Educational needs of the Generation Alpha

Abstract

The relevance of the study is determined by the needs of current science and practice in understanding the contemporary generation of children. Nowadays, they state that after Generation Z, which was considered to be contemporary, since about 2010, there have been born children of a new generation, somewhat different from Generation Z in terms of life-sustaining activity and general characteristics. The article develops a discussion on the problem of Generation Alpha in order to address the issue of its education. It is a significant question since the majority of this cohort are already included in the system of preschool and primary education. The purpose of the study is to identify modern challenges to the educational system that arise under the influence of the new generation’s characteristics. In accordance with this, one of the objectives of the study was to determine psychological and pedagogical features of Generation Alpha. The methodological base of the research is the generational approach to the study of children’s behavior and education. The results of the study show that Generations Alpha and Z differ due to the greater influence of modern technologies on culture: Alpha is the first generation, living in a digital environment from their birth. They learn to interact with digital devices at an early age (often before their language development). It has been reveiled that this condition determines the specifics of Alpha children as a generation. By means of theoretical and empirical methods, the study has proved that the most typical features of Generation Alpha are creativity, curiosity, striving for leadership, activity and interest in the social agenda. However, a number of alarming characteristic have been singled out: excessive self-confidence, increased excitability, and the rejection of rules. The research shows that that these features and life in the digital environment explain Alpha’s needs in education. The results reveal some problems in coonection with the solution of the arising challenges (philosophical, material and financial, personnel, and methodological).

Keywords

• generation theory
• generation alpha training
• alpha and z comparison
• generation alpha characteristics
• social order