Training Notebook ❘ By Justin Bailey
Welcome to your first day as the new training officer of your department. On this day, as you begin your new position, you are given a major task: deliver your department’s training program to the members of your department. You think to yourself, this should be no problem. Then the challenges are revealed.
One element that makes the fire service diverse is that it’s made up of four different generations, each with their own learning styles and delivery preferences. This has become an ever-growing challenge in delivering an education and training program that can impact all four generations that make up most of the fire and emergency services simultaneously.
Which Generation Are You?
The first step when discussing generational differences and learning styles is to identify the generational category of the individual learner. This helps the training officers or instructors delivering the training program plan on the learning style they may need to use. Remember that this is just a guideline. Individual learners may have different delivery style preferences.
Baby Boomers
The Baby Boomer generation currently includes the most senior members within the fire service, ranging from 58 to 76 years of age. While this generation has adapted to the influx of technology integration in the learning environment, they prefer verbal, job-specific, lecture-based learning. The education delivery method needs to be structured. Training that is adaptive or based on a scenario that can change may meet a little resistance. Starting with clear guidelines and objectives will assist learners from the Baby Boomer generation.
Popular training methods to reach this generation include lecture presentations, question and answer sessions, and small group projects. Providing the students of this generation with hard-copy reference material is preferred. This will allow them to conduct further structured research on the topic after the training session ends.
A big component in delivery to this generation is allowing them to incorporate their job knowledge into the training program. This will help younger members to learn from their experiences, successes, and failures. This will also allow the members to feel they are part of the training delivery, which increases buy-in for the program.
Figure 1. Generations in the Fire Service To Date
While part of this article focuses on individual learning styles among the different generations, please note that date ranges may vary based on researcher. This is due to some ages closer to the stop and start of generational periods identifying with either generation. In addition, micro generations, such as “Xennials,” will not be discussed. The generational differences do not stop with age. There are differences in preferred learning styles, so figure out which teaching method is best based on the student’s learning needs and the subject material being taught. As importantly, you may also need to discuss whether the student is a visual, auditory, or hands-on learner.
Gen-X
The Gen-X members in the department range from 43 to 57 years of age. This generation has been traditionally known as the most independent generation. This is also the first generation to start adapting technology within their learning environment. This early adoption of technology began in the early 1990s with distance learning. Due to their independent nature, the Gen-X group became responsible for their own continuing education through the Internet.
Gen-X members prefer convenience. They want lecture-based learning outside the classroom, at a distance. The use of online learning platforms allows for members to obtain lecture-based portions of the class, and in-person portions of a class can be structured around hands-on activities or role playing. The availability of visual aids, such as charts and infographics, assists this generation in gaining insight into a topic.
Gen-X is also traditionally known for their self-directed learning and the need to improve knowledge and training. Employers that allow this style of learning soon realize that the individual members are more engaged in their overall development and demonstrate improved performance.
Gen-Y
Gen-Y, or more affectionately called Millennials, make up the current majority within the fire service. They range from 28 to 42 years of age. There have been numerous articles on the management of this generation. The truth of the matter is that this generation of learners is now making up portions of some departments’ middle and upper management structures.
This generation is the first generation to fully favor technology-based training. They have the capabilities to access information quickly and efficiently through multiple resources found on the Internet and social media outlets. This has driven them to highly favor informal, individualized learning that they have the capability to seek out on their own.
However, the informality of their favored learning styles can sometimes be risky. If a source or training program is unverified and unvalidated, members may learn an incorrect method of completing a certain task or procedure. This may cause a training officer to develop a formal training program to reteach a correct method to undo the incorrect method first learned by the individual member. To avoid this issue, be sure to research sources and training programs before implementing them in the lesson.
Gen-Y members prefer their training sessions to be interactive. The initial in-person session needs to be brief and include access to technology-based resources. By directing the members to the resources as part of the program, the training officer can give verified sources of additional training and information. Supplemental training resources to use include short videos, digital handouts, and Web sites.
Gen-Z
Gen-Z, also known as iGen, are the newest members of the fire service. These members range from 18 to 27 years of age. For departments that have junior programs or “Explorer Posts,” members may be as young as 14 years old. While learning methods research for this group is still being developed, Gen-Z is known as the most technologically enabled group of firefighters. Their entire educational career has been imbedded with technology. Naturally, the need for technology within their learning environment has now transferred to their fire service careers.
One major contrast of this generation compared with the previous generations is their distaste of formal lecture programs. Studies show that Gen-Z members read less and have shorter attention spans. Despite this, they are thirsty for knowledge and want to conduct their own research.
The training officer and instructor must adapt to this knew learning environment. Make material available in digital format, as many members of this generation prefer e-books over traditional textbooks, due to their readability on various devices. Using sharable videos and additional resources on a learning platform may assist with maintaining the attention and engagement of these members.
Usually, initial training needs to be lecture-based learning due to its formalized styles. This does not mean the lecture has to be a death-by-PowerPoint® style lecture. Here are two methods to enliven your lecture:
- Incorporate short videos to break up transitions.
- Use QR codes in the presentation slides that learners can access with smartphones to direct them to additional information that makes the lecture more interactive.
As an instructor, if you direct the flow of information, you can ensure information being delivered for further research is from a credible and verified source.
Putting It All Together
As the training officer or instructor, you must be able to use all the provided information in a way that can deliver an effective training program. The program must impact the individual learners to improve their job knowledge and performance. Here are a few pointers on how to deliver a training program across four generations of learners:
- Don’t totally abandon lecture-based learning. Instead, enhance it! Use short lectures to maintain attention spans. Incorporate technology into the lecture presentation, such as videos, surveys for student interactions, and QR codes to additional information. Don’t put paragraphs of materials in slides and expect learners to continue being engaged in the program. Edit the material and make it applicable to your department and the job that members do.
- Embrace learning management systems. This will allow members to self-pace their own learning and free up precious in-person training time by eliminating routine programs. At my department, we have been able to use this in two ways: All routine regulatory compliance training (BBP, HIPPA, and other OSHA type classes) is now completed on an online learning management system, and in-service classes have the lecture portion uploaded online so that when members come to the drill field it is all hands-on or interactive training. This helps to keep everyone fully engaged in the training program.
- Embrace new and emerging technologies. As technology improves, the fire service needs to learn how to adopt and adapt training systems, such as simulators and VR technology, in the training environment. Using information from various other fields, such as medicine, law enforcement, and the military, we can see that there have been major advancements in technology. As our current and newer members become more comfortable with technology in the learning environment, the use of simulators and VR technology will allow the department to assist the members in developing recognition primed decision-making patterns that can improve the overall safety of the members and their crews.
Not One Size Fits All
Always remember, the fire service is diverse and evolving. There isn’t going to be one piece that fits everyone’s puzzle. Generational diversity is just one of those fire service puzzle pieces that influences learning styles and delivery preferences. The key is for training officers and instructors to realize this challenge and learn to adapt to it to grow. By using information, such as learning style diversity, and incorporating it into the delivery of the training program, the department will have the ability to make an impact on the four generations that make up most of the fire and emergency services simultaneously.
JUSTIN BAILEY is a 25-year veteran of the fire service. He is chief of the Oliver Springs (TN) Fire Department and a captain/training officer with the Knoxville (TN) Fire Department, where he has served since 2007. Bailey is a part-time fire instructor with the Tennessee Fire Service and Codes Enforcement Academy, delivering classroom and hands-on instruction on various topics on campus, at regional fire conferences, and at various local fire departments throughout Tennessee. He has presented on volunteer training program development, professional development, and rural fireground management at local and national fire conferences. He has an associate degree in allied health science from Roane State Community College and a bachelor’s degree in fire administration from Columbia Southern University.
