The future of education The problem of cultivating the unique human capacities required in a world of rapid change Lars Geer Hammershøj PhD and Associate Professor Danish School of Education, Aarhus University

Education and anticipation Education as anticipation Preparing for living and working in future society in 10, 20, 40 years What is important to learn in order to live and work in future society? In times of rapid change Rely less on tradition as a anticipatory model Growing need for future studies Anticipation as education Anticipating the future as part of the curriculum Cultivating capacities of anticipation in times of rapid change Which capacities should be cultivated when and how? What is the nature these capacites?

Diagnosis of the times Diagnosis of the times Diagnose tendencies in the times Identify signs of change Interpret signs as patterns in and direction of change Guided by historical analyses of past tendencies Tradition in sociology and philosophy Tendencies as individualization and modernization Kant (1784): Diagnosing Enlightenment Tendency: People make use of their own reason with guidance Sign: ”we see clear indications that people are now being opened up to this”

Future studies strategies in sociology Diagnosis of the times Diagnosing tendencies Focus on the processes of changes in the times Facilitates decision-making: By taking bearings of the times Sociology of future society Building scenarios Focus on the outcome of change Facilitates decision-making: By drawing attention for the need for action

Accelerating pace of change Accelerations of the page of change in human history Introduction of agriculture (10.000 years ago) Working and planning: The rise of cognitive anticipation The Enlightenment and Industrial Revolution (18th and 19th century) Historical consciousness: The future may be different from the past ‘Crisis consciousness’ (Koselleck 1959): Things cannot continue as they were The notion of progress and the appearance of the entrepreneur Today: Times of crisis Shift from industrial to knowledge society (OECD 1996; Florida 2002) Climate change: ‘New catastrophism’ (Urry 2016) The future of work: The Second Machine Age (Brynjolsson & McAfee 2014) 47% of jobs will disappear in 10-20 years (Frey & Osborne 2013) Singularity in 2047 (Kurzweil 2014)

Diagnose the accelerating pace of change Studies of change create change Not only analyzing, but also creating change In as much as they become public discourses Discourses of knowledge society, digitalization, exponential growth etc. Anticipation begets anticipation The more we talk about the possiblity of change The more open the future actually gets Focus on the nature of change Only humans can create change Matter of how we relate to our existing practices and ways of thinking Diagnose the pace of change today Look for signs of intensified ‘crisis consciousness’

Future employment The imminent crisis of future employment Public debate (signs) Automation of tasks that use to require humans, including ‘white color’ jobs Intensifies crisis consciousness: Automation is possible Academic discussion (analysis) Advances in artificial intelligence: Go, generative design, expert intuition Machine learning: Any task can be automated provided data is available Can machines be creative and innovative? The nature of creativity and innovation Combine elements from different domains Beyond domains in which rules apply and data is available No rules and data to guide and drive the process Machines need humans to sense, understand, handle and create change

Future education: Preparing for change Capacities to cultivate for the future To sense change: Crisis consciousness Expect and be open to change To understand change: Future studies Diagnose, forecast and anticipate change To handle change: Will and judgment Guide and drive action beyond the boundaries of accustomed practices To create change: Creativity and innovation Way of relating: Open for new ways of thinking and doing Moods of enthusiasm and disturbance: Anticipate that things are different Fundamental shift in focus From skills (20th century) to the person’s way of relating (wisdom, ethos, Bildung) Not abilities, but capacities affective in nature