- Celebration of what we have achieved and learnt over 50 years
- Dialogue about what learning is needed for the next 50 years.
This is not just a debate playing out in education; life today differs a great deal from life 50 years ago in so many ways that it’s hard not to think there will be further rapid change ahead. At the same time it’s also hard not to question the very foundations on which this change has been built; we can no longer confidently rely on technologies as an unqualified good; nor unquestioningly assume confidence in the processes and leaders of our public institutions; nor take for granted infinite natural resources, a stable climate, or social change that benefits all.
The choice, therefore, cannot be between fearlessly marching into the future or backing into it with the same tools and ideas we have today. This was made crystal clear by Andreas Schleicher, Director for Education and Skills at the OECD, when he drew parallels between the industrial and information revolutions (here at 26:06, but the whole thing is well worth watching), and his point is echoed by historian Stephen Toulmin who wrote: The task of shaping the future is open only to those who are ready to adopt imaginative attitudes, while deeply understanding the directions in which we are already moving.
We must not, therefore, jettison either imagination or nostalgia, for they both have things to teach us.
This notion of looking in two directions at once struck me forcibly when I came across the New Map of Life from the Stanford Longevity Centre. Today’s conceptions of old-age, and the reality of life for many elderly folk, rightly give us reason to look back (nostalgically) at multi-generational living and lament a loss. Drawing on this, and with a profound understanding of demographic realities, the report (imaginatively) outlines a compelling vision for the future whereby rather than dwelling so anxiously on the costs incurred by an ‘ageing’ society, we should reframe the conversation around measuring and reaping the remarkable dividends of a society that is, in fact, age-diverse. It is this type of approach that we seek in education - not one that dismisses the past, that seeks to wipe the slate clean and start again in technological utopia, but one that honours and builds from where we are, even though we cannot be sure of the exact destination. As Antoine St Expury said as for the future, [our] task is not to foresee it, but to enable it.
Finding the golden mean between nostalgia and imagination in education will determine the way the shaping of the thoughts, values and capabilities of today's children, will create what is to come. Civil rights activist and Baptist minister Ralph Abernathy stresses our responsibilities when he writes I don't know what the future may hold, but I know who holds the future.
References
n.a. (2021) New map of Life. Stanford Centre for Longevity
Toulmin, S. (1990) Cosmopolis. University of Chicago Press
The choice, therefore, cannot be between fearlessly marching into the future or backing into it with the same tools and ideas we have today. This was made crystal clear by Andreas Schleicher, Director for Education and Skills at the OECD, when he drew parallels between the industrial and information revolutions (here at 26:06, but the whole thing is well worth watching), and his point is echoed by historian Stephen Toulmin who wrote: The task of shaping the future is open only to those who are ready to adopt imaginative attitudes, while deeply understanding the directions in which we are already moving.
We must not, therefore, jettison either imagination or nostalgia, for they both have things to teach us.
This notion of looking in two directions at once struck me forcibly when I came across the New Map of Life from the Stanford Longevity Centre. Today’s conceptions of old-age, and the reality of life for many elderly folk, rightly give us reason to look back (nostalgically) at multi-generational living and lament a loss. Drawing on this, and with a profound understanding of demographic realities, the report (imaginatively) outlines a compelling vision for the future whereby rather than dwelling so anxiously on the costs incurred by an ‘ageing’ society, we should reframe the conversation around measuring and reaping the remarkable dividends of a society that is, in fact, age-diverse. It is this type of approach that we seek in education - not one that dismisses the past, that seeks to wipe the slate clean and start again in technological utopia, but one that honours and builds from where we are, even though we cannot be sure of the exact destination. As Antoine St Expury said as for the future, [our] task is not to foresee it, but to enable it.
Finding the golden mean between nostalgia and imagination in education will determine the way the shaping of the thoughts, values and capabilities of today's children, will create what is to come. Civil rights activist and Baptist minister Ralph Abernathy stresses our responsibilities when he writes I don't know what the future may hold, but I know who holds the future.
References
n.a. (2021) New map of Life. Stanford Centre for Longevity
Toulmin, S. (1990) Cosmopolis. University of Chicago Press
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