Foregrounding the Study of Generations in Education Research: The Case of Filipino Students and the Isolated Generation

• Main Author: Cornelio, Jayeel
• Format: text
• Published: Archīum Ateneo 2011
• Subjects: Development Studies; Educational Sociology; Sociology
• Online Access: https://archium.ateneo.edu/dev-stud-faculty-pubs/32; http://investigacion.cosdac.sems.gob.mx/ojs/index.php/INVEMS/article/view/12/12
• Institution: Ateneo De Manila University

Despite its immediate relevance to understanding contemporary students, the study of generations has not been fully employed in education research. Setting a potential agenda for Reformare, this article proposes that a novel approach to advancing education research is by drawing from the insights of the sociology of generations. Specifically, the agenda being put forward is about discerning generational consciousness or how young people today perceive and understand their cohort. Such consciousness can then be employed to problematize and assess contemporary issues of education. This proposition is illustrated using empirical material drawn from interviews with Filipino undergraduate students. From their nuances concerning family restructuring, economic vulnerability, and political detachment, a case can be made that my informants belong to an isolated generation. Based on these ideas, the article ends with directions for potential investigation by education researchers and practitioners.