In This Story
In a fourth-grade classroom at Laurel Ridge Elementary, the traditional scene of teachers lecturing and students listening quietly was replaced by the sound of creative brainstorming and laughter. Instead of writing essays, students were filming commercials, composing jingles, and performing in front of a green screen. As Technology Specialist Caitlin Quincy explained, the shift came from a simple question: “What do we want our kids to create—and what do they need to make it happen?”
The result wasn’t just better writing—it was deeper engagement, collaboration, and pride. That same spirit of purpose-driven creativity and student choice set the tone at Engaging Gen Alpha in Higher Education, a salon held at Blenheim House in Fairfax City on October 23, 2025. Educators and health leaders gathered to imagine how colleges can prepare for a generation unlike any that has come before and how to engage this generation in transforming the future of health care leadership.
Hosted by Associate Professor of Health Administration Brenda Helen Sheingold of George Mason University’s College of Public Health, the salon blended the frontline wisdom of Laurel Ridge Elementary educators with the strategic insight of students, faculty, advisory board members, and community partners. The evening sparked a lively, solutions-focused dialogue about how to redesign graduate education for a generation defined by collaboration, curiosity, and a digital-first worldview.
Reimagining Learning for a New Generation
The Laurel Ridge panel—four fourth-grade teachers, a counselor, a technology specialist, and the dean of students—painted a vivid picture of Generation Alpha. These students, born between 2010 and 2025, thrive on visual learning, teamwork, and immediate feedback. They are immersed in technology but often lack traditional communication and resilience skills, a result of pandemic-era isolation and constant digital stimulation.
Gen Alpha doesn’t want to be talked at—they want to be part of the conversation. Anne Garvey, fourth-grade teacher, also underscored how much this generation values “choice and instant gratification.” Long lectures and passive instruction, they explained, simply don’t work. Instead, Gen Alpha students engage best through short, interactive lessons, physical movement, and hands-on problem-solving.
The message to higher education was clear: move from lecture-based instruction to experiential learning. Future health care programs must prioritize microlearning, gamification, and project-based work that mirrors the challenges of real-world health systems. “They need to learn by doing, not by memorizing,” said Laurel Ridge Dean of Students Carolina Bermudez.
Quincy, the technology specialist, urged faculty to reframe how they think about technology in the classroom. “Start with the goal in mind and then bring in student choice as much as you can,” she said. “A lot of people try to plan technology first. But instead of asking, ‘How can I make my kids use AI?’ we should ask, ‘What do we want our students to create and know when we’re done?’” That approach, she explained, leads to the kind of interactive, multimedia learning that sparks creativity and confidence—just like the green-screen jingle project.
Actionable Recommendations for Higher Education
Following the panel, working groups of teachers, George Mason faculty, students, advisory board members, and health care executives collaborated on “what comes next.” Their flip-chart brainstorms yielded concrete, actionable strategies for preparing the next generation of health care leaders:
- Modernize Learning Models: Replace long lectures with microlearning modules, case-driven collaboration, and design-thinking exercises. Learning should be active, visual, and relevant, emphasizing creativity and real-time application.
- Customize Curriculum Pathways: Give students more choice in concentrations, assignments, and learning modes (in-person, hybrid, asynchronous). Create pathways for those without health care backgrounds to enter the field.
- Integrate Technology and “Durable” Skills: Build technical fluency in tools like Power BI, Tableau, and AI while strengthening empathy, adaptability, and ethical leadership.
- Reimagine Faculty Roles: Train faculty to be facilitators and mentors rather than lecturers. Provide development in hybrid instruction and in teaching diverse, neurodivergent learners.
- Design for Flexibility and Inclusion: Create modular, technology-enabled classrooms that support collaboration and quiet focus alike. Apply Universal Design for Learning principles for equitable access.
- Build Community and Career Connections: Encourage cohort-based models, mentorship, and applied leadership projects that tie classroom learning directly to professional experience.
The Human Connection at the Core
Despite their digital fluency, Generation Alpha craves authentic human connection. “They definitely want you to hear their voice and their reasons. They have their whys and they want to know why you expect something of them,” said school counselor Morgan Rustia. “They’ll do anything for a teacher they trust.”
For higher education, the takeaway was unmistakable: cultivate trust, empathy, and purpose. Faculty must blend technological innovation with human connection—helping students see how their learning directly impacts lives. “If they can see how their actions can save a life, they’ll care deeply about learning it,” one participant noted.
A Call to Action
By the evening’s close, participants agreed that adapting to Generation Alpha isn’t simply an innovation in teaching—it’s a moral and leadership imperative. The ideas born at Blenheim House will inform future curriculum, advancing the College of Public Health’s mission to prepare bold, compassionate, and tech-savvy leaders.
Generation Alpha is still in elementary and middle school today, but participants said, “They’re coming fast—and we must be ready to meet them where they are.”
That readiness began here—with collaboration, creativity, and a shared belief that the future of health care leadership depends on those willing to rethink education itself.
The Gen Alpha Salon and Discussion Series continues this work, with an upcoming event that will bring Gen Alpha students themselves to George Mason’s campus. The series is supported by funds from the CAHME/George and Regi Herzlinger Innovation Education Award, recognizing George Mason’s leadership in transforming health care education through innovation and empathy.
Distinguished Panelists and Guests Included
Laurel Ridge Elementary School
- Lauren Belfiore – 4th Grade Teacher
- Carolina Bermudez – Dean of Students
- Anne Garvey – 4th Grade Teacher
- Stacy Gernatt – Physical Education Teacher
- Caitlin Quincy – Technology Specialist
- Morgan Rustia – Counselor
- Megan Toland – 4th Grade Teacher
College of Public Health Dean’s Advisory Board
- Jason Alexander
- Anton Arbatov
- Theresa Davis
Master of Health Administration Advisory Board Members
- Bob Leitzler
- Eric Miller
- Stacey Dessecker
Master of Health Administration Students of Distinction
- Daniella Barnor
- Paola Brown
- Taveion Mickens
- Pratyusha Satpathy
- Alli Quirk
Thumbnail photo by Taylor Flowe via Unsplash.