TEACHING STRATEGIES BASED ON GENERATIONAL TEACHER COHORTS Global Journal of Education and Allied Research (GJEAR) Volume.14, Number 6; July-2023; ISSN: 2837-3707 | Impact Factor: 7.80 https://zapjournals.com/Journals/index.php/gjear Published By: Zendo Academic Publishing pg. 17 NAVIGATING EDUCATION ERAS: GENERATIONAL COHORTS' APPROACH TO TEACHING STRATEGIES IN DOMINICAN REPUBLIC'S SECONDARY EDUCATION 1María Isabel González Santos, 2Carlos Eduardo Ramirez Peralta Article Info Abstract Keywords: Teaching Strategies, Active Learning, Generational Cohort Theory, Instructional Techniques, Secondary Schools Effective teaching strategies play a pivotal role in the dynamic process of learning and education. These strategies serve as essential tools to facilitate the transmission of knowledge and skills from teachers to learners. The spectrum of teaching strategies spans from active to passive methodologies, where active approaches engage learners directly in instructional activities, fostering deeper comprehension. This study examines the application and impact of teaching strategies across various subjects and educational levels. Key determinants influencing the selection of these strategies include resource allocation, technological integration, and instructional design. Drawing inspiration from generational cohort theory, this research focuses on secondary school educators, investigating their employed teaching strategies. A comparative analysis is performed in relation to the generational groups of teachers, exploring shifts in instructional techniques and skills in the 21st century. This work extends the findings of Romanes & Veniegas and Bharati, delving into the variances among generational cohorts concerning attitudes, lesson preparation, and teaching approaches. The insights gained from this study contribute to the enhancement of teaching methodologies, catering to diverse learner preferences and the evolving educational landscape. 1. INTRODUCTION Teaching strategies is an essential component of the teaching learning process. Teaching strategies are tools, resources used by teacher for facilitate the learning process. This learning process can be active or passive. According to Orlich et al. [1], “Active learning encompasses a wide range of teaching strategies, all of which engage the learner in the actual instruction that takes place. Seat-work is passive. Students working on problems in small groups is active” (p.40). 1 Dominican Institute for Educational Quality Evaluation and Research (IDEICE), Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic https://zapjournals.com/Journals/index.php/gjear Global Research Journal of Management and Social Sciences (GRJMSS) Vol. 14 (6) pg. 18 Teaching strategies have a general application it can be applied in all subject and for all level. The use of those strategies depend on many factors like the investment in tools and resources, etc. We apply generational cohort theory on teachers to describe the teaching strategies used in secondary schools. The work most closely related to this paper is Romanes & Veniegas [2] which “explores the differences in the 21st century teaching and skills practices among generational groups of teachers.” Another work is Bharati [3], which “examines teacher attitudes, teaching strategy lesson preparation, etc.” 1.1. Generation Cohort Theory The concept of generational differences was developed by the Hungarian born sociologist, Karl Mannheim who published his treatise on the “Problem of Generations” in the 1920s [4]. The main idea is that each generation are influenced by historical, social events, and people born within the same generation share similar characteristics. DOI:10.5121/ijite.2022.11401 There is not a general consensus regarding the cohort for each generation. In table 1 shows some basic characteristics of each generational cohorts. Table 1. A comparison of generational cohorts (adapted from [2]) Baby Boomers Generation X Generation Y (Millennials) Generation Z (iGeneration) Characteristics Hardworking, loyal, confident, cynical, competitive Anti-authority, highly individualistic, self-reliant, family focused Confident, digital thinkers, sense of entitlement, needy Realistic, creative, hyper-connected Why they are the way they are The wealthiest, healthiest, largest generation of their time. Raised to pursue their dreams Children of workaholics and divorce; the arrival of cable television and computers. Raised to be self sufficient Micro-managed by their parents, technology, always rewarded for participating. Raised to be high achievers Raised in a culture of fear, mobile technology, helicopter parents, social media Communication styles Prefer communication personal or via phone Prefer concise communication and email Prefer frequent feedback and problem solving via technology Prefer virtual communication instead of inperson meetings Problems they are facing now Retirement, rising health care Debt, caring for children and aging parents Debt, unemployment Lack of job opportunities Flaws No always open to new ideas Have difficulty committing Short attention spans Over-confident in their knowledge, lack of interpersonal skills 1.2. Education in the Dominican Republic The origins of the Dominican Republic education system can be traced back to the American Discovery. Spaniards requires, the native inhabitants of the island to get basic and rudimentary knowledge to facilitate the Evangelization of America process [5]. However, the Formal or school education on the island of Santo Domingo began in 1502. By then the basic curriculum included classes like reading, writing, calculation and Christian doctrine. Already in the period between 1822 and 1844 there were few elementary schools and almost zero coverage of secondary education. https://doi.org/10.5121/ijite.2022.11401 https://doi.org/10.5121/ijite.2022.11401 Global Research Journal of Management and Social Sciences (GRJMSS) Vol. 14 (6) pg. 19 On May 12, 1845, the Organic Law of Public Instruction was promulgated, with which the first public schools called first-letter schools were created. This law provides for the construction of a school in each common or town and two, in each head of province with primary and higher levels. The public education law of 1867 meant the consolidation of the educational system, organized the Dominican educational system for the first time, creating the Superior Board of Studies and established the obligation of the State to promote public education, the sciences and the arts and free primary education. Nowadays, in the Dominican Republic children are enrolled into preschool from the age of 3 to 6 years The primary schools last for 6 years, then they enrolled into secondary school for 6 years [7]. 1.3. Secondary Education It is the period after the primary level. It last for 6 years divided in two cycles. Each cycle lasts 3 years. It offers general training and options to respond to the aptitudes, interests, vocations and needs of the students, to insert themselves efficiently in the world of work and further studies. It includes the ages of 12 and 18 years. It is made up of two cycles. The first cycle lasts three (3) years and is common to the different modalities. The second cycle of this level has a duration of three (3) years and is developed in the modalities: Academic, Professional Technical and Arts [7]. The main goal of this study is to describe the teaching strategies use in secondary education based on the generational teacher cohort. This paper also examines whether gender, location and types of schools got some impact in the results. According to New Strategist Press [7], “Differences among generations are too often buried in statistics that look only at the population as a whole.” We want to examine if there are any differences in choosing a teaching strategy for instance, between a Baby boomer teacher and a iGeneration teacher. In this study we use the generational cohorts as described in [5], Baby boomer born 1946 -1964, Generation X born 1965-1976, Millennials born 1977-1994 and iGeneration born 1995-2009. The rest of the paper is organized as follow. Section 2, explains the methodology. In section 3, we present the results and the final conclusions are presented in Section 4. 2. METHODOLOGY The research is descriptive and a mixed approach that will measure the strategies used in secondary schools and the frequency with which they are used in the classroom. 2.1. Population and Sample According to EDUCA [8], in the Dominican Republic educational schools are grouped into 18 educational regions and 122 school districts. 248 schools distributed in the 18 educational regions of the nation were probabilistically selected. A stratified random sampling was used, choosing two teachers per school. 2.2. Data Collection Instrument To achieve the objectives set, the questionnaire was selected as a measurement instrument, in which Likert scales and dichotomous questions with open answers predominate so that participants can deepen about the strategies used in the teaching-learning process. The ethical guidelines of the research were followed, the participants gave their consent and participated freely and voluntarily. It should be noted that for this reason in some schools only one teacher participated. Table 2. Survey Dimensions Global Research Journal of Management and Social Sciences (GRJMSS) Vol. 14 (6) pg. 20 Dimensions Details Class planning • Class Goals • Topic Relevance • Daily Tasks Class introduction • Prior knowledge assessment • Class summary • Justification and important of the class Class development and practice • Teams organizations • Presentations, debates, mind maps • Blackboard • Glossary • Motivation • Questionnaire and comprehensive reading • Analogies • Summary of the topic • Problem solving Learning approach • Synchrony between topic and students capacities Closing and knowledge evaluation • Socratic Method • Complementary activities • Oral and written evaluation • Supervision of the daily tasks • Feedback • Decision making based on the evaluation results • Final questions • Clarification of doubts Technology Planning learning experiences and the use of information technologies (ICT) To measure the strategies used by the teachers, they were segmented into dimensions such as: lesson planning, class introduction, class development and practice, closure and evaluation of learning and use of technology (Table 2). 3. RESULTS We present results for each generational teacher cohort such as “Baby boomers, Baby boom or BB”, “Generation X or GX”, “Millennials or M” and” iGeneration or iG”. We also present results based on gender, school location, etc. 3.1. Sample Feature The sample mean is 40.38 years, with a standard deviation of 10.38 with an asymmetry coefficient of 0.20. with a minimum age of 21 years and a maximum age of 75 years. Table 2 shows the summary of descriptive statistics of the sample based on the age variable of the complete sample in column 2 and segmented in columns 3 and 4 based on the gender variable and in columns 5 and 6 based on public and private school. Global Research Journal of Management and Social Sciences (GRJMSS) Vol. 14 (6) pg. 21 Table 3. Sample Sex School Age Female Male Public Private Mean 40.38 41.21 38.57 40.60 40.12 Error 0.47 0.570 0.82 0.57 0.77 Median 40 42 39 41 40 Mode 43 52 43 45 40 Standard Deviation 10.38 10.35 10.30 9.30 11.56 Variance 107.89 107.06 106.04 86.55 133.52 Range Th54 47 53 45 54 Mín. 21 21 22 22 21 Max. 75 68 75 67 75 Total 489 329 157 265 224 Figure 1 shows the distribution of the sample based on the generational teacher cohorts. Millennials got the 56% of the sample in contrast with Baby boomer, with just the 5% of the sample. Figure 1. Sample distribution by age generation The basic descriptive statistics in details for each generational cohort are shown in table 4. Table 4. Sample Generational cohorts Age Baby boomers Generation X Millennials iGeneration Mean 61.65 51.11 37.60 25.02 Median 60 51 38 25 Mode 58 52 43 26 Standard Deviation 4.36 3.32 5.30 1.60 Variance 19.05 11.04 28.06 2.58 Total 24 124 273 224 Figure 2 ilustrates the gender proportion of the sample. For all generations female outperformed male. Global Research Journal of Management and Social Sciences (GRJMSS) Vol. 14 (6) pg. 22 Figure 2. Sex distribution by generation Figure 3, show the proportion of the gender in both public and private school. Most of the Baby boomers and iGeneration teachers work on private schools, 74% and 67% respectively. Figure 3. School distribution by generation There is not a Baby boomer teacher working in a rural school (figure 4), and urban schools have more teachers than rural school, this is because in our sample most of teachers works in the city. Figure 4. School location by generation Global Research Journal of Management and Social Sciences (GRJMSS) Vol. 14 (6) pg. 23 Most of the teacher got a university degree the 85% of the iGeneration got a bachelor degree and the 37% of the Generation X have postgraduate education. (figure 5). Figure 5. Education 3.1 Pedagogical Strategies The results of the teaching strategies are presented according to their dimensions and the aspects related to each dimension (see table 2). 3.1.1. Class Planning Table 5 presents the results for the dimension Class planning the 89% of the Baby boomers that works in the public schools always plan the class, and just 69% of the iGeneration teacher always prepare the class. Table 5. Class Planning GEN Female Male Public Private Urban Rural General Always BB 83% 71% 89% 76% 80% 0% 80% GX 82% 78% 82% 79% 81% 80% 81% M 82% 79% 82% 78% 80% 81% 81% iG 68% 70% 70% 69% 69% 71% 69% Frequently BB 13% 24% 11% 18% 16% 0% 16% GX 17% 21% 17% 19% 18% 20% 18% M 17% 20% 16% 20% 18% 16% 18% iG 26% 29% 25% 29% 28% 27% 28% Sometimes BB 2% 5% 0% 4% 3% 0% 3% GX 1% 1% 0% 2% 1% 0% 1% M 1% 1% 1% 2% 1% 1% 1% iG 4% 1% 6% 1% 3% 2% 3% Never BB 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% GX 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% M 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% iG 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% Legend: GEN: generation, BB: baby boomers, GX: generation X, M: millennials and iG: iGeneration. 3.1.2. Class Introduction For the class introduction, the 85% of Millennials working in a rural school always introduce the class (table 7). Global Research Journal of Management and Social Sciences (GRJMSS) Vol. 14 (6) pg. 24 Table 6. Class introduction GEN Female Male Public Private Urban Rural General Always BB 77% 76% 78% 76% 77% 0% 77% GX 77% 74% 79% 72% 76% 80% 76% M 82% 77% 82% 79% 79% 85% 80% iG 75% 80% 83% 75% 77% 80% 77% Frequently BB 23% 19% 22% 22% 22% 0% 22% GX 21% 18% 18% 23% 20% 17% 20% M 17% 21% 17% 19% 19% 14% 18% iG 21% 17% 13% 22% 21% 13% 19% Sometimes BB 0% 5% 0% 2% 1% 0% 1% GX 3% 8% 3% 5% 4% 3% 4% M 1% 2% 1% 2% 2% 1% 1% iG 4% 3% 4% 3% 2% 7% 3% Never BB 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% GX 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% M 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% iG 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 3.1.3. Class development and practice In contrast with the results presented both in table 5 and 6, the mean of the dimension class development and practice the attribute always is less than the 50% for all generations as shown in table 7. For the closing and knowledge evaluation dimension (table 8), the 79% of the iGeneration teachers working in rural schools always evaluate the knowledge of the students. The iGeneration teachers use always the technology (table 9) in the classroom (73%), however, no as we expected and no very distant from the Millennials. Table 7. Class development and practice GEN Female Male Public Private Urban Rural General Always BB 44% 40% 46% 41% 43% 0% 43% GX 43% 43% 41% 47% 44% 36% 43% M 47% 43% 46% 46% 46% 46% 46% iG 43% 48% 48% 44% 45% 48% 45% Frequently BB 37% 37% 33% 38% 37% 0% 37% GX 37% 35% 39% 34% 36% 41% 37% M 35% 35% 34% 36% 35% 34% 35% iG 31% 30% 33% 29% 30% 31% 31% Sometimes BB 19% 21% 18% 21% 20% 0% 20% GX 18% 18% 18% 17% 18% 19% 18% M 15% 20% 17% 16% 17% 16% 17% iG 21% 18% 15% 22% 20% 18% 19% Never BB 0% 2% 2% 0% 1% 0% 1% GX 1% 1% 1% 1% 1% 2% 1% M 1% 2% 1% 1% 1% 1% 1% iG 4% 4% 3% 4% 4% 2% 4% Global Research Journal of Management and Social Sciences (GRJMSS) Vol. 14 (6) pg. 25 3.1.4. Closing and Knowledge Evaluation Table 8. Closing and knowledge evaluation GEN Female Male Public Private Urban Rural General BB 65% 66% 76% 64% 67% 0% 67% GX 64% 64% 65% 67% 66% 67% 66% Always M 69% 66% 68% 72% 70% 69% 69% iG 75% 75% 78% 75% 75% 79% 76% BB 28% 29% 20% 30% 27% 0% 27% Frequently GX 27% 28% 25% 26% 26% 25% 26% M 22% 25% 22% 23% 23% 19% 22% iG 18% 21% 15% 20% 20% 14% 19% BB 7% 5% 5% 6% 6% 0% 6% Sometimes GX 8% 6% 8% 6% 7% 6% 7% M 6% 6% 7% 5% 6% 6% 6% iG 3% 3% 4% 3% 3% 4% 3% BB 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% GX 1% 0% 1% 0% 0% 1% 1% Never M 1% 2% 2% 0% 1% 3% 1% iG 2% 1% 3% 1% 1% 2% 2% 3.1.5. Technology Table 9. Technology GEN Female Male Public Private Urban Rural General Always BB 50% 21% 33% 44% 41% 0% 41% GX 47% 48% 43% 54% 48% 40% 48% M 55% 62% 59% 54% 61% 45% 57% iG 61% 56% 65% 55% 55% 73% 59% Frequently BB 44% 50% 50% 44% 46% 0% 46% GX 38% 23% 41% 26% 34% 40% 35% M 33% 27% 29% 34% 30% 35% 31% iG 22% 32% 20% 30% 31% 13% 27% Sometimes BB 6% 21% 8% 12% 11% 0% 11% GX 14% 25% 14% 18% 15% 20% 16% M 12% 9% 11% 12% 9% 17% 11% iG 14% 11% 11% 14% 13% 13% 13% Never BB 0% 7% 8% 0% 2% 0% 2% GX 1% 2% 1% 1% 1% 0% 1% M 0% 2% 1% 0% 0% 2% 1% iG 3% 0% 4% 0% 2% 0% 1% Global Research Journal of Management and Social Sciences (GRJMSS) Vol. 14 (6) pg. 26 3.2. Resources Available in the Classroom We evaluate the resources and tools used in the classroom, the origin of the resource, as well as the frequency of use of the resource or tool. Then we present the general results, expressed in percentages for each generational teacher cohort. Figure 6. Resources available in the classroom Figures 6 shows the resources available for each generation group. The 75% of the Baby boomers uses a laptop, the 83% got internet and 92% use the blackboard. The 71% of the Generation X uses a laptop(a), the 62% have access to internet and 88% use the blackboard. The 80% of the Millennials uses a laptop, the 74% have access to internet and 93% use the blackboard. The 76% of the iGeneration uses a laptop, the 79% have access to internet and 96% use the blackboard 3.3. Platforms Online platforms and tools use for virtual classes. Those platforms and tools are: Zoom, Skype, Google meet, Teams, Google classroom, Moodle, Blackboard and Edmodo. The 57% of the male baby boomers use Zoom as their primary tool for online class. Skype is not widely use. The 70% of the Generation X teacher who works in a rural use Google Meet. Table 10. Platforms Global Research Journal of Management and Social Sciences (GRJMSS) Vol. 14 (6) pg. 27 GEN Female Male Public Private Urban Rural General BB 50% 57% 33% 59% 52% 0% 52% Zoom GX 52% 50% 50% 53% 53% 30% 51% M 48% 42% 49% 42% 47% 43% 46% iG 50% 45% 30% 57% 52% 33% 48% Skype BB 6% 29% 17% 12% 13% 0% 13% GX 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% M 2% 1% 2% 1% 2% 2% 2% iG 0% 6% 0% 4% 4% 0% 3% BB 56% 29% 50% 47% 48% 0% 48% GX 47% 50% 61% 32% 47% 70% 48% Google Meet M 45% 49% 54% 36% 45% 54% 47% iG 29% 35% 43% 26% 28% 47% 32% Teams BB 38% 14% 17% 35% 30% 0% 30% GX 9% 21% 10% 13% 12% 0% 11% M 16% 19% 16% 18% 17% 16% 17% iG 16% 13% 13% 15% 15% 13% 14% BB 50% 14% 33% 41% 39% 0% 39% Google GX 48% 63% 59% 43% 51% 60% 52% Classroom M 56% 56% 58% 52% 59% 46% 55% iG 47% 52% 48% 50% 50% 47% 49% Moodle BB 13% 0% 17% 6% 9% 0% 9% GX 8% 13% 3% 17% 10% 0% 9% M 15% 17% 15% 17% 19% 5% 15% iG 8% 13% 4% 13% 13% 0% 10% BB 0% 14% 0% 6% 4% 0% 4% GX 7% 13% 6% 11% 8% 10% 8% Blackboard M 4% 5% 3% 7% 5% 3% 4% iG 8% 3% 4% 7% 6% 7% 6% Edmodo BB 13% 0% 17% 6% 9% 0% 9% GX 4% 4% 4% 4% 4% 0% 4% M 6% 4% 6% 4% 5% 6% 5% iG 5% 10% 4% 9% 7% 7% 7% 4. CONCLUSIONS Teaching strategies contribute to the development of students' skills. This study was carried out to analyze the use of teaching strategies by teachers at the Secondary level based on the generational teacher cohorts. Based on the study carried out, it can be concluded that: Secondary school teachers in the Dominican Republic use different strategies when teaching, the most used always being those belonging to the dimensions of class planning and class introduction. A possible explanation Global Research Journal of Management and Social Sciences (GRJMSS) Vol. 14 (6) pg. 28 for this would be that both dimensions have only three aspects to deal with compared to the other dimensions which have more than 8 dimensions. It should be noted that the dimension related to the use of technology is an exception to what was expressed in the previous paragraph, since it only has two aspects. but it could be explained by the fact that some teachers do not have a laptop in the classroom or internet access available. It is clear that this would affect the number of teachers using technology as a strategy. Teachers who work in the public sector use more strategies than teachers who work in the private sector, with the exception of the closing dimension and evaluation of learning. An unexpected finding was that the iGeneration teachers uses traditional tools and strategies as the baby boomers. Plat form most used by teachers is Google Classroom, excepting the Baby boomers that prefers Zoom. Teachers in schools located in rural areas have access to platforms and tools for online teaching at almost the same level as those located in urban areas. The COVID-19 pandemic speed up the investment in technology in all types of school, public, private in urban and rural area. In general, teachers employ strategies and use tools to facilitate student learning. We did not find out significant differences amongst the generational teacher cohorts. In the future, we would like to extend the study to include student perception data to evaluate how effective are those teaching strategies. REFERENCES Orlich, D., Harder, R, Trevisan,M. & A. Brown (2017). Teaching Strategies. Cengage Learning. Romanes, M. & Veniegas, S. (March, 2018). Differences among Generational Groups of Teachers in a Public School District in Their Practice of 21st Century Teaching-Learning Skills. The Asian Conference on Education & International Development 2018. Bharati, S. (2014). Teaching strategies used by secondary teachers in teaching English as a second language in rural Odisha. International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR). 3(6), 542-543 McKercher, B., Lai, B., Yang, L., & Wang, Y. (2020). Travel by Chinese: a generational cohort perspective. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 25(4), 341–354. https://ezproxy.unibe.edu.do:2085/10.1080/10941665.2019.1709877 [5] Ministerio de Educación (2019), Memoria institucional 2019. https://siie.minerd.gob.do/storage/app/uploads/public/5f1/4f1/77c/5f14f177c2ced973744833.pdf [6] Morrison R. (1993). Historia de la educación dominicana. CENAPEC. New Strategist Press. (2018). American Generations: Who They Are & How They Live: Vol. 9th edition. New Strategist Press, LLC. EDUCA (julio 2022). Sistema educativo dominicano en números. Info Educativas. 1(1), p.4.