Pictured: Students work on laptops in the classroom at Taylor Ranch Elementary School. Provided photo.

The world is changing at breakneck speed, and we find ourselves at a multigenerational crossroads with important choices to make. It’s worth starting with a quick snapshot of the rising generations.

Gen Z currently ranges in age from 13 to 28 and makes up a significant share of both the global and national populations. Close behind is Gen Alpha, which has already surpassed all other generations, accounting for 24.4% of the global population—more than 2 billion people. Gen Z is the first generation to grow up fully immersed in the digital age; they are true digital natives. Gen Alpha will be the first generation to grow up fully immersed in artificial intelligence.

This matters because these two generations are poised to become among the most influential forces shaping our future. From an educational perspective, we must be ready to prepare them.

During a recent webinar on emerging educational models, a successful administrator made this comment about instructional curriculum: “I know what I had, and that’s my basis for what it should be today.”

I believe that approach is misguided. What and how we learned 25, 10 or even five years ago isn’t necessarily aligned with what today’s students need. We can’t assume yesterday’s methods still work. As another webinar participant put it, this is a choice between the status quo and forward movement.
But how do we know where education should go? There’s no crystal ball to predict future instructional needs, and the noise surrounding education policy often overshadows the central question: What’s best for kids? They are, after all, the workforce of tomorrow. Fortunately, there are clear trends we can and should pay attention to.

AI will certainly be a factor, and determining how it can best serve students’ needs is crucial now. Evolving values will also shape these generations. Well-being, cultural values and choice—not just for parents and schools but for students themselves—matter more to youth today. Research suggests Gen Z already takes charge of its own learning. When they want to know how to do something, they often turn to Google, YouTube or ChatGPT. As for Gen Alpha, its worldview is still forming, but early signs show a deep concern for fairness, inclusivity and collaboration. These emerging values offer insight into how they want and need to learn—insight we cannot afford to overlook.

We already know that many of tomorrow’s jobs will look very different from today’s, and many of today’s jobs may disappear. That isn’t new: education and the workforce had to adapt during the manufacturing age, the information age, the technical age—and now this new AI-driven era. What is new is the speed and scale of the change. We owe it to our students, our communities and future generations to get ready.

Jennifer Vigne is the President and CEO of the Education Foundation of Sarasota County.

Pictured: Students work on laptops in the classroom at Taylor Ranch Elementary School. Provided photo.