Step 1: Discovery

There is something fun about playing games. We get less excited when we think about having to learn basic skills, yet there much the same type of learning in both, including repetition, etc. Economics and politics both employ game theory as a means of inducting and enhancing peoples' understanding

A rudimentary overview of game theory includes:

• Gamers need to know the desired outcomes, and strategies of the game. This includes payoffs per strategy.

• Games follow a pretty standard format as long as we can assume everyone cares about one particular outcome – for instance winning.

According to current trends in education, one of the six possible scenarios discussed as part of the future(s) of education project, designed by the OECD, show schools as being such huge bureaucracies that they are able to weather the changes in the outer environment without substantial change in their way of doing business. In this case we will likely see the prevailing learning environment in most locations continuing to be the classroom with a single teacher, who then is responsible to a hierarchy of individuals who run the organization. Separate schools will report further to another level of hierarchy and so on as required by size to manage the all the operations. These organizations will maintain their power due to the fact that they are certified to assess and bestow graduation credentials which remain seen in the rest of the world as having currency.

Because people will live longer, life long learning will become a client base and meeting those needs with both curriculum and counseling will be seen. This scenario also includes a consistent drive for improvement and for the inclusion of those populations marginalized by the system. Because of these last two, some systems will contain efforts to flatten the hierarchical structure, include diverse populations at all levels, mix up students by age or ethnicity by different sorting criteria, etc.

Technology is a tool for learning and although there is a continued effort to narrow the gap, there continue to be great variety of skills between teachers, students, and schools in both the types of technology used and its role in teaching, curriculum and pedagogy.

People see teaching not as a career but as a stage in a career and the mobility of teachers within and without the system continues. Teachers pull curricular resources from an increased number of sources which they share across networks.

The OECD itself says:

This scenario shows schools in powerful, bureaucratic, systems that are resistant to change. Schools continue mostly with “business as usual”, defined by isolated units – schools, classes, teachers – in top-down administrations. The system reacts little to the wider environment, and operates to its own conventions and regulations.

You can follow this link to read more about the geopolitical and attitudinal conditions that likely predict and support this scenario of greater bureaucracies for the management of schools.

According to current trends in education, one of the six possible scenarios discussed as part of the future(s) of education project, as designed by the OECD, show schools as focused on laying the foundation for life long learning through focus on experimentation and innovation. In this case we will likely see a variety of learning environments across a variety of locations and partnered with outside resources such as the media industry. Dependent upon an equality across different schools, this scenario requires society to agree on the value of schools and to fund them adequately so that teaching becomes an attractive job opportunity. Classrooms becomes open learning environments with teams of potential adults working on an as needs basis and paid under a variety of contractual arrangements. These organizations continue to maintain their power due to the fact that they are certified to assess and bestow graduation credentials but they also work in an environment where other types of certification are equally acknowledged and honored, so students may be working towards multiple ends in the same school.

Because people will live longer, life long learning will become a client base and meeting those needs with both curriculum and counseling will be seen. This scenario also includes a consistent drive for improvement and for the inclusion of those populations marginalized by the system. Because of these last two, and because government supports these frameworks for education, low quality programs disappear and high quality programs for marginalized populations become the norm.

Technology is a tool for networking and learning and is used throughout and staff upgrade their educational models through innovation in these areas. While teaching may be seldom a lifetime profession during the time they are involved staff are innovative and frequently work with outside expertise through the use of IT.

The OECD itself says:

In this scenario, schools function as focal learning organizations, revitalized around a knowledge agenda in cultures of experimentation, diversity, and innovation. The system enjoys substantial investment, especially to benefit disadvantaged communities and maintain high teacher working conditions.

You can follow this link to read more about the geopolitical and attitudinal conditions that likely predict and support this scenario of greater bureaucracies for the management of schools.

According to current trends in education, one of the six possible scenarios discussed as part of the future(s) of education project, as designed by the OECD, show schools as having developed past full service community schools on to becoming a core social center. In this case we will likely see the core focus as being the development of social and cultural outcomes and therefore very locally driven. This design requires acknowledgment of diversity and social cohesion as defining tensions of society. Classrooms may not be classrooms at all and a variety of settings with a variety of mixes between students and older people whose job is to facilitate part of the knowledge exist together. A variety of certifications are acknowledged within the society and not everyone in a learning environment will be there in order to earn any particular designation. These relatively informal and flexible settings promote lifelong learning.

Technology is a tool for networking and learning and is used by students, parents, teachers and throughout the community for communication, learning, content sharing and teamwork. Many people are considered teachers, the role having lost its career focus and moved closer to the vision “it takes a village to raise a child.” Core teaching and learning professionals work not only directly with the students but to improve the organizational frameworks that depend on the scheduling of these various resources.

The digital divide has almost disappeared, virtual communities of students of a variety of ages work transglobally on some projects.

The OECD itself says:

In this scenario, the walls around schools come down but they remain strong organizations, sharing responsibilities with other community bodies. Much emphasis is given to non-formal learning, collective tasks and inter generational activities. High public support ensures quality environments, and teachers.

You can follow this link to read more about the geopolitical and attitudinal conditions that likely predict and support this scenario of greater bureaucracies for the management of schools.

According to current trends in education, one of the six possible scenarios discussed as part of the future(s) of education project, as designed by the OECD, show schools as being frequently businesses, each competing with each other for the consumer base of students. Brought about because of general dissatisfaction on both the part of the parents and the governments, schools become one of several options in a diversified setting. Because they develop in different locale and respond to a variety of influences, they drive student to them based on their proven outcomes along a variety of markers. The models currently in place all survive and strengthen so students may be schooled some at home, some in technological or career oriented environments and some in academic settings. Equally diverse accreditation develops as well.

Life long learning becomes the norm with younger and older people alike moving fluidly in and out of semi formalized education of all sorts. International levels of accreditation or certification come into play especially in some professions such as health. Since a variety of backgrounds always exists, inequality is not addressed but rather teams compensate and encourage growth across wide varieties of backgrounds.

Technology is a tool through which imagination flourishes. Networks provide stimulation and flexibility of resources across local boundaries. Global diversification flourishes.

Teaching is no longer a distinct profession as people contract with these market driven entities for a specific time to work with a specific group towards a predetermined outcome. Shortages of opportunities may exist for areas with less financial resource.

The OECD itself says:

This scenario depicts the widespread extension of market approaches – in who provides education, how it is delivered, how choices are made and resources distributed. Governments withdraw from running schooling, pushed by dissatisfaction of “consumer.” This future might bring innovation and cynicism, and it might mean exclusion and inequality.

You can follow this link to read more about the geopolitical and attitudinal conditions that likely predict and support this scenario of greater bureaucracies for the management of schools.

According to current trends in education, one of the six possible scenarios discussed as part of the future(s) of education project, as designed by the OECD, show schools disappearing but replaced by informal learning networks. Completely dissatisfied with schools, or perhaps because of an upheavel in local culture, students access knowledge and learn to innovate through their membership in a variety of networks. Based on cooperation and interactions these networks have only as much power as their students, and the business environments they serve convey to them, making them always at risk to others who do the same job better or who are more adept at attracting network members.

Life long leaning and the movement through various networks is the norm, while standard or agreed upon curricula has disappeared. Thus the population is diverse with network popularity being determined by both local and global influences. Small group settings abound, with homeschooling and networks of homeschools extensively using technology for innovation and communication. Technology has dropped in price so that everyone has access to tools and virtually no digital divide continues to exist. Learning networks cross age, ethnic, and language boundaries.

People may be trained in education and if so may be hired by a variety of networks on an as needs basis. These “learning professionals” may be responsible of content delivery, network organization, or development of instructional materials or designed online environments to aid the dissemination of particular types of knowledge.

The OECD itself says:

This scenario imagines the disappearance of schools per se, replaced by learning networks operating within a highly develop “network society.” Networks based on diverse cultural, religious and community interests lead to a multitude of diverse formal, non-formal, and informal learning settings, with intensive use of ICTs.

You can follow this link to read more about the geopolitical and attitudinal conditions that likely predict and support this scenario of greater bureaucracies for the management of schools.

According to current trends in education, one of the six possible scenarios discussed as part of the future(s) of education project, as designed by the OECD, show local areas losing school systems altogether, either because of financial distress or as a result of repeated cycles of school decline. A continuum of responses occur, based on the ethical or geopolitical local environment – ranging from anarchy with education being the sole responsibility of parents/guardians to revitalization and as yet unimagined new forms emerging. Unfortunately differences in socioeconomic standing make this breakdown more violent and severe in some areas rather than others. Since many teachers are out of work, the wealthy may support one or more fulltime professionals while there may be a resurgence of children without basic literacy living in poverty.

The time period of collapse may see curricular pressures, differential testing patterns, greater pressures on teaching professionals and inequities increase. As socioeconomic pressures increase the tensions, some schools will become inhabitable, stretching resources more.

Life long leaning will still be an ideal, but, dependent on the availability of ICT may not be realized across societies. Businesses respond by trying to build new business models to fill the gaps.

Anyone who has ever taught may be enlisted to do what they can where they can. The home tutoring market expands. Bolstered at times by unions, corporations, philanthropic efforts etc. teaching as a profession goes into decline.

The OECD itself says:

This scenario depicts a melt-down of the school system. It results mainly from a major shortage of teachers triggered by retirement, unsatisfactory working conditions, more attractive job opportunities elsewhere.

You can follow this link to read more about the geopolitical and attitudinal conditions that likely predict and support this scenario of greater bureaucracies for the management of schools.

According to current trends in education, one of the six possible scenarios discussed as part of the future(s) of education project, as designed by the OECD, show schools as focused on laying the foundation for life long learning through focus on experimentation and innovation. In this case we will likely see a variety of learning environments across a variety of locations and partnered with outside resources such as the media industry. Dependent upon an equality across different schools, this scenario requires society to agree on the value of schools and to fund them adequately so that teaching becomes an attractive job opportunity. Classrooms becomes open learning environments with teams of potential adults working on an as needs basis and paid under a variety of contractual arrangements. These organizations continue to maintain their power due to the fact that they are certified to assess and bestow graduation credentials but they also work in an environment where other types of certification are equally acknowledged and honored, so students may be working towards multiple ends in the same school.

Because people will live longer, life long learning will become a client base and meeting those needs with both curriculum and counseling will be seen. This scenario also includes a consistent drive for improvement and for the inclusion of those populations marginalized by the system. Because of these last two, and because government supports these frameworks for education, low quality programs disappear and high quality programs for marginalized populations become the norm.

Technology is a tool for networking and learning and is used throughout and staff upgrade their educational models through innovation in these areas. While teaching may be seldom a lifetime profession during the time they are involved staff are innovative and frequently work with outside expertise through the use of IT.

The OECD itself says:

In this scenario, schools function as focal learning organizations, revitalized around a knowledge agenda in cultures of experimentation, diversity, and innovation. The system enjoys substantial investment, especially to benefit disadvantaged communities and maintain high teacher working conditions.

You can follow this link to read more about the geopolitical and attitudinal conditions that likely predict and support this scenario of greater bureaucracies for the management of schools.