Back to the Future is not Mission Impossible For the Young and the Restless

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Back to the Futureis not Mission
ImpossibleFor the Young and the Restless

• National Middle School Association
• Houston, Texas
• November 8, 2007
• Presenters
• Robert L. Furman
• Catherine L. Luke

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What world will they face?
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From the World Future Society

• The way we organize schools and provide
  instruction is essentially the same as it was
  when our Founding Fathers went to school. Many
  education and training institutions have simply
  applied technology on top of traditional teaching
  practices rather than reinventing themselves
  around the possibilities new technologies
  present.

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Global Forces

• Issues and Projections

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Childrens nature deficit disorder will grow as
a health threat.

• Children today are spending less time in direct
  contact with nature than did previous generations
• Impacts on lack of physical fitness and growing
  prevalence of hyperactivity and attention
  deficit.
• Studies show immersing children in outdoor
  settings (away from TV and video games) fosters
  more creative mental activity and concentration.

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Generation Y will migrate overseas

• Population born between 1978 and 1995 may be the
  first generation to have many members leave the
  country to live overseas
• By 2025, 70 of Americans will live on the
  countrys coasts
• (Brown and Weiner, 2007)

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The U. S. Work Force

• 1 out of 4 workers today has been working for
  their current employer for less than 1 year
• Todays learner will have 10-14 jobs by the age
  of 38
• (U.S. Department of Labor)
• The top 10 in-demand jobs for 2010 will not have
  existed in 2004
• (Former Sec. of Ed. Richard Riley)

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During the next 10 minutes

• 60 babies will be born in the United States
• 244 babies will be born in China
• 351 babies will be born in India

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Outlook for Asia China for the short term,
India for the long term.

• Indias assets such as widespread use of
  English, democratic government and relative
  transparency of its institutions make it more
  economically viable farther out.

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The World is Flat

• The 100 laptop project is expecting to ship
  between 50 and 100 million laptops a year to
  children in underdeveloped countries.
• Predictions are that by 2013, a supercomputer
  will be developed that exceeds the computation
  capability of the human brain.

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Wireless technology will be incorporated into
our thought processing by 2030

• In the next 25 years, well learn how to augment
  our 100 trillion relatively slow inter-neuronal
  connections via nanorobotics.
• Our pattern-recognition abilities, memories and
  overall thinking and direct interface with
  computer intelligence will be boosted.
• By 2030 we will be able to move beyond the basic
  architecture of the brains neural regions.

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World Educational Scene

• Bachelors degrees in science and engineering
  make up 60 of total degrees earned in China (in
  2005, China graduated 350,000 engineers)
• Five percent of degrees in U.S. that year were in
  science and engineering.
• By 2010, 90 of worlds scientists and engineers
  will be in Asia.
• (Willard Daggett, 2005)

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Open Source Curricula

• Instructional resources now have digital source
  that can be freely distributed and modified
• www.curriki.org
• www.cnx.org

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U.S. Trends and Statistics Impacting on 2025
Middle School
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School Choice

• tax credits
• vouchers
• charter schools
• magnet schools
• home schooling
• virtual schooling

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Home Schooling

• Home schooling rose from 1.7 percent of
  school-aged population in 1999 to 2.2 percent in
  2003.
• Reasons for home schooling reported by parents
• Concern about the environment of other schools,
  including concerns about safety, drugs, and
  negative peer pressure (31 percent of parents)
• To provide religious or moral instruction (30
  percent)
• Dissatisfaction with the academic instruction
  available at other schools (16 percent).
• Source NCES, National Household Education
  Surveys Program, Homeschooling in the United
  States 2003 (2/2006)

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Cyber Schools

• Between 1999-2003, 60 cyber charters have come
  on-line in 15 states, serving 16,000 students and
  accounting for 2 of the national charter school
  student population (Center for Education Reform,
  2003).
• Pennsylvania has the most cyber schools with 8
  schools in operation, serving nearly 4,700
  students8 of operating charters and 13 of the
  total charter school student population
  (Pennsylvania Department of Education, 2003).

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Virtual Schools

• Florida Virtual School (FLVS)
• a grant-based pilot project in 1997 pioneered
  Floridas first Internet-based, public high
  school
• school has grown phenomenally
• allows students to learn at any time, any place,
  any path, and any pace.

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Need for Middle Schools toReinvent Themselves

• What forces are going to impact on and alter the
  middle school in 2025?

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Response to Developmental Needs

• Is knowledge of this age group our crystal
  ball for predicting the future of the middle
  school?

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What do we know about todays learner?

• Characteristics of net-generation learners are
  the topic of many
• scholarly
• investigations.

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The 2025 Learner

• Physiological Changes
• Social Forces
• Ethical Challenges
• Technological opportunities

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The Net Generation

• Individuals raised with the computer deal with
  information differently compared with previous
  generations, they develop hypertext minds, or
  the ability to piece together information from
  multiple sources.
• (Prensky,2001)

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The net generation learner

• Is able to weave together text, images and sounds
  in natural way (Manual, 2001)
• Is more comfortable with image-rich environment
  than text
• (Howe Strauss, 2000)
• Is visually intuitive communicator
• (Prensky, 2001)

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The net generation learner

• is able to shift attention rapidly from one task
  to another, and may choose not to pay attention
  to things that do not interest them.
• is able to respond quickly and expects rapid
  response in return.
• (Prensky, 2001)

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The net generation learner

• is open to diversity, differences, and sharing
• prefers to learn and work in teams (Manual,
  )
• Prefers to work on things that matter
• (Howe Strauss, 2000)

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Physiological Changes

• Recent data demonstrate that in the US, the
  onset of puberty in girls is occurring earlier
  than previously documentedon an average 1 year
  earlier in white girls and 2 years earlier in
  African-American girls
• (Kaplowitz and Oberfield, 1999)
• Brain development during puberty is far more
  protracted than previously thought (Paus, 2005)

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Social Forces

• The family social structure is changing.
• There is an increase in ethnic and cultural
  diversity.
• The number of special needs students in a
  classroom continue to increase.
• Global interdependence is increasing.

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Ethical Challenges

• Development of the ethical mind is key to
  fulfilling ones responsibilities as a citizen
  and workerFour Ms include
• Mission
• Models
• Mirror test-individual version
• Mirror test-professional responsibilty
• (Five Minds for the Future, Gardner, 2006)

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Your Reaction?
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Technological Opportunities

• Applications for today and tomorrow?

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CHARACTERISTICS OF A MIDDLE SCHOOL 2007
Developmentally Appropriate Socials
Team Teaching
Advisor Time
Age
AGE CHARACTERISTICS
Continuous Prress
Exploratory/ Special Interest
Characteristics
Balanced Curriculum
Broad-based Athletics
Teaching Counselors
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Advisor Time 2025

• Advisor Time will be expanded to include parents
  as the advisees. Since parents will have many
  choices to make regarding their childs
  instructional program, teachers will function as
  the parents advisors. Teachers will have
  knowledge of all the possible instructional
  alternatives that are available to the parent.
• Student advisory will take on new importance
  since the 2025 culture will be very fast paced
  and student anxiety will be of major concern.

Home
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Team Teaching 2025

• Teams will have a specialized focus and students
  will apply for membership on the team. This
  specialized team focus will accommodate the
  Corporate Curriculum Tracks and special emphasis
  areas i.e. mathematics for the aspiring
  engineers, performing arts, etc.
• Team membership will be constantly changing so
  teachers must be able to make adjustments to
  students entering at various times of the year
  and departing for short periods of time.
• Home

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Exploratory/Special Interest 2025

• A large part of the Exploratory/ Special Interest
  program will permit students to try alternative
  instructional delivery packages to see if they
  like the alternatives.
• A service orientation will be a major emphasis in
  the curriculum and the Exploratory/Special
  Interest program will be the mechanism to deliver
  these experiences.
• Opportunities for students to connect to nature
  will be a major offering.
• Home

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• Balanced Curriculum 2025
• Curriculum will include Technical Literacy, which
  will involve the reading and writing of technical
  journals.
• Our culture will move from an industrial-consumer
  to a biospheric paradigm, which will make
  environmental education a top priority.
• Foreign Language instruction will loose
  importance as English will be the universal world
  language.
• Creativity will trump analytical skills in the
  new economy.
• Home

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Continuous Progress 2025

• Much of the diagnostic/ prescriptive teaching
  will be done by a computer. The teacher will
  become a facilitator of the learning and will
  have a strong knowledge of the technology that is
  available to provide the learning experience.
• Schools will educate both children and adults
  around the clock 24/7.
• Home

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Broad-based Athletics 2025

• Due to the constantly changing pattern of school
  attendance, involvement in athletics will often
  be at the community level.
• Intramurals will be very popular due to the
  emphasis placed on the health of youngsters.

Home
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Teaching Counselors 2025

• Counselors will play a critical role in providing
  parents with support as they make critical
  decisions regarding the instructional program
  alternatives available to their child.
• Decisions about career choices will be made at
  the middle school level as students enter into
  the early stages of the Corporate Curriculum
  strands.
• Due to family structures becoming more diverse,
  students will have more complex issues with which
  to deal.
• Home

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Developmentally Appropriate Socials 2025

• School based social events will be very important
  due to the increase in the diversity of our
  society and a need for students from various
  cultures to connect.
• Attempts will be made to help our middle school
  students refrain from adopting the social
  practices of the older students in our society.
• Home

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What is your reaction?
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CHARACTERISTICS OF A MIDDLE SCHOOL 2025
Comprehensive guidance support services
Curriculum that is challenging, integrative
exploratory
AGE CHARACTERISTICS
Programs policies that foster health, wellness
and safety
This We Believe
Varied teaching learning approaches
Flexible organizational structures
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Challenging Curriculum 2025

• Curriculum of the future will be challenging for
  the individual studentcontinuum rather than
  grade level design.
• Core or Common knowledge will be identified
  for all students (measured by NCLB-like exams)
  state or national standards?
• Tele-apprenticeships will support Specialized
  knowledge.
• Knowledge will address cultural differences,
  globally.

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Integrative Curriculumfor 2025

• Integrative curriculum will be centered on
  essential questions of the individual (Bean,
  2005)
• Learning teams will expand beyond school. Teams
  of the future will be Tele-task Forces.
• Teams will be inter-generational, inter-cultural
  (avatars).
• Packets of worksheets will be obsolete.

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Exploratory Curriculum for 2025

• Exploratory experiences will be virtual.
• Use of simulations and gaming will be expanded.
• Futuring will be part of the pedagogy.
• Home

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Varied Teaching and Learning Approaches for 2025

• Text will be instantly translated into
  multi-media presentations.
• Education will be portable and learning will be
  on demand.
• Schools based on classrooms and a human teacher
  will dwindle in the next 20 years.
• Home

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Flexible Organizational Structures for 2025

• Models for schooling will be customized for/by
  schools, parents and community.
• Neighborhood learning centers will replace
  (reinvent) schools. (Starbucks/Staples model)
• Tracking of progress will be on-line with
  sophisticated assessment tools.
• Teachers will certify performance and attainment
  of competence.
• Home

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Health, Wellness and Safety for 2025

• Experiential events (environmental study and
  overnights) will become model for 24/7 schooling.
• Camp model will become venue for learning.
• Schools role with wellness will increase.
  Predicted hyper-human skills include discovery,
  creativity, implementation, influence and
  physical action.

Home
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Guidance and Support Services for 2025

• Sophisticated assessment of student needs and
  learning will be essential.
• Role will be to coordinate expectations with
  family and within school.
• Community agencies will play greater role in 24/7
  schooling.
• Big Picture will be key for Middle School
  career explorations. (focus on hyper-human
  skills) ex. Travel agents will need skills with
  psychological, cultural understanding of
  customers storytelling ability persuasiveness.
• Home

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• The best way to
• predict the future
• is to create it!
• -Jason Kaufmann