scientific journal of the modern education & research institute • The Kingdom of Belgium
Snowflake-style discussion: changing the discourse? Inga Milevica (inga.milevica@gmail.com) Alberta College, Latvia
«Snowflake generation» stands for the vulnerable and sensitive generation following the millennials – generation Z (Gen Z, sometimes iGeneration, iGen, the generation born between 1997 and 2012). This designation was reinforced by an article in The Telegraph magazine, describing an increase in the number of UK universities oppressing students’ freedom of speech and expression. «The origin of this term is associated with the perception of the youth of the 2010s as overly sensitive and vulnerable, and not inclined to agree with opinions and images of the world, different from those that correspond to their beliefs. The term «snowflake» itself refers to the attitude of overly caring parents who raise their children as «unique and precious snowflakes.» [Труфанова, 2017, 107 с.] I must say that this designation has already firmly entered into use not only in English in 2016, it is included in the Collin’s Dictionary, but also in many world languages. In the Russian tradition, along with the designation «snowflake generation», the designations «digital natives» («цифровые аборигены») and «Peter Pan generation» («поколение Питера Пена») are also used, reflecting the main features of this generation – not only sensitivity, but also digitalization and infantilism. Research points out even more specific characteristics of «snowflakes». This generation is even more technologically integrated than millennials, living in a cyborg-like reality in which who they are, what they do, and how they feel is intertwined with a complex world web driven by technologies. Google predated their birth, and global communication via social media has always been the norm; continuous communication with other people and with the world of information is taken for granted. Like millennials, they have experienced many oversights and infrequent fails; their attention span is even shorter than that of millennials, and their expectations for instant responses and information are even higher. [Shatto, Erwin, 2016] It is expected that «snowflakes» put technology at the center of their daily life, they are accustomed to a diverse world and feel comfortable in it. [Miller, Mills, 2019, 80 p.] The typical university environment, however, is less technology-oriented, less family-supervised, and less explicit about academic expectations than high school. In addition, students are often find it difficult to learn and they are not as individually supported as it was before. As a result, first-year students often face the first real chances of academic failure due to little direct parental involvement and more «distant» teachers than in high school. Besides, in this new university environment, they need support and want teachers to «care» for them and support their success. [Therrell, Dunneback, 2015] «As a result [...] more and more formal or informal demands are made on teachers to be especially careful with the feelings of students, in particular, to warn before class that some of the topics covered may hurt their feelings. Thus, controversial, debatable issues may ultimately be banned altogether. So, instead of the ideals of free dialogue and critical thinking, we come to dogmatism within various social groups. The «situational knowledge» of these «snowflake» students leads to the fact that they are not ready for dialogue with any other opinions and instead of improving intercultural understanding, only deterioration occurs». [Труфанова, 2017, 107 с.] So, the picture is not the most optimistic one. But is it really that bad? In the modern pedagogical paradigm, the theory of generations (William Strauss and Neil Howe (1991) in Generations. The History of American Future, 1584 to 2069) [Howe, Strauss, 2000] is known and popular largely due to the idea that representatives of different generations differ in 34
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