Foundations of Education

Overview

Students reflect on their visions for the future of K-12 education.

Graded Tasks

  • prepare for your seminar this week

Education and the Study of the Future

For this final week of the course, you will consider what the future may hold for K-12 education, drawing on some of themes explored over the last 23 weeks of the course. During your seminar, you will participate in an open discussion in which you will be asked to reflect on your preferred (I.e., what you hope will happen) and probable (I.e., what you think will happen) visions for education over the next 50 years.

In considering your preferred and probable visions for the future of education, here are three questions to reflect on:

1. How will formal education be organized and will there even be schools as we know them?
2. What subjects and/or topics are likely to be most important for students to master 50 years from now?
3. How will future technological innovations influence how students learn and teachers teach?

In preparation for your seminar this week, write out an answer to the following question. Your TA may call on you to share your answer in the seminar:
Q24.1: Reflect on what the future may hold for K-12 education, drawing on some of themes explored over the last 23 weeks of the course. Draft a list of three predictions which focus on your preferred (I.e., what you hope will happen) visions for the future of K-12 education. Draft a list of three predictions which focus on your probable (I.e., what you think will happen) visions for the future of K-12 education. (Answer Length: 100 - 150 words | Format: Point Form)
Seminar Question

Scenarios, Tensions, and Paradoxes

In 2020, the international Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) published a report (♾) which outlines the potential scenarios, tensions, and paradoxes that may impact the future of K-12 education throughout the world. The four scenarios are:

  • Schooling Extended
  • Education Outsourced
  • Schools as Learning Hubs
  • Learn-As-You-Go

The tensions and paradoxes include:

  • Modernizing < — > Disrupting
  • New Goals < — > Old Structures
  • Global < — > Local
  • Innovation < — > Risk Avoidance
  • Potential < — > Reality
  • Virtual < — > Face-to-Face
  • Learning < — > Education