. Learn to become comfortable with uncomfortable. Two big takeaways: "If You Do Not Change, You Can Become Extinct" and "When you move beyond your fear, you feel free."

Growth Rings: Public Education shoot, ready, aim?

Growth Rings: Public Education shoot, ready, aim?

My Growth Rings
I always wanted to be a teacher and make a difference in a child’s life. After nearly four decades in K-12 public education, having served in growing suburban to high poverty to rural school districts, I have seen and experienced much. Madelyn Hunter lesson design, SRA reading, Boys Town Model, Classroom instruct that works, block schedule, period schedule, flipped classrooms, open space classrooms, 1 to 1, I have lived initiatives that have come and gone.

From writing lesson plans to evaluating teachers and principals, from serving local school Boards to having a voice in state and national education reform conversations, I have had a “front-row seat” in the ongoing discussions to transform teaching and learning. As of yet, a direction forward on what school should be has not emerged. After 40 years of professional experience, I am starting to believe we shoot before we get ready and take aim.

I have the greatest respect for educator Lee Araoz (Twitter @LEEAROZ). He is a visionary leader and though his poster speaks to “the age of a teacher”, “embracing tech”, and “teacher mindset”, the true concern is our 20th-century organizational structure of "school". Schools are not a people problem; they are a system problem.

In a recent Growth Rings post, I shared there are four different generations of teachers, Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Generation X and Millennials, all currently teaching Generation Z. This means adults, who only know the traditional school, are building relationships and preparing children, pre-teens and teenagers to enter, compete and contribute in the 21st-century Information age. Dedicated and committed educators are doing the best they know to do in a system designed at the turn of the last century. 

The financial and emotional cost.
The present reality is the rate of change happening inside classrooms is not keeping up with the accelerating rate of change happening outside the schoolhouse door. For teachers, the challenge is to break out of their isolated silo classrooms, overcome Future Shock, and prepare kids for jobs that have not yet been invented. All this at a time when the definition of family is transforming, kids are dealing with extreme stress and mental health issues are not being addressed.

Educators are dealing with fear and a sense of lost identity. Teachers and our schools, once thought to be the bedrock of our democracy, have come under extreme criticism. A Nation at Risk, No Child Left Behind, vouchers, and charter schools coupled with state achievement test results is causing educators extreme anxiety and stress. This is not healthy.

Technology is not the silver bullet.

There are those who believe that embedding technology into instruction is the answer. The problem is that the speed of the Third Wave is not allowing educators time to know how to do this nor discern what the pros, cons, and trade-offs are. Misuse of technology in the classroom has the potential for far-reaching effects.

Good stewards of tax dollars.
For Districts, some of which are already underfunded, covering the cost of ever-changing technology and providing meaningful professional development to retrain teachers is a challenge. Textbooks or tablets, hardware or salaries, retrofitting classrooms or building new buildings all are in flux.

Underneath this lies an unspoken realization that the current 20th-century structure of education is no longer viable, and the fear is no one knows what is next. Schools comfortable with 20th-century expectations like things just as they are. Underperforming schools are desperate. Patron perspectives range from schools are bad, but not my schools, to parents seeking choice with Charter Schools or vouchers. We are approaching a flashpoint.

Growth Rings: Educational Transformation 1900’s
Over 100 years ago, the country was experiencing the Industrial Revolution. System thinking of the day included: assembly lines, division of labor, interchangeable parts, and mass production, all transforming society.

As a result of those Growth Rings, debates across the country centered on what public education should become. In 1892, the National Education Association appointed a committee of ten educators to address the issue. The Committee of Ten’s recommendations included:

• Eight years of elementary education and four years of secondary education.
• High school courses to include languages, mathematics, science, English and history.
• Subject taught in secondary (high) schools should be taught in the same way and to all students.
• Unifying courses of study and school instruction would enhance the training of new teachers.
• The Committee identified the need for more highly qualified educators. They proposed that universities could enhance training by offering subject-education courses.

Learning moved from the small, personalized one-room country schools to consolidated town schools. Children were sorted according to their chronological age and not necessarily on their academic ability. Teachers moved from being facilitators of learning to become grade or content-specific. 100 years later, this is the structure and system still in use today.

Growth Ring 2020
Today calls for another conversation envisioning the mission of the public schools. The dialogue must include all stakeholders designing with flexibility in mind. This discussion should include parents, educators, patrons, business and industry voices, and NOT be done in isolation.

What do schools need to be to prepare and empower kids in the 21st century? What is the definition of family in the Third Wave Digital Age? How will social and emotional needs be addressed? Reading, writing, and arithmetic are crucial but are not enough. How do we move from one-size-fits-all teaching to personalized, differentiated instruction based on a child’s learning style? What is the appropriate use of classroom technology?

Many, many questions with many possible answers. Transparent discussion and reflection is the way forward. Let’s ready and aim so as to take a good shot.

Growth Rings: Future Shock

Growth Rings: Future Shock

Back in the 70’s, as a senior in high school in Urbandale, Iowa, my teacher had me read the book Future Shock by Alvin and Heidi Toffler. The authors not only predicted advancements in technology and human achievement, but also warned of a condition in which too much change in too short a period of time would cause disorientation, anxiety, and fear. The Toffler’s called this condition Future Shock.  It appears the Toffler’s were ahead of their time, predicting a day when many will experience “too much change in too short a time” (Alvin Toffler).

Today’s advances in technology are accelerating change exponentially.  Relationships, commerce, government, religion, medicine, education, and the environment all are transforming and impacting us. In follow up books, The Third Wave (1980), Power Shift (1990) and Revolutionary Wealth ~ How it will be created and how it will change our lives, (2006) Toffler described deep systemic change for mankind. 

The Third Wave

In “The Third Wave” Toffler uses the illustration of a wave to represent society. With each incoming wave, the previous society is pushed and brushed aside. In many instances, folks within each wave do not realize change is happening until it has happened. Survival and relevance are based on one’s ability to adapt.

In the book, Toffler identifies the First Wave of societal change as the invention of agriculture. Planting seeds, growing food and domesticating animals, humans moved from wandering, nomadic tribes of hunters to community builders and farmers.  With farming, family members worked together, not separated by age or gender. Time was fluid and work was dependent on the season, the climate and the weather. 

Toffler outlines the Second Wave as the invention of the steam engine and the beginning of the Industrial Age. Toffler described this wave as: “The era of mass production, mass distribution, mass consumption, mass entertainment, mass consumption, mass media, mass education, and weapons of mass destruction.” Toffler’s words cause us to pause and reflect, especially as we realize these changes were experienced by people who are still alive today. Toffler goes on to explain, “When you combine those things with standardization, centralization, and synchronization and you end up with a style of an organization called bureaucracy.”

Second Wave innovations in transcontinental transportation and increased communication resulted in artificial “Time Zones” being created. Folks carried watches so as not to be late and clothing included design features to accommodate “timepieces.” With technological advances, pocket watches evolved to wristwatches and then into fashion statements. In other words, time on task equaled achievement, created competition, and everything became bottom line-driven. The survival of the fittest became the societal norm. Anyone not embracing these beliefs was labeled a nonconformist, a hippie or a radical.

The Second Wave redefined the First Wave meaning of the word family. While the extended family was important to farming, it was not during the industrial age. On the farm, the more family you had meant the more workers you had. In the industrial age, more family members meant an increased financial burden. The extended family evolved into the nuclear family.

Living now in the Third Wave there is both fear and excitement. Toffler describes the Third Wave as the post-industrial society and a shift to the Information Age. The technology of the Second Wave needed humans to operate, and as a result, created the Middle Class. Technology of the Third Wave is eliminating the need for Middle-Class jobs. Just as the First Wave of Agriculture and the Second Wave Industrial Age reshape society, personal digital devices, the internet, robotics, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and machine thinking is reshaping society once again.  This change is resulting in a transfer of power, discourse and the emergence of a new social class.

Growth Rings

Advances in health care have extended life expectancy and the window to work. Retirement in the United States has been pushed from 55 to 65 to 70 years old. Traditionalists and Baby Boomers are struggling to find their way into the Third Wave Information Age. Millenniums are stuck in-between the Second and Third Waves. They have incurred student loan debt that has not translated into a forever job or career. It is not unusual for them to still be living with parents and putting off transitioning into the world. All are going to have to learn and reinvent themselves.  Meanwhile, Generation Z is now in school.   

Growth Rings 

Emerging Growth Ring dispositions for the Third Wave are to have imagination, be able to problem-solve, create and analyze big data. It will be critical to be able to think “outside the proverbial box” and when opportunities arise, reinvent and make the most of the opportunity. Third Wave critical skills include empathy, relationships, communication, and the ability to collaborate.  These skills are crucial not only for Traditionalists and Baby Boomers to be relevant but also need to be strategically taught and embedded into K-12 schools for Generation Z.  

Third Wave needs are not for humans to conform and be a cog in the machine but to think and utilize technology to be creative and solve the real-world challenges facing mankind today. Recognizing Third Wave conditions, we have before us a once in a lifetime opportunity, to create a new DNA for teaching and learning.