Targeting generation Z - How marketing strategy can advise ELT practice

At the Future of English Language Teaching Online Conference (FoELT) on 17 October 2020, Diana Bauducco presented on 'Targeting generation Z - How marketing strategy can advise ELT practice'.

As teachers and materials writers, we strive to produce engaging, effective and enjoyable teaching and learning experiences. We work hard to create, select and adjust materials to suit our students’ preferences and needs. However, we usually rely on our intuitions about what ‘works’ and we make frequent use of the same activities instead of using a principled approach (Tomlinson, 2010).

Today, a global, demanding, ethically responsible and eager to stand out (OC&C, 2019) new generation of students, Generation Z, has landed in our classrooms. They are shaking and testing our classroom management and teaching repertoires, but little is being said about how to meet the challenge they pose and bridge the gap between their needs and our ELT response. It is time to look at other disciplines for help and Marketing might hold the key. In practice, marketing and education are not so different. Both personalise their message or lessons to the diverse features of their audience, both put their audience and their product first. In this particular case, marketers have relied heavily on generational research to build marketing strategies that successfully target the very profitable generation Z, so why not use this valuable information to tailor our teaching to our teen students’ needs?

The presentation explored the unique features of this age group and some key principles employed in marketing strategy to target Gen Zers. The presenter suggested how we can let this information advise our ELT practice from the creation of materials to the selection of topics, activities and resources. Viewers will walk away with a better understanding of their Gen Z students and how to work with them.