On 12^th March 2019 we hosted a roundtable to discuss the future of education. The purpose of the event was to consult and learn from a much wider group of stakeholders and partners and explore how we might work together to address the problems around the subject matter.

The future is set to shift so markedly that we must examine whether education is equipping people for the kind of life and work that they are going to encounter in their lifetimes. Whether a front-loaded education that ‘sets people up for life’ is, or was ever the best route.  Whether our current models could, instead, hinder life chances, impede happiness, hamper long term economic success and harm social cohesion.

Among these changes are:

• The future of work: We live in a globalised world. Employment in many industries is becoming increasingly flexible and mobile – although, not for all. Artificial intelligence, big data, and robotics will affect all kinds of work; eliminating the need for some and augmenting the work of others.  The jobs that survive, prosper or be created, will be those that require different skills: creativity, critical thinking, interpersonal skills, systems thinking, judgment, collaboration, and empathy.
• 100 year life: As significant proportions of children born in the last decade are predicted to live to 100 and the nature of work changes, so do our perspectives on careers and the kind of education we need. This affects how education prepares us for work, and the importance of lifelong learning, re-skilling and up-skilling.
• Education and the future of learning: Technology is also transforming education. It enables learning integrated into our everyday lives delivered where and when we want; enables blended and online learning, makes the project-based delivery of education a possibility, and creates different kinds of learning support communities.
• Information and the future of truth: How, in an age of limitless information, are we to discern what is true? We know that we are living in the midst of mass media and news manipulation, at a scale not previously imagined. How will we equip people to discern what objective truth means, to be confident that they are making their own minds up rather than having others do so on their behalf?

If anything you read here sparks your interest, and you would like to find out more about this topic of discussion or get involved with this or any of our work, please contact our Operations Manager, Claire Dobson on 0203 325 6345, email her at claire@tomorrowscompany.com or alternatively click here for more information on the future of education.