Defining the generation gap

This change in what counts as literacy has led many to speak of a fundamental shift from page to screen, from the dominance of writing and print media to the dominance of the visual and design. How the world is represented in this context, what counts as knowledge, what to attend to and how to distinguish whose interests are being served become core questions for educators to consider in responding to such change and helping young people deal with this brave new world.

Information and communication technologies now penetrate almost every area both of formal education and popular culture, blurring boundaries between education, entertainment and advertising increasingly constructing identities and relationships in terms of what is used and consumed.

The changed communication media and environment may not make a generation dramatically more out of touch with their parents than any that have gone before, but it does suggest they grow up with a different set of understandings and expectations about communication and the ways meaning is made. Young people have ease and familiarity with the digital media that make them “digital natives” in ways older generations can never be.

It has probably always been true that young people have more in common with each other, in some ways, than with their parents - this is part of the business of being young. However, put together with changes to work, media culture, globalisation and the economy, it seems reasonable to claim that there are major generational differences between those under 25 and those over. It’s not just our imagination. It’s up to all of us now to recognise the best responses to each other and such change.