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The Future of Early Childhood Education: Part Two - Changing the Game for Generation Alpha

by Valora Washington
July/August 2021
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Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/the-future-of-early-childhood-education-part-two-changing-the-game-for-generation-alpha/5026070/

*This is the second in a two-part series. The first part was published in the May/June issue of Exchange.

 

Let’s talk about our children. How young children are raised and educated is an essential consideration when envisioning the future of the early childhood education profession. The field’s adaptive work (a process to discard, preserve, and reinvent our professional cultures) must include focus on the inevitable transformations, pain points, and potential game changers that influence children’s lives today. This article invites you to consider alternatives for how we will respond to trends about Generation Alpha—those children born since 2010 (National Intelligence Council, 2012).

A Transformative Generation

There are at least six transformative megatrends that characterize Generation Alpha, and therefore will likely impact our profession’s future (Washington, 2020):

  • Alpha children live in an era in which the population of the United States is aging. By 2034, for the first time in history, older adults will outnumber children. Increased human lifespan means that Alpha children could benefit from living and interacting with—gaining the perspectives of—many more generational cohorts. They will also face the challenge of reaching adulthood at the same time there is a boom in the number of aging individuals who ...

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