21st Century Learners

Carol Dweck, in an article entitled “Who Will the 21st-Century Learners Be? ” discusses the characteristics of 21st-century students, their attitude towards learning as well as their hierarchy of values .

She based her conclusions on AASL document describing appropriate standards for learners of 21st century. The article points out that nowadays students do not possess features required by AASL, like for instance critical thinking or ability to evaluate themselves.The author explains that most of the current learners have “a fixed mindset”, which means that students believe to have limited intelligence capacity and, after reaching certain point in their development, they simply are not able to develop any more. Dweck claims that learners “value looking smart over learning” and “they are not disposed to engage in critical thinking to gain and share knowledge; and they are low on self-accountability and self assessment strategies”.Nevertheless, the author found the solution to that problem and explains that learners with growth mindset- those who think that the intelligence development is possible- could reach the AASSL standards. Moreover, she presents the results of her researches in which she finds that “students with a growth mindset seek out learning, develop deeper learning strategies, and strive for an honest assessment of their weaknesses…” and thanks to this their school performance was better that their peers.Professor Dweck believes a growth mindset might be broaden, and to do so, we should praise students for effort put in the process of studying rather than for their intelligence.

When they strongly believe that they are so intelligent, they could refuse further learning after making mistakes. They think that “success means they’re smart, and they conclude difficulty means they are not”.Moreover, we can also teach students the growth mindset what have a contribution to increasing their motivation. Also, familiarizing student with arcana of the work of brain helps them to comprehend the process of learning. Author believes that the successful twenty-first century learner will possess a lot of passion, curiosity and resilience.