Generations at School: Building an Age-Friendly Learning Community

"An insightful and uplifting read!"
―James Rickabaugh, Superintendent, Whitefish Bay School District, WI

"Baby boomer teachers are now the old guard. Gen-Xers demand accountability and transparency. And Millennials are recasting the attitudes and behaviors of youth. The authors provide a roadmap that rings true with anyone who works in a school."
―Neil Howe, LifeCourse Associates
Author, Generations and Millennials Rising

An enlightening guide to encourage multigenerational school staff collaboration.

Today′s workforce comprises distinct generational cohorts―Veterans, Baby Boomers, Gen-Xers, and Millennials. Generations at School provides educators with the knowledge and tools to create and sustain true collaboration, teamwork, and consensus.

Suzette Lovely and Austin G. Buffum introduce the traits and tipping points of these diverse age groups, while providing:

• Case studies and workplace alternatives for the hiring and retention of high-quality employees as well as practices for orientation, mentoring, and boosting schoolwide communication
• Guidelines for examining the generational footprint of an entire district, department, or school site
• Easy-to-apply strategies to promote cross-generational collaboration, performance, and harmony

When sound communication emerges and differences are understood, school districts can create communities that appreciate the uniqueness of each member and value the rich contributions from a multigenerational staff.

Suzette Lovely is the deputy superintendent of personnel services for the Capistrano Unified School District in Orange County, CA. She has spent 24 years in public education as a teacher, assistant principal, elementary principal, and director of elementary operations. Lovely also serves as an adjunct faculty member at Chapman University, teaching courses in educational administration.

Author of two previous books: Setting Leadership Priorities: What’s Necessary, What’s Nice and What’s Got to Go (Corwin Press, 2006) and Staffing the Principalship: Finding, Coaching and Mentoring School Leaders (ASCD, 2004), Lovely is also a staff writer for Master Teacher publications.

Austin G. Buffum is currently adjunct professor of educational leadership at Chapman University and California State University, Fullerton. He recently retired as the senior deputy superintendent of the Capistrano Unified School District in South Orange County, CA. During his 34-year career, Buffum served as a music teacher and coordinator, elementary school principal, curriculum director, and assistant superintendent.

Buffum was selected as the 2006 Curriculum and Instruction Administrator of the Year by the Association of California School Administrators. He has presented at scores of regional and national conferences and speaks regularly to schools, districts, and departments of education across the nation about his passion for professional learning.