A recent PwC report, The Future of Work - A Journey to 2022, began to raise questions about how technological breakthroughs or industrial shifts might cause work to change beyond recognition. It looked not just at physical changes to the workplace but also at the psychological and behavioural impact of these advancements on our future cohorts of students and employees.

There is no doubt that the next generation are hugely different in their social and technological interactions, and to think otherwise could be foolish and counterproductive. If we are to respond effectively at an individual or institutional level, then first we must accept this radical shift.

As educational institutions, this leads us to ask two critical questions: firstly, how do our pedagogical approaches, engagement and support need to respond to the new wave of students? Secondly, as employers, how might we need to lead the way in supporting the employees of the future?

At play, we have Generation Y (otherwise known as millennials) who were born in the 2000s and are coming to a college or workplace near you, right now. Then fast at their heels are Generation Z. This cohort are the “neo-digital natives”.

Gen Y and Z have grown up with the internet; have made the shift from PC to mobile; they communicate in short, two-way conversations using under-constructed sentences. They have never known a world without iPods. They need constant feedback with an intrinsic immediacy. They are very adept at managing networks of friendship groups (virtually), as well as processing huge amounts of superficial data.

No more jobs for life

Teaching has often been seen as a transfer of the respected canon of knowledge. But to this new cohort, information - and therefore knowledge - is both quick and disposable. They access information freely and, as a result, aren’t bound by constraints or a reliance on teachers to explain something. In the workplace they will begin to expect flexibility and will become adept at quick, project-based work. They will look for a quick answer to a problem and call on others to solve it with them. In the future they are likely to be permanent freelancers. This cohort expect to work for SMEs and independent companies, according to the Deloitte Millennial Survey 2016, no longer anticipating a job for life but a life of jobs.

The Harvard Business Review suggests the top five things a millennial wants from an employer are: a commitment to developing skills for the future; strong values; customisable reward packages; a blend and balance of work and life; and a clear career path.

Teaching has often been seen as a transfer of the respected canon of knowledge. But to this new cohort, information - and therefore knowledge - is both quick and disposable

There is an opportunity that arises from the innate sense of entitlement found in Gen Z: they believe in themselves and that they can be and have what they desire. They have all the resources they need and can make a difference. They see themselves as a solution to the problems of global warming and poor social cohesion, and are much more likely to pursue careers that help society.

Millennials tend to work within broadly positive communities, they wish to co-create solutions, they are passionate about values, and 85 per cent of teenagers name a parent as their best friend.

They naturally want to influence what they do and buy. The result of this new way of consuming will apply to education and work, potentially shifting and rebalancing the power in educational and employment relationships.

However, as millennials were born within a quick-moving, skin-deep, disposable world, they will likely need support from educators and business in understanding how to deal with any setbacks and failure that they might experience. They will need to be more resilient and will have to develop perseverance if they are to succeed.

How we respond in teaching institutions and also at an individual teacher level is important. Pedagogically, this means far more than creating online content and dumping material in a virtual learning environment. It fundamentally shifts the role of teacher from, as the blended learning cliché goes, “the sage on the stage to the guide on the side”.

Teachers will set problems and facilitate their solving. Activities will need more immediate feedback than ever before. The students won’t rely on the teacher for information - but will rely more on them in making sense of that information.

Wellbeing and resilience

Colleges’ recruitment will become more viral and TripAdvisor-style, rather than standard careers sessions or formal presentations. Colleges of the future might have to dispense with the traditional structured collection of 60-minute lessons in exchange for flexible modes of attendance.

The role of teaching wellbeing will become more important, as helping students to be increasingly resilient and manage their emotional responses becomes a essential (hitherto “skimmed” over).

The teaching of employability skills will hold equal importance with technical skills, and will be underpinned by project learning, to prepare students for the “portfolio careers” of their futures.

The most forward-thinking educators will now begin to make a more in-depth appraisal of how employment changes now and in the future will need to be reflected in their educational responses.

This will need to happen quickly, as the millennials are already here - and Gen Z are not far behind. How we can learn from, and utilise, their new-world thinking to improve our education system and future business is now worth considering. Let’s grab the opportunity...it might be as easy as X, Y, Z.

Stuart Rimmer is principal and chief executive of Great Yarmouth College. He tweets @coachinception