Sifting Through Gen Z Stereotypes: Using Critical Empathy to Assess Writers’ Invisible Learning

Abstract

What narratives shape the Gen Z experience and how do these impact instructor evaluation of student work? This article explores how cultural narratives can undermine student resilience and challenges educators to reframe rigor. The piece features assessment data to describe the impact of student self-annotation to help build positive academic self-concept. Using both close analysis of a student’s self-annotations and reporting on macro-level program assessment efforts (N=65), the authors highlight the ways students developed self-regulation, metacognition, and agency. They call for critical empathy as a reflexive lens all instructors can use to disrupt stereotypes and forge more egalitarian learning spaces