Let's push some boundaries for education in the future

Workshop slides from my presentations at the Masterton Schools TOD on Tuesday 4 June, 2024. Focusing on providing tools and strategies for teachers to use when looking to become more future focused in their work, and anticipate the changes ahead etc.

1. Inspiring the next
generation of
leaders, thinkers
and problem-
solvers
[email protected]
@dwenmoth
www.futuremakers.nz
http://www.futuremakers.nz/blog
Let’s Push Some
Boundaries!
Staff Only Day, 4 June 2024
Wairarapa College

2. Activity: Openness to change

3. Scene
Setting –
Question 1
When you think about the next ten
years, do you think things will stay the
same and go on as normal, or do you
expect that most of us will dramatially
rethink and reinvent how we do things.
Rate your outlook on a scale of 1-10,
where 1 is almost everything stays the
same, and 10 is almost everything will
be dramatically different.

4. Scene
Setting –
Question 2
When you think about how the
world and your life will change over
the next ten years, are you mostly
worried or mostly optimistic?
Rate your outlook on a scale of 1-
10, where 1 is extremely worried
and 10 is extremely optimistic.

5. Scene
Setting –
Question 3
How much control or influence do you
feel you personally have in determining
how the world and your life will change
over the next ten years?
Rate your outlook on a scale of 1 –10,
where 1 is almost no control or
influence, and 10 is almost complete
control or influence.

6. Activity: What are the signals telling us?

7. Watch for signals...
“Futurists are skilled at listening to and
interpreting the signals talking. It’s a learnable
skill, and a process anyone can master. Futurists
look for early patterns—pre-trends, if you will—
as the scattered points on the fringe converge and begin moving toward the mainstream.
We need to ‘find the fringe’!”
Amy Webb

8. DISCUSS
People illustrations by Storyset
What are some of the ‘big rocks’
in education that are challenging
the work of educators currently?

9. •Threats to democracy
•Political uncertainty
•Sectarian challenges
•Terrorism (incl. cyber and bio)
•Changing balance of power
and alliances
•Pandemics / global health
POLITICAL
•Changing world of work
•Economic inequity
•Innovation economy
•International marketplace
•Loss of the ‘middle’
income earners
•“Green jobs” for the
future
ECONOMIC
•New occupations
•Changes in skill sets
•Gig / portfolio Workers
•Zero-hour contracts
•Tech skills challenge
•Multi-disciplinary teams
•Talent war
•Outsourcing
EMPLOYMENT
•Ubiquitous, high-speed
internet
•Cloud-based technologies
•Big data /analytics
•Artificial Intelligence
•Gaming, gamification
•Robotics
•Renewable energy sources
TECHNOLOGICAL
•Jurisdiction and sovereignty of
nation states
•Global corporates - Tax
avoidance
•Intellectual Property rights
•Privacy
•Cyber security
•Digital inclusion
LEGAL
•Climate change
•Degradation of natural
environments
•Impact of extractive industries
•Bio-diversity loss
•Access to potable water
•Natural disasters
ENVIRONMENTAL
•Gender and race
challenges
•Changing demographics
•Refugee and migrant
growth
•Human rights abuses
•Growing wealth gaps
•Increasing poverty
SOCIAL
•Redefining ‘success’
•New models of assessment
•Emphasis on competencies and
capabilities
•Global competence
•Digital fluency
•Learner agency & personalisation
•Wellbeing
EDUCATION
https://futuremakers.nz/education-environment-scan/
Current Initiatives:
Intended to address the Issues in our system
Transition to
work
NCEA Review
Equity focus
Te Mahau
N4L internet
& filtering
Online
content hub
Hangarau Matahiko/
Digital Technologies
Personalisation
Curriculum
Refresh
NELP
Learning support
action plan
School
redevelopment
programme
Virtual
Learning
Network
NZ Histories
Curriculum
Leadership
Centre
Hybrid Learning
Digital
Strategy
Truancy
Teacher workload
Workforce capability
Facilities management
Inequity
Student engagement
Wellbeing
IT management
Declining literacy/numeracy
Māori and Pacific Underachievement
School closuresCyber-security
Our “burning platforms”:
Requiring urgent attention,
Consequences if not addressed
Our “pain points”:
Signs and symptoms of
areas of system stress and
weakness

10. •Threats to democracy
•Political uncertainty
•Sectarian challenges
•Terrorism (incl. cyber and bio)
•Changing balance of power
and alliances
•Pandemics / global health
POLITICAL
•Changing world of work
•Economic inequity
•Innovation economy
•International marketplace
•Loss of the ‘middle’
income earners
•“Green jobs” for the
future
ECONOMIC
•New occupations
•Changes in skill sets
•Gig / portfolio Workers
•Zero-hour contracts
•Tech skills challenge
•Multi-disciplinary teams
•Talent war
•Outsourcing
EMPLOYMENT
•Ubiquitous, high-speed
internet
•Cloud-based technologies
•Big data /analytics
•Artificial Intelligence
•Gaming, gamification
•Robotics
•Renewable energy sources
TECHNOLOGICAL
•Jurisdiction and sovereignty of
nation states
•Global corporates - Tax
avoidance
•Intellectual Property rights
•Privacy
•Cyber security
•Digital inclusion
LEGAL
•Climate change
•Degradation of natural
environments
•Impact of extractive industries
•Bio-diversity loss
•Access to potable water
•Natural disasters
ENVIRONMENTAL
•Gender and race
challenges
•Changing demographics
•Refugee and migrant
growth
•Human rights abuses
•Growing wealth gaps
•Increasing poverty
SOCIAL
•Redefining ‘success’
•New models of assessment
•Emphasis on competencies and
capabilities
•Global competence
•Digital fluency
•Learner agency & personalisation
•Wellbeing
EDUCATION
Current Initiatives:
Intended to address the Issues in our system
Truancy
Teacher workload
Workforce capability
Facilities management
Inequity
Student engagement
Wellbeing
IT management
Declining literacy/numeracy
Transition to
work
NCEA Review
Equity focus
Te Mahau
N4L internet
& filtering
Online
content hub
Hangarau Matahiko/
Digital Technologies
Personalisation
Curriculum
Refresh
NELP
Learning support
action plan
School
redevelopment
programme
Virtual
Learning
Network
NZ Histories
Curriculum
Māori and Pacific Underachievement
Leadership
Centre
https://futuremakers.nz/education-environment-scan/
Our “pain points”:
Signs and symptoms of
areas of system stress and
weakness
School closuresCyber-security
Our “burning platforms”:
Requiring urgent attention,
Consequences if not addressed
Hybrid Learning
Digital
Strategy
Artificial
Intelligence

11. Activity: Where are the boundaries?

12. Imagine...
If we could design a system that had the
resilience to withstand constant change
and disruption – what would it look like? What would be different?

13. Where are the boundaries?
Structures:
•Timetables, school day
•Classes, subjects, age-based groupings
•Curriculum
•Assessment/exams
•Buildings
•Role of teacher, hierarchies
•Etc.
Processes:
•What to teach
•How to teach
•Personalisation, diversity
•Parent/whānau engagement
•Reporting on progress
•Role of technology, AI
•Etc.
Purpose:
•Future work vs future
lives
•Economic units vs
humans
•Standardisation vs
diversity
•Transfer vs
construction
•Etc.

14. DISCUSS
People illustrations by Storyset
Where does the decision making lie for each of these things?
-Purpose
-Structures
-Processes
Which of these things do you have the ability to control?

15. We need to become boundary workers
https://thesystemsthinker.com/communities-of-practice-learning-as-a-social-system/
Primary
schoolsHealth workers
and hospitals
World of work and
business
Meaning
Meaning
Meaning
ExperienceExperience
Experience
NegotiationNegotiation
Negotiation
World
World
World
Secondary
schools

16. Activity: Upside down thinking

17. “If anything can increase your ability to influence how the future turns out, it's this:
planting seeds of imagination in the minds of
tens or hundreds or thousands of other people
who can help you make whatever changes you're imagining. Urgent optimism is a balanced
feeling.”
Jane McGonigal, Imaginable
https://www.amazon.com/Imaginable-Create-Hopeful-Future_in-Community/dp/1954118333

18. Upside down thinking
Make a list of some of the things
you could state as facts about our
current school system?
(focus on its systems, structures and
processes)

19. Upside down thinking
Make a list of some of the things
you could state as facts about our
current school system?
For example.... e.g. Schools are
open for
instruction
ebtween 8.30 to
3.30pm
e.g. It is
compulsory for
all children aged
six to attend
school in NZ
e.g. Students
advance through
the system
based on age.
e.g. Schools
are physical
places
e.g. The school year is
divided into four
terms of ten weeks
e.g. The curriculum
is made up of
subjects
e.g. Attendance is
complusory until
age 16

20. Upside down thinking: Example
FACT...
•Shoes aren’t free, people have
to buy them
•Most people own more than
one pair of shoes, different
types for different occasions
•People take off their shoes when
they go to sleep at night, they
don’t sleep with shoes on.
TEN YEARS FROM NOW...
•Shoes are free
•Most people will own only one
pair
•Many people will sleep with
their shoes on

21. Upside down thinking
OUR SCHOOLING STRUCTURES e.g.
•Schools are physical places
•School starts at 9 and finishes at 3 on week days, with breaks every ten weeks
•Students are divided by age into classes or cohorts
•Students progress in year groups to the next level of schooling
•Teachers are responsible for everything including curriculum and classroom management
•Success is measured by tests and exams
•Etc.
TEN YEARS FROM NOW...
•Schools will be virtual & community-based
•Engagement in learning is 24/7 and life-long
•Learning is personalised -students participate in cohorts based on interest and passion
•Students can progess at any time based on mastery
•Robots, AI and VR will provide personalised teaching tutors for students
•Success is demonstrated by ongoing presentation of evidence and accumulation of micro-credentials

22. How can we change this...
•Choose one of the ‘flipped state’ ideas and describe what this would
be like (look, sound, feel)
•Why would/could this change happen
•Now think of the steps that would be required to make the change
•What barriers might you face?
•What enablers would be required?
•Where could you start?

23. Activity: Imagine If..

24. Learner at the Centre
“Developing agency in learners requires a
fundamental shift in the way we think
about the relationships and learning
activity in our schools and classrooms. It
recognizes the learners as its core
participants, encourages their active
engagement, and develops in them an
understanding of their own activity as
learners.”
(Agency by Design, page 10)
https://futuremakers.nz/agency-by-design/

25. Begin by listening to the learners…
Washor, E and Mohkowski, C (2013) Leaving to learn
Do my teachers really know about
me and my interests and talents?
Do I find what the school is
teaching relevant to my interests?
Do I have opportunities to apply what I am
learning in real world settings and contexts?
Do I feel appropriately challenged in
my learning?
Can I pursue my learning out of the
standard sequence?
Do I have sufficient time to learn
at my own pace?
Do I have real choice
about what, where and
how I learn?
Do I have opportunities to
explore and make mistakes?
Do I have opportunities to engage
deeply in my learning and to practice
the skills I need to learn?
Image: xphere CC0 Public Domain

26. Begin by listening to the learners…
Washor, E and Mohkowski, C (2013) Leaving to learn
Do my teachers really know about
me and my interests and talents?
Do I find what the school is
teaching relevant to my interests?
Do I have opportunities to apply what I am
learning in real world settings and contexts?
Do I feel appropriately challenged in
my learning?
Can I pursue my learning out of the
standard sequence?
Do I have sufficient time to learn
at my own pace?
Do I have real choice
about what, where and
how I learn?
Do I have opportunities to
explore and make mistakes?
Do I have opportunities to engage
deeply in my learning and to practice
the skills I need to learn?
Image: xphere CC0 Public Domain

27. Imagine If...
•Read the statement on the first page.
•Use the three questions to guide your
conversation as a group.
•Use the information on the reverse to
help inform your conversations, and to
identify specific strategies that you
might choose to pursue.
•Be prepared to share the strategy(ies)
you have selected and explain why this
is important for you.

28. Those
questions
again...
When you think about the next ten years, do you
think things will stay the same and go on as
normal, or do you expect that most of us will
dramatially rethink and reinvent how we do things.
When you think about how the world and your life
will change over the next ten years, are you mostly
worried or mostly optimistic?
How much control or influence do you feel you
personally have in determining how the world and
your life will change over the next ten years?

29. Thank You
[email protected]
@dwenmoth
www.futuremakers.nz
http://futuremakers.nz/blog