The Future of Education

As we come out of this age of disruption in the economy with its impact on education, we need to commit to a process that creates schools that are great for all students. The new economy is going to demand a population that is literate and numerate, and has the social-emotional competencies to work well with others while overcoming challenges. This paper will articulate how using a systems theory approach to school development and implementation will create schools that engage in the type of continual improvement processes that will allow them to become and stay great at effectively teaching all learners. This paper will integrate ecological perspectives on human development, systems thinking, and improvement science to propose a roadmap for creating and sustaining great schools that are designed to serve all children. This paper will make the argument that failure in education is systematically organized and reflects actions taken to preserve and perpetuate deeply held societal beliefs. It will use that argument to suggest that there are other deeply held societal beliefs that, if used to systematically organize education, would lead to significantly improved results.

Keywords: Effective schools, ecological perspectives, systems thinking, improvement science;