The School of the Future Now

Our goal at The Learnerspace is to work with schools all over the world to help create the school of the future right away. Despite the fact that so much has been written and said about education for the future and that some of the underlying principles for the school of the future are clear and irreversible, we understand that in the real world it is difficult to make that profound transformation happen, especially when faced with so many constraints and rigidities in education systems in different parts of the world.

There are many clichés when it comes to education for the future, and there is a wide variety of concepts and ideas which sometimes seem contradictory and confusing. It is said, correctly, that we are preparing students for a future that is uncertain, and for jobs that have not yet been created. Technology developments at a frenetic pace challenge our very perception of what is real and what is virtual, as well as making it very difficult to discern which of these changes would have a significant impact on the future, and particularly on education.

However, despite the almost intrinsic instability of the future, there are several principles of the school of the future that are clearly laid out and that constitute the foundations over which it can be created right away:

  • A completely redefined knowledge paradigm where we are the first generation to have access to all accumulated human knowledge.
  • The need to reassess our pedagogy to center more on learning than teaching, for teachers to become adult learners with their students and facilitate their access to knowledge.
  • Knowledge is no longer thought of as a top-down process but rather a collectively created dynamic corpus where every person has both the responsibility and the need to assume ownership over their own learning.
  • The main objective of schools, regardless of their location and grade level, is to generate students that can become lifelong learners and acquire the tools, the skills, and, more importantly, the motivation to continue learning their whole lives.
  • Technology is the primary catalyst to have access to learning, and needs to be utilized in a relevant, engaging and thoughtful manner so as to make the most of the tools that are constantly evolving.
  • At a time in which technology changes at a breathtaking pace and the impact of those changes is almost unfathomable, students must acquire a very clear set of values and be able to analyze the ethical implications of such technological developments.
  • Online interactions are increasing in their intensity and frequency, to the point where a significant proportion of our lives are lived online.
  • Students need to become entrepreneurial in their approach to learning, and develop the skills and abilities necessary to find their own role and place in the globalized world full of opportunity.
  • The world is irreversibly globalized and students have to develop global competencies as a way to understand and thrive in the interconnected world.
  • Learning is a continuous and ubiquitous process that transcends the four walls of the classroom and even the school day, so that schools need to extend their reach in space and time beyond the school building and physical interactions.
  • Creativity and critical thinking emerge as paramount skills to be developed, and problem solving, product creation and design are pedagogical manifestations that provide relevant opportunities for the learning of those skills.

 

In that context, there cannot be any standard set of steps towards developing the school of the future. Based on the above principles, and many years of experience in developing cutting-edge pedagogical solutions the target those tenants, The Learnerspace works with the school leadership team in assessing the potential for development of specific actions, strategies, changes in curriculum and pedagogy and interventions to organically develop multiple points of entry to create the school of the future within the school.

The process involves an in-depth dialogue with school leaders and stakeholders, learning about school practices, curriculum, facilities, design, technology implementation and what happens day to day at the school, in order to develop a series of strategies to jumpstart a profound transformation process, led by the school team with the support of The Learnerspace team, within a highly customized and interactive process.

A typical development process consists of:

– An initial exploratory conversation with school leaders to learn about their goals, objectives, and vision for their own school of the future.

– A school visit that includes an extended meeting and reflection with the leadership team, different observations of the school, a set of introductory general-purpose workshops on the above-mentioned principles for the school of the future, culminating in a detailed report with specific suggestions for strategies to develop the school of the future together with the school team.

– A design process with the school leadership team, which embodies the same principles that are proposed for the school transformation, working as a team to design the school of the future in what constitutes its own case study, as a way to gain relevance and strength for both the team and the proposed actions and strategies. By engaging in its own creation and design process, the team will exemplify the adult lifelong learning process that it seeks to instill at the school.

– An extended period in which the school team implements a series of strategies and projects, monitors and evaluates their development and periodically meets to reassess their impact and effectiveness with a view to sustain and improve the school of the future process.

All throughout this transformative journey, our consultants will accompany and assist the school team in providing critical feedback and technical suggestions to enrich the proposed change process. The goal is to develop a long-term plan for a self-sustainable process of reassessment of practice and technology deployment.

The School of the Future Now is a personalized and unique process for each school, and The Learnerspace will provide continuous support, professional development, coaching and advisory, with a very explicit focus on that it is the school leadership team and staff who will implement and lead the process itself.