The Future of Education

COVID19, have changed the reality of people’s daily lives, all over the world. We will, inescapable, face a change of paradigm, the like of which most of us have not experienced in contemporary time. Amid the crisis, there are our children. The drawn-out isolation, restrictions and the lack of ordinary routine, will have a mental impact and show symptoms of stress [1]. To reduce fear and anxiety, children need to be listened to, to be given a sense of agency. The forthcoming paradigm shift, will most likely call for some distinct abilities, including the ability to imaging tomorrow. Such ability is a prerequisite for Future Literacy (FL) [2]. In line for COVID19, and the difficult strained situation in the year of 2020, student-centered pedagogies based on FL abilities, are a matter of urgency. This article examines FL as a pedagogical framework that prepare young students to be active future citizens. It elaborates on the ontology of FL, its transformative orientation and desirable abilities. The aim is to conceptualize FL in education for primary school students, and thus to contribute to the conversation about FL. In addition, this will offer an inclusive approach to literacy, based on the assumption that education is transformative and entails critical thinking. As a result from the first Global Futures Literacy Design Forum 2019, several viewpoints on essential actions for integrating FL to organizations were announced; FL: in higher education, for inclusivity, diversity and refugees, to redeem colonization and in policymaking (Miller, 2018). Children and children’s agency, and the role of education for primary school students were not included. This article intend to contribute to what FL can entail in relation to primary school education. The point of departure is taken in The Four Resources Model [3], which includes codebreaking, meaning-making, use and analysis. The suggested overriding aspects of FL are: ability to envision the future, identifying future competences, orchestrating actions and analyzing the actions. The article describes these abilities in detail. One core conclusion is that children need to be seen as agents of change, however, as agents that will need support and encouragement.

Keywords: future Literacy, transformative education, children as agents, future abilities.

References:
[1] Brooks, S. K., Webster, R. K., Smith, L. E., Woodland, L., Wessely, S., Greenberg, N. & Rubin, G.J. (2020). The psychological impact of quarantine and how to reduce it: rapid review of the evidence. Lancet 2020, vol 395, pp. 912-920.
[2] Miller, R. (ed)(2018). Transforming the Future. Anticipation in the 21st Century. New York: Routledge.
[3] Freebody, P., & Luke, A. (1990). Literacies programs: Debates and demands in cultural contexts. Prospect: An Australian Journal of TESOL, 5(3), pp. 7-16.