As we exit Covid-19 many school systems are considering what education might look like in the future. The OECD has developed four scenarios for what schooling and education more generally might look like in the future.
The following video introduces the topic and shares some initial ideas.
There are 4 future scenarios outlined below and these are further elaborated in the OECD report, : Back to the Future of Education: Four OECD Scenarios for Schooling.
So Where Next?
There is a growing discussion around “new ways of doing school” as the world emerges from the pandemic and some school systems are revisiting the ‘grammar of schooling’ and seeing how they might transform their schools to better meet the needs of learners and society. Many see an enhanced role for digital technology in these new ways of doing school.
Some see the goal of education, two decades into the 21st century is :
… to become lifelong learners and develop the full breadth of skills and competencies—from literacy to problem-solving to collaboration—that they will need to access a changing world of work and be constructive citizens in society
Therefore, what kind of schools are needed to ensure young people achieve this goal and do we really need to radically reimagine our schools or should we just continue to tinker with the existing structures and hope we reach Utopia? History has taught us that it is difficult to change the grammar of schooling and would we better off further enhancing the current model of schooling, as captured in Scenario 1 and 3, rather than dismantling schools and moving to entirely new models. What kind of schools would you like to see in the near future?