Monogenerational
It is a problem. It
is a problem because it puts us into boxes and the boxes are too small. In recent forums that I have been party to, I
note that people suffer from the syndrome of monogenerational thinking.
That is a pity because it does not allow them a natural breadth
of understanding. It also allows people
to make incorrect statements yet hold on to them because of the influence (and
dare I say, intimidation) of the sound room of their mono generation.
In many life, work, and family areas, we are not confined
to our age group. We interact across ages.
There is nevertheless the danger that we gravitate to what we consider
is our generation, as that - maybe - makes us feel safer and more comfortable. I would suggest that it is not a helpful
thing for us to do.
Running an independent school, the “powers that be” complained
to me that our age range was far too comprehensive. We had children from 5 to
18 playing and learning together. The establishment take was that young people
should be herded into their peer/age grouping. I noted that in the real world, i.e.,
the playground, older children softened their play to take account of the little
ones, and if one of the little ones happened to fall, then along would come to
their aid a big brother/sister (not a birth brother-sister) and administer
support, help, and comfort. In the
learning centre, it was likewise, more experienced learners helping young or
less experienced students. In fact, for
me, the whole “non-peer group” approach had positives all around, and I still do
not know what the negatives were.
In my work experience, I watch our younger staff reporting
to senior outside agencies, and often their opinions are disregarded. I then watch an older staff member take up
the call, saying the same situation, sometimes almost verbatim and I witness a
different, usually positive, response. I
think that ageism monoculture is at fault.
Suppose we want to positively respond to the world with a
significant person bringing a contribution to progress. In such a hypothetical
case, we must not live in a soundbox, be that one of monoculture,
monogenerational, or dare I say it, one of the educational or financial peer
groups.
Speaking at a conference not so long ago, I noted all the
early morning newspapers on display. I,
in my session, asked how many of the conference delegates (all “would
be world changers”) had read a morning newspaper. Almost all hands were
raised. Then, I think I asked if they
knew which was the best-selling newspaper in the UK. Not one person got the
correct answer. (https://www.statista.com/statistics/246077/reach-of-selected-national-newspapers-in-the-uk/) At this particular conference, the best-selling
newspaper was not even on sale. I guess the organiser had assessed their
audience correctly. My arguement was
that if you do not know how the world speaks, you will not communicate to the
majority effectively.
Monogenerational thinking will lead us astray. We need to
mix our age groups. We need to push ourselves to hear those who come from the
broadest possible grouping, age wise, work wise, wealth wise gender wise and
every other criterion where we don’t fit in or know about. Otherwise, we will be
found with wrong views, wrong perceptions and wrong actions. May I also add that we need to read the
papers we do not like and, (horror of horrors!) listen to the music we say, “is
not our thing!”
Adrian Hawkes
www.adrianhawkes.blogspot.co.uk
W. 588
