Education

for the

Apocalypse?Keri Facer & Doug Belshaw

#LWF12

Session overview

This session will take delegates through a fast paced collaborative process that will encourage them to explore radically different approaches to education in the light of economic, environmental, technological and political changes. It will explore emerging trends and significant potential disruptions, and encourage participants to confront their own fears and aspirations, and find practical steps towards creative educational change.

Hashtag

#E4A

Session structure

Introduction

Possible Futures

Futures Challenges

Purposes of education

General discussion

Continuing the conversation

INTRODUCTION

John Martin, The Great Day of His Wrath (1851)

Apocalypse?

http://edfuturesresearch.org

http://purposed.org.uk

POSSIBLE

FUTURES

Some questions

1. How old will you be in 2035?

2. What futures are you assuming?

3. What are you basing your evidence on?

4. What do you think the child entering school today might be doing in 2035?

FUTURES

CHALLENGES

TECHNOLOGICAL AND SOCIAL CHANGE

Constant connectivity - to people and to networksMassive computing power on demandMerging digital and physical – internet of things, augmented landscapes, augmented bodiesWhat is the nature of the ‘person’ in these settings?

Rise of biotech(personal genomes, bespoke medicine, cosmetic pharmacology)

When asked whether healthy children under the age of 16 should be restricted from taking these drugs, unsurprisingly, most respondents (86%) said that they should. But one-third of respondents said they would feel pressure to give cognition-enhancing drugs to their children if other children at school were taking them.

(Nature, 2009)

KNOWLEDGE

Connectivity = value in ‘finding the place for expertise’ = value in collaboration, data miningEmbodied knowledgeDangerous knowledge

DEMOGRAPHICS

By 2035 50% of population of Western Europe aged over 50, with a further 40 year life expectancy, 25% aged over 65Lifelong over 500 years? Global intergenerational relationships?

Competition for public resources?Intergenerational conflict? New intergenerational cohesion - older adults as active citizens/ partners/ co-workers/ learners?

WORKING IN THE ‘KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY’

International competition for creative roles – high skills, low wages

Casualisation of middle class roles – crowdsourcing, freelance, amateur/volunteer effort

Centralisation of creativity/autonomy in ‘global talent’ in major multinationals

Losing the ‘rungs on the ladder’ and potential for radical polarisation

ENERGY, MATERIAL AND CLIMATE CONSTRAINTS

f

Energy shocks and constraints

Climate disruptionBreakdown?

PURPOSE OF

EDUCATION

What is education for?

1. Look at the 5 continua on your sheet2. Mark an 'X' where you stand on each issue3. Discuss with the person sitting next to you4. Can you sum up your what you believe to be

the purpose of education in one sentence?5. Feed back to group

GENERAL

DISCUSSION

“"The reason that I think we need to continue to invest in the school as a physical space and a local organization, is because I believe that it may be one of the most important institutions we have to help us build a democratic conversation about the future. A physical, local school where community members are encouraged to encounter each other and learn from each other is one of the last public spaces in which we can begin to build the intergenerational solidarity, respect for diversity and democratic capability needed to ensure fairness in the context of socio-technical change. Moreover, the public educational institution may be the only resource we have to counter the inequalities and injustice of the informal learning landscape outside school."

(Keri Facer, Learning Futures)

“

A Challenge...• Open your imagination...

• By yourself, in 5 minutes, design your ideal school. No bounds. No limits.

• What does it look like? Who is there?

Continuing the

conversation

• Purpos/ed (http://purposed.org.uk)

• Petition (http://bit.ly/purposedpetition

• Ed Futures website (http://edfuturesresearch.org)

• Our contact details• Keri (k.facer@mmu.ac.uk) • Doug (doug.belshaw@northumbria.ac.uk)