Do we believe, with Margaret Mead, that the only thing that really changes the world is concerted effort by a small group of concerned citizens?  There will be a continuum of response to this question. If we blog it is likely that we come to believe more and more in the power of our voice, at least to attract an audience of people who are interested in what we say. I think this is a rarified few in comparison to the majority of people I know who do not read blogs, nor participate in any form of social network, outside of perhaps belonging to a Google Group or two with the posts coming to their email box only to be quickly deleted. For them the answer may depend on the contexts in which they grew up, whether they, or people they know, have participated in social change. In Ireland, where I live, the revolution (an example of people living and dying to have a voice in their world) was only a few generations ago. In the United States people recently used their voice to elect the first black president and within my memory were the riots in Salem and the work of Dr. Martin Luther King.

What good are the various networks of worldwide virtual conversation doing? What possible positive effects can they evoke? Part of that answer may lie in the historic accounts of living in worlds where no voice was allowed. People under the rule of despots and dictators have been persecuted throughout time for having a voice and saying what was on their mind. The dictators knew the power and stopped it; the people who were persecuted knew the power and sometimes gave their lives to have it. Like radio free Europe in the last century, free worlds enjoy bloggers and social networks where people connect how they want, when they want.

I muse on these ideas, provoked by wondering: Whether and to what extent will the Future(s) of Education Project will have a voice that becomes important in the world?

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In the hopes of encouraging participatory discussions internationally we use a three meeting schedule for those who want to host teams and participate in the project. You commit to host three meetings with a variety of people in your local community to discuss what young people need to thrive in the future and what your community can do to help ensure they have those advantages.  This format is flexible and all encouraged to recruit both youth, educators and non educators to the discussion.

Outline of 3 meeting participatory design (based loosely on a cycle of participatory action research).

1) Discuss what is happening in education where they are and go off to discover what other ideas have interest/merit (“sky’s the limit” thinking).  This meeting helps people discover: provocative ideas and a discussion of what they consider to be key elements for success in the world our children will inherit. Participants go off with homework to a) find our more on key topics and b) discover ideas that might relate to designs for their local context.

2) Discussion on potential designs – Schools/drop in centres? Personal learning environments? Coaches? How will people who teach/facilitate be accessed? What technology is needed? Participants craft a list of ideas and the questions they have about each, split them up and go off with tasks to either discover, plan, interview, etc to help the group come to a final (although preliminary plan).

3) Catch up, finalize design and discuss feasibility. If the design seems feasible then assign people to look into costs. If it seems unfeasible then discuss challenges and ways to overcome them. Reflect on project and plan and begin uploading reports, ideas, photographs or videos to the Future(s) website.  This meeting leaves your group ready to disband after sharing their ideas with the international community OR Ready for measurable action (more on that in other articles).

What are your ideas? Do you think this will work? Do you see yourself leading a group?

Best regards,

Alana