Learning Across Generations

Learning across generations belongs at the center of early childhood leadership. That connection stayed with me after I facilitated my leadership workshop at Georgia Association for the Education of Young Children's (GAEYC) 60th anniversary conference. Because my session, Building the Leadership Pipeline: Preparing the Next Generation of Early Childhood Leaders was in the first training block, I could attend my colleague Cherita Tousson Bowens's session, The Multi-Generational Workforce: How We Can Survive. As I considered our two workshops, I kept returning to the relationship between learning practices of the past and learning practices of today. Preparing future leaders requires understanding how people learn, how expectations change, and how experience can inform new decisions. 

An anniversary conference creates space to consider what a profession carries forward. Sixty years represent accumulated knowledge, relationships, and advocacy. They also invite examination of practices that deserve revision. For early childhood educators, this responsibility reaches across the adults in our workplaces and the children in our care. The ways leaders support adult learning influence what educators feel able to question, practice, and change with children. 

I use the phrase educating the 2026 generation to describe learners living and learning in this moment. That includes young children, emerging educators, experienced teachers, and established leaders. They encounter changing technologies and expectations while bringing different histories to the same learning environment. The related reflection Educating the 2026 Generation emphasizes attention, emotional steadiness, judgment, and character. Those priorities offer a useful connection between preparing children for their futures and preparing educators to lead responsibly. 

Generational conversations need care. Labels such as Baby Boomer, Millennial, and Generation Z can introduce discussion, but they provide limited guidance about an individual's learning needs. Rudolph et al. (2021) challenge the evidence behind broad generational categories and recommend more nuanced approaches to age and development at work. A teacher's questions may reflect career stage, preparation, workplace conditions, or previous experiences. Assigning those questions to a birth cohort can prevent us from understanding what support would help.

Consider an educator who asks for clear instructions before accepting a leadership assignment. A colleague might interpret that request as a lack of initiative (Long-Coleman, 2026). Another might recognize that earlier workplaces penalized decisions made without permission. Similarly, someone who proposes a new communication tool may respond to families' needs. Leaders can investigate these circumstances through conversation. Asking what shaped a person's approach creates better information than if age explains behavior. 

Learning from the past requires examining it honestly. Some educational settings emphasized following directions, reproducing information, and deferring to authority. Other traditions supported inquiry, play, collective responsibility, and learning through participation long before digital tools became common. Our profession contains these varied histories. We can preserve commitments to dependable care and respectful relationships while reconsidering routines that limit children's voices or discourage educators from explaining their professional reasoning. 

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (2018) describes learning as an ongoing process shaped by experience, culture, and context. Prior knowledge can support new learning, while familiar assumptions can also make new information harder to consider. For leadership development, I see an invitation to connect new ideas with educators' experiences and examine those experiences together. A useful discussion asks what worked previously, under which conditions, and whether those conditions still apply.  

This approach changes professional development. Begin with a meaningful problem from practice - a difficult transition, a strained family conversation, or uncertainty about a classroom decision. Invite educators to describe what they notice and explain their reasoning. Introduce relevant research, model an approach, and provide time to practice. Return to the problem after implementation. Such a sequence makes learning visible and gives participants opportunities to revise their understanding through purposeful action. 

Mentoring can support this work when learning moves in both directions. An educator with extensive experience may offer insight into sustaining family relationships. Another may contribute a strong method for documenting children's investigations. Either person can teach and learn. Pair colleagues around complementary expertise, then identify a shared question. Their purpose might be improving a transition routine or making family communication more accessible. Age alone should never determine who holds useful knowledge. 

Reciprocal mentoring also strengthens leadership pipelines. Emerging leaders need opportunities to observe decisions, practice defined responsibilities, receive feedback, and gradually assume greater responsibility. A teacher might first observe a planning conversation, then facilitate part of one, and later coordinate a small improvement project with support. Progress should reflect demonstrated judgment and readiness. Years of service deserve recognition, and access to development should include educators whose potential is still becoming visible. 

The adult learning environment provides daily examples of how authority operates. When a director welcomes a question and explains a decision, educators see a model they can adapt with children. When colleagues discuss disagreement calmly, they demonstrate a practical way to manage tension. Leaders can make these behaviors explicit in everyday coaching conversations. Ask educators about what they observed, what helped the conversation remain productive, and how a similar approach might support classroom relationships. 

Attention deserves deliberate support. Harvard's Center on the Developing Child describes executive function as supporting attention, planning, and flexible thinking; these capacities develop through experience and supportive environments (Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, 2026). In early childhood, educators can give manageable instructions, use familiar routines, allow processing time, and gradually extend meaningful engagement. A child's difficulty participating calls for observation of the task, environment, and available supports.  

A practical example is preparing children for cleanup. An educator can announce the transition, show where materials belong, and give one achievable direction. Children can help plan the sequence and notice their progress. Purposeful repetition builds familiarity while preserving participation. Adults benefit from clear learning structures, too, although their needs and autonomy differ. During training, leaders can provide a focused task, adequate discussion time, and an opportunity to apply what participants have learned. 

Emotional regulation requires teaching and support. Rosanbalm and Murray (2017) describe co-regulation through responsive relationships, environmental structure, and instruction in skills. For a young child, this may involve naming frustration, offering calm support, and practicing how to request a turn. Predictable expectations help the child understand what comes next. Educators should adapt support to development and individual needs, including disability, language, and sensory differences. Emotional expression offers information that can guide an appropriate response.  

Supporting educators' steadiness is also a leadership responsibility. Leaders can examine whether staffing arrangements, schedules, and communication allow adults to respond thoughtfully. A coaching conversation can help someone reflect on a difficult encounter and plan a different response. Opportunities to pause or seek assistance need workable procedures. Asking educators to model calm becomes more credible when leaders address the conditions surrounding their work and demonstrate the same reflective habits themselves. 

Developing judgment begins with opportunities to think. Children can predict whether a block structure will stand, compare what happened with their prediction, and explain a revision. Educators can ask what children noticed and what they want to investigate next. NAEYC's developmentally appropriate practice framework emphasizes children's strengths, individuality, and context (National Association for the Education of Young Children [NAEYC], 2020). These considerations help teachers choose questions and experiences that invite meaningful participation.  

For adults, judgment includes evaluating information before acting on it. A director reviewing an online teaching strategy can examine who developed it, what evidence supports it, and whose experiences it represents. A team can discuss whether the strategy fits its children and families. When educators use AI tools for planning or professional learning, source checking and verification should be part of training. Educators need practice explaining why a recommendation deserves trust and where uncertainty remains. 

Families belong in this learning conversation. Home routines, languages, caregiving relationships, and media experiences can inform educators' understanding of children. Ask families what captures their child's attention, what helps during frustration, and which home routines feel most workable. Discuss screen experiences with curiosity about content and context. Agree on a small practice that both settings can support, such as naming feelings or allowing time for a child to complete a thought. 

These partnerships should accommodate varied circumstances. Grandparents, parents, and other caregivers may bring different experiences of schooling and authority. Work schedules and access to resources also shape participation. Programs can offer several ways to contribute, including brief conversations, translated messages, and examples families can adapt. A consistent purpose can coexist with different practices. Together, adults can help children experience dependable relationships while respecting the knowledge and priorities within each family. 

Character develops through everyday opportunities to take responsibility. Children can repair harm and contribute to shared tasks; educators can acknowledge mistakes and revise decisions transparently. These practices prepare learners to adapt as circumstances change while remaining accountable for how their choices affect other people and their communities. 

As I reflect on GAEYC's 60th anniversary, I see leadership development as a continuing exchange between inherited wisdom and present inquiry. Cherita's session prompted me to consider how this exchange happens within our workforce. My own leadership work asks how programs create opportunities for it. Begin with one shared problem, bring colleagues together across experiences, and examine what they learn. The next generation of early childhood leaders will grow through those purposeful opportunities. 

References

Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. (2026). A guide to executive function. https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resource-guides/guide-executive-function/ 

Educating the 2026 generation [Transcript summary]. (2026).  https://otter.ai/u/jDAV8hzRlmQgYpfdxJxGFWTyp-8?view=summary 

Long-Coleman, V. (2026). Creating a culture of professionalism without toxic positivity. Imagination Station. https://www.earlychildhoodinnovations.com/blog/brain-science-2sfwx-x87ll-wb96a-xrwwy-tkwk9 

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2018). How people learn II: Learners, contexts, and cultures. The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/24783 

National Association for the Education of Young Children. (2020). Developmentally appropriate practice [Position statement]. https://www.naeyc.org/resources/position-statements/dap/contents 

Rosanbalm, K. D., & Murray, D. W. (2017). Caregiver co-regulation across development: A practice brief (OPRE Brief No. 2017-80). Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://fpg.unc.edu/sites/fpg.unc.edu/files/resources/reports-and-policy-briefs/Co-RegulationFromBirthThroughYoungAdulthood.pdf 

Rudolph, C. W., Rauvola, R. S., Costanza, D. P., & Zacher, H. (2021). Generations and generational differences: Debunking myths in organizational science and practice and paving new paths forward. Journal of Business and Psychology, 36(6), 945–967. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-020-09715-2 

About the Author

Victoria Long-Coleman, Ph.D., MBA is the Founder and Principal of Early Childhood Innovations. An early childhood educator, leadership, coach, author, speaker, she focuses on strengthening educators, developing leaders, and translating research into practical approaches that improve early childhood systems.

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