What's New - January 2007

Teaching in the Future

Alberta Education
http://www.education.gov.ab.ca

The Alberta Education web site offers some background information to help educators in their discussions about "teaching in the future." For example:

• e-Learning Profile 2006: A Snapshot of the Alberta, Canadian and International E-learning Landscape (see http://www.education.gov.ab.ca/technology/elearning/profile.pdf).
  The purpose of this paper is to provide Alberta Education and its stakeholders with background material to inform discussions about a provincial approach to e-learning. Information is provided in the form of:
  • a summary of various e-learning definitions from literature and Canadian educational jurisdiction sources;
  • descriptions of existing plans, activities, strategies, frameworks, discussion papers, policies, legislation, manuals, guides, and handbooks as they relate to e-learning in Alberta;
  • a high level profile of e-learning activities in the remaining provinces and territories in Canada, including reference to any supporting policies, legislation, standards, guidelines, and/or strategic plans where available; and
  • a high level profile of e-learning activities in Australia, the European Union, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, the United Kingdom, and the United States, including any supporting policies, legislation, standards, guidelines, and/or strategic plans where available.
  
  
  
• e-Learning Environmental Scan: Needs and Preferences / Issues / Trends and Promising Practices(March 2006) (see http://www.education.gov.ab.ca/technology/elearning/scan.pdf)
  The purpose of this paper is to provide additional background information to complement the E-learning Profile 2006 and consists of:
  • a compilation of the needs and preferences of 21st century students and of potential employers of those students (see sections 3 and 4);
  • a summary of issues that require consideration when implementing e-learning; and
  • a summary of current trends and promising practices in e-learning.
  
  
  
• One-to-One Mobile Computing: Literature Review (September 2006) (see http://www.education.gov.ab.ca/technology/emerge/resources/litreview.pdf)
  This literature review was prepared to inform the Emerge 1:1 Wireless Learning Initiative and describes several conditions for successful implementations of one-to-one mobile computing. It is referenced here due to the predicted rapid growth of one-to-one mobile computing (as reported in America's Digital Schools 2006: A Five Year Forecast (2006), see http://www.ads2006.org/main/pdf/ADS2006KF.pdf) and the ample research-based evidence that exists of the educational benefits of one-to-one computing.

Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI), Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) - Schooling for Tomorrow
http://www.oecd.org/document/6/0,2340,en_2649_35845581_31420934 _1_1_1_1,00.html
CERI's Schooling for Tomorrow program (SfT), which began in the late 1990s, is developing "futures thinking" in education, i.e., it is attempting to develop and share approaches to overcome the preoccupation with short term decision-making in education. The SfT program is contributing to the understanding of lifelong learning as a broad theme and is coordinated with parallel OECD futures work. The Schooling for Tomorrow portion of the OECD web site offers:

• tools for futures thinking (e.g., see the OECD Schooling Scenarios at http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/41/56/35393879.pdf);
• analyses of trends and contexts. For example, Jean-Michel Saussois' Reflections on OECD Studies on Knowledge Management and Related Issues: Implications for Schooling for Tomorrow at http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/41/59/35393928.pdf offers several "conclusions of interest" including:
  • "The major trend is irreversibly towards a learning economy.";
  • "The role of ICT in the learning dimension is critical."; and
  • "Large and centralized organizational structures which rely on control and communications channels are vanishing because they are ineffective (bureaucratic model). While these have been successful institutional arrangements, they are now like dinosaurs, unable to cope with a flexible environment and to respond to a growing variety of unstable demands in a knowledge-based economy. The new emerging form is a cluster of organizations, linked together for making new products or delivering services in shorter time periods, and facilitating competitive co-operation within a sector."
  
  
  
• describes initiatives from several countries that are putting futures thinking into action.

Employability Skills 2000+ / Innovative Skills Profile 2006, Conference Board of Canada
http://www.conferenceboard.ca/education/learning-tools/employability-skills.htm
http://www.conferenceboard.ca/education/learning-tools/isp.htm

To ensure that teaching in the future helps prepare students for the world of work it is critical to consider the needs of employers. The Conference Board of Canada released the Employability Skills 2000+ and the Innovative Skills Profile, both of which articulate the broad range of skills needed from employees in the information age.

Employability Skills 2000+ are the critical skills needed in the workplace including:

• communication;
• problem solving;
• positive attitudes and behaviours;
• adaptability;
• working with others; and
• science, technology and mathematics skills.

• creativity and continuous improvement skills;
• risk taking skills;
• relationship building skills; and
• implementation skills.

The North Central Regional Educational Laboratory developed a profile of 21st century skills that highlights those skills believed to be critical in a knowledge-based, global society. These skills complement those of the Conference Board of Canada and include:

• Digital-Age Literacy which includes basic, scientific, economic, technological, visual, information, and multicultural literacy, as well as global awareness;
• Inventive Thinking which includes adaptability and managing complexity, self-direction, curiosity, creativity, risk taking and higher-order thinking and sound reasoning;
• Effective Communication which includes teaming and collaboration, interpersonal skills, personal responsibility, social and civic responsibility and interactive communication; and
• High Productivity which includes prioritizing, planning and managing for results, effective use of real-world tools, and ability to produce relevant, high-quality products.

FutureSight, National College for School Leadership
http://www.ncsl.org.uk/research/research_activities/randd-future-index.cfm? CFID=4444991&CFTOKEN=57853630

The National College for School Leadership (NCSL) in England exists to help to make a difference to the lives and the life chances of children and young people through the development of world-class school leaders.

NCSL undertook an international research project in partnership with the OECD, and the Department for Education and Skills Innovation Unit and Demos to explore the nature of schools and how they respond to the challenges of the 21st century. The result of this research was the FutureSight toolkit. This "futures thinking" toolkit was developed during seminars with leading-edge schools and schools facing challenges, as well as with students, policy-makers and international colleagues. The toolkit is based on a set of scenarios for schooling in the future that was initially developed by the OECD in 2001 (see http://www.ncsl.org.uk/media/B32/0A/schooling-for-tomorrow-oecd-scenarios.pdf). When examined in combination, scenarios can help educators begin to imagine a preferred future and practical ways of making this a reality.

FutureSight is designed as a seminar built around eight hours of learning, for groups of up to 10 people, each group supported by a facilitator. It draws on the tacit knowledge and experience of the participants but it also uses the public knowledge contained within the trends and scenarios. There are four modules, each of which has a distinct learning design and a set of tools (see an overview of the models at http://www.ncsl.org.uk/media/F7B/95/randd-futuresight-modules-overview.pdf).

For a description of the key features and steps taken by five schools to implement their possible visions for schools of the future, see NCSL's discussion paper entitled Creative Ways (2003) at http://www.ncsl.org.uk/media/B2D/32/creative-waves.pdf.

Futures: Teaching 2012 (Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA))
http://www.tda.gov.uk/partners/futures.aspx

TDA is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department for Education and Skills, UK that is attempting to prepare and support a future schools workforce. TDA's Futures project (recently renamed Teaching 2020) asked the following questions of those involved in the education, training and development of teachers and associated professionals:

• What will schools, learners and teachers be like in 2020?
• What kind of education service will we need?, and
• What kind of professionals will work in this environment?

• Uncertainty and innovation: a balance between regulation and a climate that encourages innovation and experimentation and prepares teachers to be adaptive and responsive to change and challenge.
• Technology 2020: its potential to revolutionize teaching and learning but with what impact on education as a social activity?
• The role of the teacher: their function as leaders of inter-professional teams and expert practitioners in assessment for, and management of, personalized learning.
• Equality of opportunity and inclusion: the role of schooling and of teachers in mitigating societal pressures towards inequality and social exclusion.
• The commercialization of teacher education: the branding of initial teacher education and of schooling, and the evolution of teaching and learning as a commodity that could be global.

TDA has also created three scenarios for education in 2020 (see http://www.tda.gov.uk/partners/futures/thinkingahead/Scenarios2020.aspx) and released several discussion papers which were incorporated into a special edition of the Journal of education for teaching: international research and pedagogy, Looking to the future (vol 31, number 4, November 2005 (these papers can be downloaded at http://www.tda.gov.uk/partners/futures/thinkingahead/Recentdiscussionpaper.aspx).

Through continued structured speculation, TDA believes that they can learn useful lessons from what they see ahead, change the way they do things today, and do things today that can help influence and shape tomorrow. Educators in Alberta may find these resources helpful as they engage in discussions about how to shape teaching in the future.

School Design Research Studio, College of Engineering, University of Wisconsin, Madison
http://schoolstudio.engr.wisc.edu/courses.html

This site offers research reports, articles, and publications dedicated to supporting the collaborative investigation and design of effective learning settings. These resources range from articles about brain-based principles for educational design to studio-based learning models. Collectively, these resources may help communities design learning spaces that meet their needs now and in the future.

In one paper entitled Classrooms of the Future: Thinking Out of the Box (September 4, 2001) (see article at http://schoolstudio.engr.wisc.edu/futureclassrooms.html), Dr. Lackney presented 14 case studies of schools that illustrated out-of-the-box thinking in their response to 21st century educational change. He also posed four questions including:

• Where is educational practice headed? In other words, for what emergent education paradigms should we be designing?
• How has the classroom changed over time to accommodate educational change?
• What strategies might we use to start anticipating educational change?
• What big trends in school planning are we seeing?

Schools for the Future / Classrooms of the Future, TeacherNet
?DfES Crown Copyright 1995-2006
http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/management/resourcesfinanceandbuilding/ schoolbuildings/sbschoolsforthefuture/ and
http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/management/resourcesfinanceandbuilding/ schoolbuildings/sbschoolsforthefuture/futureclassrooms/

TeacherNet and the Schools for the Future and Classrooms of the Future initiatives have been developed by the Department for Education and Skills, UK as a resource to support the education profession.

The Schools for the Future web pages provide links to some design initiatives which share the common aim of ensuring that school buildings provide excellent educational facilities for staff, pupils and the wider community. This information will be useful to those involved in school building projects. One particular resource, entitled Schools for the Future: Designs for Learning Communities (Building Bulletin 95 - 2002) (see http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/_doc/3149/bulletin95[1].pdf), is a three part document that discusses: 1. key issues for the 21st century school (i.e., changing curriculum, ICT impacts, new ways of learning, blurred school boundaries, inclusion and design quality, and sustainability); 2. design issues for schools; and 3. the building process.

The Classrooms of the Future initiative embraces a number of pilot projects which focus on the creation of innovative learning environments that consider current design drivers (see http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/management/resourcesfinanceandbuilding/ schoolbuildings/sbschoolsforthefuture/futureclassrooms/designdrivers/), are imaginative and stimulating, and are designed for wider community use, with links with other schools and learning centres in the UK and abroad. The lessons learned from these pilots will be absorbed into new design guidance and will help to shape the design of schools in the future. Information about the status of and lessons learned from these projects is offered at http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/management/ resourcesfinanceandbuilding/schoolbuildings/sbschoolsforthefuture/ futureclassrooms/progress/.

The 21st Century Learning Initiative
http://www.21learn.org/

The 21st Century Learning Initiative was established in 1995 by a group of English and American academics, researchers, practitioners, policy makers, businessmen and organizations. Its essential purpose is to facilitate the emergence of new approaches to learning that draw upon a range of insights into the human brain, the functioning of human societies, and learning as a community-wide activity. The Initiative's participants believe this will release human potential in ways that nurture and form local democratic communities worldwide, and will help reclaim and sustain a world supportive of human endeavor. Their vision is about: "new understandings about the brain; about how people learn; about the potential of information and communication technologies; about radical changes in patterns of work as well as deep fears about social divisions in society, that necessitate a profound rethinking of the structures of education."

The Initiative is constantly synthesizing the emerging findings from a variety of disciplines. This web site is the reference source for this activity. Its growing knowledge base is captured in several books and articles (see http://www.21learn.org/publ/publ.html). Some titles of interest include:

• The Unfinished Revolution: A book about learning, human behavior, community and political paradox, by John Abbott and Terry Ryan.
• The Child is Father of the Man: A book about how humans learn and why (1999), by John Abbott.
• Constructing Knowledge, Reconstructing Schooling, Educational Leadership (1999), by John Abbott and Terry Ryan.
• Learning to Go with the Grain of the Brain, Education Canada (1999), by John Abbott and Terry Ryan.
• A Policy Paper: The Strategic and Resource Implications of a New Model of Learning (1998), by John Abbott and Terry Ryan.
• To Be Intelligent, Educational Leadership (1997), by John Abbott.

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills
http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills has emerged as a leading advocacy organization focused on infusing 21st century skills into education. The organization brings together the business community, education leaders, and policymakers to define a vision for 21st century education to help ensure every child's success as citizens and workers in the 21st century. The Partnership encourages schools, districts and states to advocate for the infusion of 21st century skills into education and provides tools and resources to help facilitate and drive change.

Member organizations include Adobe Systems Incorporated, American Association of School Librarians, Apple, BellSouth Foundation, Cable in the Classroom, Cisco Systems, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Dell Incorporated, EF Education, ETS, Ford Motor Company Fund, Intel Foundation, JA Worldwide? LeapFrog SchoolHouse, McGraw-Hill Education, Microsoft Corporation, National Education Association, Oracle Education Foundation, Pearson Education, Riverdeep Incorporated, SAP, SAS, Texas Instruments, Thomson Gale, and Verizon.

The New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce
http://www.skillscommission.org/

The National Commission on Teaching and America's Future was created to:

• identify the implications of school reform on teaching;
• examine steps to guarantee all children have access to skilled, knowledgeable, and committed teachers; and
• develop a comprehensive blueprint for recruiting, preparing, and supporting an exemplary teaching force.

Its national reports include What Matters Most: Teaching for America's Future and Doing What Matters Most: Investing in Quality Teaching, and Solving the Dilemmas of Teacher Supply, Demand, and Standard. These documents may assist schools with their plans to prepare / support educators now and in the future.

Wallis, Claudia; Steptoe, Sonja; How to Bring Our Schools Out of the 20th Century; Time Magazine, Sunday, Dec. 10, 2006

In this article, Wallis references a key conclusion of the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce, namely: "we need to bring what we teach and how we teach into the 21st century." He goes on to discuss their blueprint for rethinking American education from pre-K to 12 and beyond to better prepare students to thrive in the global economy. He describes what it means to be a "global student", what "real knowledge in the Google era" is, a new kind of literacy, what online resources could be, and what teachers must prepare for.