Lessons for the Future

About the Book

If one of the main purposes of education is to prepare young people for the future then where in education are they given the opportunity to explore the future? In this thought provoking book, David Hicks shows the future to be a neglected dimension in education and argues elegantly and persuasively for a more futures-orientated curriculum.

Drawing on recent research in futures studies, Lessons for the Future provides new insights into ways of helping both students and teachers think more critically and creatively about their own future and that of wider society. It acknowledges the crucial role of education in helping young people understand the nature of local and global change and the social and environmental impacts such change will have on their future. Setting out a clear educational rationale for promoting a futures perspective in education, it provides both stimulating and practical examples of futures-orientated classroom activities. It also includes fascinating research into children's views of the future.

Groundbreaking in its fruitful application of ideas from futures studies to the education of teachers and young people, Lessons for the Future challenge much professional thinking about the nature and purpose of education, and affirms its role in contributing to a more just and sustainable future.

This book will be of interest to a wide range of educators, whether in relation to teaching, course planning, professional development or institutional policy, both in schools and teacher education. It will be of particular interest to those concerned with PSE, values education, socials and environmental issues, and the future of education. It will also provide a key text for those working in fields such as futures studies, citizenship education, education for sustainable development and global education.

About the Author

David is Professor in the School of Education at Bath Spa University where he teaches on the undergraduate Education Studies degree. He has a particular interest in the need for both a global and futures dimension in the curriculum. David taught geography in schools before directing a national global education project in the 1980s. Since 1990 his writing, research and teaching have particularly focused on ways of helping students and teachers think more critically and creatively about the future. He is internationally recognized for his work on global and futures perspectives in the curriculum.