Sustainability-Oriented Foresight Curriculum

Sustainability-Oriented Foresight Curriculum (SOFC) is a transformative intervention for societies genuinely seeking to create economic and ecological well-being for future generations” (Chen, 2019, p. 80). Moral education can thrive at schools when children are able to make good choices between right and wrong. Through Sustainability-Oriented Foresight Curriculum children will begin to learn and understand some basic principles such as patience, gratefulness, empathy, hospitality, selflessness, tolerance, love, generosity, sympathy, charity, truthfulness, honesty, and kindness. Additionally, SOFC adapts the “experiential futures-based curriculum design approach” (Conle & Boone, 2015). Through the experiential approach, the authors Conle & Boone (2015) have noted that the students reconstructed the meaning of events and enactment of moral values in their lives through experiential narratives. Students were also able to interpret their environment in new ways, and constructed visions of possible futures based on this curricular experience (Conle & Boone, 2015).

Accordingly, Hoffman’s (2017) respondents’ drawings of their preferred futures served very well as one of the points of departure for my vision of SOFC. According to Hoffman (2017), it appears that the use of media, arts, and design (Van Leemput, 2019) might add dimensionality and power to student’s images of the future, using an experiential futures-based curriculum design (Dunagan et al., 2019) or ethnographic experiential futures intervention (Candy & Kornet, 2019). Its core objective is to develop moral values into students by linking foresight strategies with long-term socio-cultural prospects of the society. Through the sustainability-oriented foresight curriculum, educators and parents can envision a different future of young learners who are morally equipped to lead a morally responsible life who genuinely cares about the overall wellbeing of society. In this design-oriented model, educators will seek to engage young learners in activities that promote “thinking about long-term futures and foresight strategies through play, active learning, and gaming” (Hoffman, 2019).

Likewise, as a way to promote empathy and care for the environment, young learners should also be taught about various environmental issues or moral crisis that is depicted to happen in the future. They can then be given some foundational concepts from futures studies and should be asked to think about their own lives and the actions they will take today to shape the future they desire in 20 years’ time (Chen & Hoffman, 2017).

Designing Deeper Learning Experiences through SOFC

It is worthy to note that young children through SOFC model may have difficulty expressing their foresight as their language and cognitive skills are still developing. However, educators should be highly trained to design a curriculum that promotes deeper learning experiences (Czerkawski (2014), integrate technology, arts, and other mediums to facilitate moral learning through creativity and imagination. Educators are also encouraged to integrate problem-based learning, the combination of Goal-Based Scenarios (GBS) and Learning by Design (Lee & Kolodner, 2011) to design the curriculum unit. Most studies on teaching strategies for moral education recommend a problem-based approach to instruction, which is considered to be crucial for young children’s moral and prosocial development (Schuitema et al, 1998). The problem-based approach will help young children to engage in perspective-taking. It will also allow students to internalize knowledge, communicate and share ideas, and broaden participation to create new futures knowledge and build agency as noted by Hoffman (2017).

References:

Candy, S., & Dunagan, J. (2017). ‘Designing an experiential scenario: the people who vanished’. Futures, 86, 136-153. doi:10.1016/j.futures.2016.05.006

Czerkawski, B. C. (2014, November). Designing deeper learning experiences for online instruction. Journal of Interactive Online Learning, 13(2), 29-40.

Chen, K. (2019) Transforming Environmental Values for a Younger Generation in Taiwan: A Participatory Action Approach to Curriculum Design. Journal of Futures Studies, June 2019, 23(4): 79–96

Conle., C. & Boone, M. (2008) Local Heroes, Narrative Worlds and the Imagination: The Making of a Moral Curriculum Through Experiential Narratives, Curriculum Inquiry, 38:1, 7-37, DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-873X.2007.00396.x

CASEL Connections (August, 2005).University of Illinois-Chicago: Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning.

Dusenbury, L., & Weissberg, R. P. (2017). Social emotional learning in elementary school: Preparation for success. The Education Digest, 83(1), 36.

Fullan, M., Langworthy, M. (2014) A Rich Seam: How New Pedagogies Find Deep Learning. Retrieved from https://michaelfullan.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/3897.Rich_Seam_web.pdf

Haberman, M. (1996). Star teachers of children in poverty.West Lafayette, IN: Kappa Delta Pi.

Hoffman, J. (2019). Imagining 2060: A Cross-Cultural Comparison of University Students’ Perspectives. Journal of Futures Studies, June 2019, 23(4): 63–78

Langer, A. (2002). Reflecting on Practice: using learning journals in higher and continuing Education. Teaching in Higher Education, 7(3), 337-351.

Lee, C. & Kolodner, J. (2011) Scaffolding Students' Development of Creative Design Skills: A Curriculum Reference Model Article in Educational Technology & Society · January 2011

Schwartz, Nucci & Narvaez, (in press). Teacher preparation for character development. In L. Nucci & D. Narvaez (Eds.), Handbook of Moral and Character Education. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Van Leemput, M. (2019). Destinations for polyamorous futures and their MAD lovers. Journal of Futures Studies, 23(4).

Resources for Foresight Education

Amy Satterthwaite is pursuing a Master of Design in Strategic Foresight and Innovation at OCAD University, with an interest in educational transformation. Her thesis project explores the potential uses of foresight – the process of critically imagining possible futures in order to inspire people to design new futures.

This foresight education can be used to empower moral values in students through foresight strategies and projects.

Finland has an economy and a population about the fifth the size of Australia's. But its schools consistently outperform ours and most others across the developed world.

Foresight Education: When Students Meet the Future(s)

By Goldbeck, Willis; Waters, Lisa Hasler

Article excerpt

* The American School of Asuncion, Paraguay, created "Project 2023" to help students explore educational and career goals. The school uses foresight in twelfth-grade comparative government classes and has started a special course to explore alternative futures for the country in 2032: "The Role of Paraguay in the 21st Century."

* The International School Manila, Philippines, uses foresight in an eighth-grade social-studies course, "Changing Our World." A student futures team has been invited to work with faculty and the school board on a school priority concerning sustainability.

* The International School of Brussels, Belgium, has used foresight in tenth-grade humanities and twelfth-grade International Bacca laureate Theory of Knowledge. The school has initiated a student Foresight Club, has modeled a one-day mini foresight program, and is planning for the introduction of foresight into the arts program.

* The UN International School in New York City used the foresight seminar to introduce students to major industry and government leaders related to their topics--e.g., meeting with the head of the New York Times to discuss the future of print newspapers.

These schools are among more than thirty schools around the globe implementing Foresight Education. Since 2009, as many as 500 students have attended courses, workshops, or presentations developed by Foresight Education, a nonprofit organization working with the Institute for Alternative Futures (IAF), the U.S. Department of State, and the Global Issues Network.

To date, more than 50 teachers--from Bulgaria to Uganda, from China to the United States--have attended professional development training in Foresight Education methods, implementing foresight into their curricula. Collectively, these educators represent the spectrum of elementary and secondary school subject matter areas: geography, science, history, English language arts, and more. They teach students at all academic levels.

Most in-depth learning of foresight methods has occurred within core courses where students often select their own topics--e.g., animal testing, automobile transportation, stem-cell research, the role of women in the media, the death penalty, and nuclear power.

Students are required to explain their selection, provide resources they expected to be valuable, author an "Aspiration statement" for their topic in 2040, research and write a history "chapter" and a current conditions "chapter," relate their topic to the six major trends (environment, government, economics, demographics, technology, and culture), and then develop three scenarios (expected, decline, and preferred or transformational) for each of the three-time periods: 2020, 2030, and 2040.

The projects typically culminate with the students presenting their topics to an audience of peers, teachers, and sometimes parents. Then, the group maps the interaction of all the topics for the year 2030.

From the range of topics that students have pursued, it is clear that they are well aware of future uncertainties. Teachers have often commented on how enthusiastically students approach their futures studies, noting that they embrace the opportunity to create statements of their preferred futures. The quality of their work and their dedication to present what they have found to be most aspirational should serve as a benchmark for bringing futures in school education to all students.

The Foresight Education program began in 2009 as a pilot project developed for the Institute for Alternative Futures. The idea was to share foresight expertise with high-school students, teaching them ways to engage in futures methodologies. The program was integrated into a U.S. government course for seniors at La Jolla Country Day School in San Diego.

The pilot culminated in a forum where students presented their final projects to an audience of their peers, teachers, and parents. …