The following is a somewhat quick & dirty reflection on the symposium on the future of education that I participated in in Iceland last week.
I was on a panel at a symposium on the future of education held at the University of Iceland (UI) last Tuesday (March 20, 2012). The key speaker was my advisor, Dr. Arthur Harkins, and with me on the panel were Dr. Svanborg R. Jónsdóttir, lecturer at UI, and Dr. Jón Torfi Jónasson, Dean of the School of Education, UI.
There has been little discourse on the futures studies, and in particular the future of education, in Iceland. Consequently, the Icelandic language lacks many of the concepts used in futures discourse (for ex. Icelandic philosopher Gunnar Dal suggests in his book published in 2005, Stórar Spurningar (transl. Big Questions) that perhaps there may at some time be a field of study referred to as “futures studies” – I guess he didn’t notice that there has been such a field since the 1950-60s developing increasingly rigorous methodologies). The symposium, along with a growing interest in the future of education in Iceland, provided a great opportunity to expand Icelandic discourse on education to include discussions about futures.
The symposium started with a talk given by Dr. Harkins on the future of education from a human capital perspective. Participants were quick to point out that educational needs are based on many factors other than human capital needs. Although I was one of the people that mentioned this, I do acknowledge that the human capital perspective is an important one as policy makers increasingly consider educational development in terms of work force preparation. Nevertheless, that might also be taken as an indicator of the need to re-emphasize other aspects of education, ex. democratic participation, etc.
One point that was raised repeatedly by participants was the need to consider ethical aspects of education in descriptions of education futures. I responded specificially to this concern towards the end of the symposium. I think that what was really at issue was a lack of understanding among participants of what futures studies about education really entail. In my mind futures studies are inherently ethical as is particularly demonstrated by two essential assumptions underlying all futures studies:
1. We do not predict the future because we have no way of knowing the future. As Dr. John Moravec has put it in a course that we teach together at the University of Minnesota, “We have never been to the future and have no experience of it!” What futurists do is to consider what forces are driving change in the present and how they could affect the future. Important in this process is to identify possible sources of inequality.
2. The future is not something that happens to us; it is something that we create. By projecting toward the future on the basis of the changes we experience in the present, we consider a range of possible futures to be able to select the type of future that we prefer. If we have a clear vision of a preferred future, we can consider the steps we need to take to achieve that future. One of the most important considerations in identifying preferred futures are the ethical implications of change.
To wrap up the symposium, Dr. Jón Torfi Jónasson, briefly discussed some critical questions for consideration. One is especially worthy of attention, i.e. whose job is it (or will it be) to think about the future of education? Is it the role of research institutions, think tanks, policy makers, practitioners…? In my opinion, it is really a combination of all of these and probably more. As Michael Fullan has said, educational change is cultural change, i.e. because education is both a reflection of the society and culture that it serves and a tool for constructing that society and culture, education and culture are inextricably linked. We can hope to produce educational change on the basis of scientific evidence or what have you, but if the society to be served isn’t buying it, change is unlikely to occur. Therefore, if we want to change education to serve the future, the preferred future that we are shooting for has to be based on a vision that is shared and equally preferred by at least a majority of those affected.
The symposium was recorded (at least audio) and I hope to have the web address for the recording soon and will post.
