Conclusions and Ideas Developed During the First Year of the Future(s) of Education Project

Follows is a short synopsis of the first of several research reports on the project that were presented in the fall of 2009 (ECER: Vienna, 2009 and CARN: Athens, 2009).  The focus for Future(s) is an international discussion on how education might be redesigned – addressing the question, “What do our children need to thrive in the world they will inherit? A world that we cannot imagine?

The analysis of data from our first year revealed one persistent underlying question, “Whether or how much it is appropriate for students to drive their own education process?” This is, of course a culturally driven discussion,

The Question for this Project:

What do our children need to thrive in the world they will inherit?  A world we cannot imagine.

There are many parts to this question - but it makes sense to start by asking what we think will become key skills in the future. Some answers you may want to consider are:

1. Global understanding
2. Flexibility
3. An understanding of complexity
4. Technical know-how
5. An ability to problem solve

This site is a growing repository of resources for those who want to answer this question in your own way for your own communities.  You may also want to read on this site and on the web about what New Zealand is doing with core competencies.

As you consider this idea there are many ways we invite you to relate to the larger international population that come here:

1. Ask the youth in your area to answer the question - we will post their ideas here.
2. Host a group for three meetings: to consider, to discover new ideas, to plan new futures and we will publish those responses as well.
3. Register as a member of this community and post or respond to forum discussions, start special interest groups, share resources.
4. Spread the word through Twitter, Facebook, etc and suggest others visit our site.
5. Take the survey, post your responses on the map - let your voice be heard!