Predicting the future is big business. It is seen in the number of books focusing on the stock market, religion, ecology, and politics. ...and then there is talk radio and the internet. We have a fascination with the future, and the incentive to be prepared.
In August I attended the School Administrators of Iowa Conference. One session was particularly interesting. Gary Marx , the President of The Center for Public Outreach commented on sixteen trends that will “profoundly impact education and the whole of society” in this century. I will share five, without comment.
• For the first time in history, the old will outnumber the young.
• Social and intellectual capital will become economic drivers, intensifying competition for well educated people.
• Continuous improvement and collaboration will replace quick fixes and defense of the status quo.
• Technology will increase the speed of communication and the pace of advancement or decline.
• Standards and high stakes tests will fuel a demand for personalization in an education system increasingly committed to lifelong human development.
These are trends, the products of the educated guess, projecting the past into the future. There is a saying related to financial trends: “The longer a trend lasts, the greater the probability it will reverse itself.” What do you think?
Monday, November 19, 2007
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