Ethics Educators in Generation Y Classrooms
Kemi Ogunyemi
Lagos Business School
New Vistas: Ethics Education for Millennials
While basic moral principles are perennial, novel ethical challenges are thrown up in every generation, since new practices and new ways of living bring up new moral questions. Many of the issues in the 21st century were unimaginable in years gone by. Thus, for example, web privacy issues, ecommerce, technology in the workplace, e-deception, and so on, have affected relationships among people and widened the scope for potential good as well as potential harm. At the same time, globalization has increased the reach of the impact of unethical actions.
Acting in these new spaces are a new people—the millennials. According to scholars, millennials are characterized by their having grown up in a different world from the generation before them, usually referred to as generation X. It makes sense that educators who wisely adopt participant-oriented teaching and student-centered learning should be interested in which techniques are more effective for teaching millennials.
Since new concerns about the ethical sensitivity of today’s world citizens include dropping moral standards, increased materialism and consumerism, increased “selfishness” and an I-mentality, one could be justifiably worried about what could happen with regard to efforts to encourage ethical business practices. At the same time, millennials have been found to be more concerned about working for intrinsic and transcendental goals rather than reacting to purely extrinsic motivation. Therefore, they are actually more likely to be attracted to ethical companies and to act based on ideals.
There is no unified definition of the age range, which is regarded to as generation Y, or millennials, or digital natives.1 Coomes and Debard2 referred to generation X as individuals born from 1961 to 1981, while Oblinger and Oblinger3 referred to generation X as individuals born from 1965 to 1982. Presumably, generation Y then are those born from 1982 or 1983, the oldest of whom would be in their early or mid-30s now. According to Howe and Strauss,4 millennials are those born from 1982 to the present. Lin and Huang5 agree with this. Reilly6 distinguishes generation Z, born from 2000 to the present, but he acknowledges that this classification has not really been given attention in literature. Since they are in any case too young to be in business school, they can be conveniently put aside for the present purpose. Therefore, in this chapter, generation X is taken to be individuals born from 1961 to 1981 and millennials those born from 1982 to the present. The different age groups have different characteristics, which makes their learning expectations7 and consequently, their learning needs different.8 Bale and Dudney9 find that individuals in generation X are adult learners who possess more maturity and prefer more self-directed learning, as opposed to millennials who are more dependent on their instructors for instructions. Adult learners prefer this learning method as they find it easier to apply learning topics to work or life, while younger learners perceive education as being useful much later in life and are instead more motivated by the grades, competition, fear of failure, and other similar pressures. Certainly, these are only broad classifications and the reality may be different in specific instances, but they are likely to prove a useful guide to adapting pedagogy to learners in order to achieve teacher effectiveness.10
After this introduction, the next section of this chapter describes the millennials and is followed by another that discusses teaching ethics to this unique audience. This is particularly important, given the strong assertion by Wilson and Gerber that “ethical reflection must be a prominent feature of classes” for the millennial student.11
Getting to Know the Millennial
Millennials are “confident and technologically advanced, and they come with a sense of entitlement.”12 Other labels they have attracted include “Nexters, Generation www, the Digital generation, Generation E, Echo Boomers, N-Gens and the Net Generation.”13 They expect a lot from themselves and are optimistic and ambitious.14 They have been much protected by their parents and by the society. Even so, they often turn out very independent.15
Also, they want to make a difference. Many of them have been raised in dysfunctional households and this has made them somewhat individualistic, self-centered, and sensitive to criticism, real and perceived. Yet, they tend to like volunteering and helping out in their communities.16 They are open to diversity. They are almost always connected via different media, and so they are accustomed to having a lot of information and to being networked. While bringing its own disadvantages of information overload and a tendency toward passivity in receiving data without bothering to think for oneself, it also means that they are used to the idea of multiple stakeholders and ready to function in teams, including virtual.17 Visuals hold their attention longer than text. They also multitask by default.
With regard to ethical concepts, the educator also needs to understand this audience in order to plan both content and engagement. For example, they often have relatively vague notions of right and wrong and seem to think that good intentions are a key factor in determining this. They tend to have had few models of ethical behavior. Their deep respect for technology at times makes them think that if something can technically be done, then, why not; what could be wrong with it? Helping them to deepen convictions, proposing models of uprightness, showing them that being smart enough to swindle a bank of millions with some technology may not be a good reason to do it, whether the purpose is to use the money to live the good life or to feed orphans in Zoar.
Techniques for Teaching Ethics to Millennials
Millennials have unique characteristics, values, and abilities that differ from those of previous generations.18 As already noted, they are teamoriented, and they expect high standards from institutions while at the same time being rule-followers and high achievers19 and more digitally inclined than older age groups.20 For this reason, it is important that teaching and learning patterns be adapted to suit their learning styles and needs.21 Flipping the classroom so as to take cognizance of their access to information beyond the classroom and connectedness is a good way to create more time within actual class time for learning pedagogies that engage them and help them to deepen learning. This approach respects their intelligence and initiative as well as keeps them focused since they get very involved in their own learning. It also helps the teacher to keep their attention in class if the content is not what they could have easily got themselves, say, from the Internet. From previous studies on teaching ethics and on the characteristics of millennials, the following eights ideas (six pedagogy-focused and two learner-environment-focused) have been suggested as points of consideration in teaching ethics to millennials:
Respectful Discussions
Respect is the foundation for much of ethical conduct, and one of the ways it can be taught is through active listening and the teaching of active listening. Teaching ethics should therefore include this tool. Besides, in teaching ethics, dialogue and good conversation is very important. Conversational learning helps to establish collaboration, a safe environment, and the recognition and acceptance of individual differences.22 It requires everyone involved to make deliberate effort to listen and reflect on issues raised while at the same time it encourages them to proactively resolve moral dilemmas.23
Class Presentations and Position Papers
This approach feeds their desire for self-directed learning and peer teaching. It also helps them to spot the gaps in their own knowledge. Having to make a presentation in class challenges the student to take ownership of his or her own learning and to share it with others. It also gives them the scope to use technology in preparing their content and delivering it. They are motivated to carry out research on the topic(s) and the outcome of their research is easier for them to assimilate than if they were to be passive learners, for example, receiving the same knowledge through a lecture.
Group Activity and Engagement
Millennials are team-oriented, therefore they work well in groups. They appreciate being involved in hands-on peer teaching, team assignments, and group activities as they prefer socializing and being in a group to working alone.24 Group discussions within or outside the classroom are one way of achieving this. Once outside the classroom, the discussions can also be virtual, making use of web technology, which they find appealing because they are used to navigating virtual worlds. Apart from discussions, other group activities that require students to work together and could help to embed ethical concepts include scenario-based group assignments25 and role-plays that require taking responsibility or considering challenges to sustainability.
Digitalized Classrooms, Videos and Video Clips, and so on
Since millennials are more comfortable in the digital world,26 it is important that learning techniques and teaching examples are adapted to meet their digital needs.27 At the same time, technology should be brought into the classroom only insofar as it promotes genuine learning. This needs careful planning and preparation. For example, if a teacher finds the movie Lord of the Rings a suitable vehicle to convey ethical concepts, then he or she could require the students to watch it beforehand and then only show excerpts in class for analysis. Using digital media in class may also require follow-up activities. These should also be well planned in advance. Involving them in designing the teaching approach can be very successful.
Close-to-Life Drama and Issues
Many millennials have spent a lot of time hooked up to the screen— cinema, television, Internet-streamed videos, and so on, and have developed a taste for messages passed while watching life unfold rather than from static media. While one could still help them to develop a reading culture, a parallel effect can be achieved by bringing the drama into the classroom with invited guests (either to share experiences or to challenge them with a live case that they can contribute to solving there and then). If the guests are their contemporaries, they might find more resonance. If they are people who have put effort to make ethical decisions and are perhaps well known and admired by many people, this could also be very helpful, especially as such guests could model ethical behavior for the students.
Also, many millennials have the experience and skill of creating videos. This aptitude can also be incorporated successfully into teaching. For example, they can be asked to film ethical dilemmas going on around them—real or acted—and analyze these in class. This activity could bring them close to life issues as a counterpoint to case studies on paper. It also creates an opportunity to discuss the freedom to choose one’s attitude to the events of one’s life. When using case studies, one should also include a good mix of modern ones, relatively short in length, so as to ensure understanding and relevance. In general, millennials appreciate “highly visual reading teaching material that focuses on modern-day issues.”28
Reflection Exercises and Reflection Papers
The teacher who is able to provoke reflection on ethical questions has already gone far along the way to integrate ethics in the subject being taught. Reflective activity is good for developing convictions and avoiding ethical relativism. For example, that three and three would not become four because of good intentions; that it is okay to want but at what cost; that one’s concept of person may affect the way one treats others; that there is a universal appreciation of goodness (we can all reflect on people we believe have been good to us and vice versa); and so on. Provocative questions such as “What did my parents do to me that I would not do to my children?” could be a good way to stimulate a discussion on good and bad, right and wrong. Dramatic beginnings could also be aids to lead to reflection, for example, a story or a video clip confronting the audience with the realities of death and sickness. Asking them to select and share their role models and explain their selection could also be a good reflective exercise that could lead to a vibrant and rewarding discussion. This could also be in the form of take-home assignments that are to be submitted (or not) and could then be followed up with a well-prepared debrief session.
Clarity and Consistency of Standards and Values
Millennials tend to have faith in and count on authority even while they assert their independence; therefore they expect high standards of learning with adequate and structured feedback systems.29 Smaller classes, straightforward grading policies, and a mixture of values with cutting-edge technology are important in order for them to achieve their learning goals.30 In addition to standards of learning, millennials believe in the values of their parents and also tend to follow stated rules and regulations as they perceive that such rules and standards make life easier.31 In order to facilitate a successful integrated ethics session, millennials can be asked to discuss about ethical issues in the discipline in question, thus creating a forum where policies on ethics can be discussed and proposed. This type of activity creates an environment of trust as well as group bonding while recognizing and accepting the possibility of harmonizing differences in order to work together.32
Safety
Millennials often feel a sense of closeness toward their parents and expect to be kept safe always. In the classroom, they are more likely to complain about any form of inappropriateness including biased values and unfair grades.33 The classroom environment should therefore be based on trust, risk, and student sharing.34 Achieving a psychologically safe environment makes the classroom atmosphere more conducive to learning, independently of the discipline but especially when raising dilemmas that require applying ethical principles to decision making.
Staying Ahead of the Curve
The classroom is the sphere of influence of educators, where they can make their impact on promoting justice and peace in the world by contributing to grow honest and responsible people.35 Our changing times and constant technological progress reinforce the need pointed out by Cornelius, Wallace, and Tassabehji,36 to be innovative and proactive in teaching. In addition, the world is shrinking since technology has removed many boundaries both spatial and temporal. Responsible companies wish to maintain an ethical culture across markets and over time and therefore they are interested in employees who are able to reason and act ethically.37 They are facing more challenging issues and beset by new grey areas to which sound ethical reasoning must be applied. This challenges the new generation to take up the reins of organizations that not only do not harm society but also contribute positively to it. Since the younger generation is one that longs to make a difference in their communities, there is ample energy in the classroom to facilitate their understanding ethics more than ever before.
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3 Oblinger and Oblinger (2005), cited in Skiba and Barton (2006).
11 Wilson and Gerber (2008, 37).
14 Wilson and Gerber (2008); Howe and Strauss (2003).
18 McGlynn (2005); Howe and Strauss (2003).
20 Oblinger and Oblinger (2005).
24 Howe and Strauss (2003); McGlynn (2005); Oblinger and Oblinger (2005).
25 Skiba and Barton (2006); Sims (2004).
26 Oblinger and Oblinger (2005).
29 Howe and Strauss (2003); Debard (2004).
31 Howe and Strauss (2003); McGlynn (2005).
33 Howe and Strauss (2003); McGlynn (2005).
35 Sims and Felton (2006); Neesham and Gu (2015).
36 Cornelius, Wallace, and Tassabehji (2007).
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