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Overview
The "SCHOOL FUTURES" project is founded on the idea that we don’t have to passively accept the future; instead, we can influence it to some extent and take it into our own hands. But how? New approaches to sustainable school development are being explored through concrete changes in teaching, learning, and the learning environment, and, where possible, these changes are implemented in collaboration with three schools.
Why? Our motivation
Initiated in 2016 by the University of Luxembourg in collaboration with three schools and the Service de Coordination de la Recherche et de l'Innovation Pédagogiques et Technologiques (SCRIPT), the project aims to demonstrate how teaching and learning must evolve to prepare future generations for upcoming challenges. This is done through the participatory creation of future visions and concrete school projects in three different schools. The schools involved are the classical lycée "Athenée," the Catholic public school "Fieldgen," and the Lycée Technique d'Esch. Important skills, such as future-oriented, networked thinking and interdisciplinary collaboration in diverse groups, are encouraged throughout the project.
Participation
School headmasters, teachers, pupils, and parents—anyone directly or indirectly involved in learning and teaching processes and interested in helping shape Luxembourg's education system—is invited to take part. Participation is not limited to interviews and workshops; anyone can contribute to the development and implementation of new learning and teaching methods that promote networked and future-oriented thinking. For instance, participants can use art, theatre, or videos to make different ideas about the future tangible or to develop new interdisciplinary school projects. Concrete ideas, new forms of learning, and teaching methods are not only collected but also implemented. Any concerns or restrictions that arise during implementation, such as assessment schemes from pupils and schools that conflict with the new approach, are documented and discussed with decision-makers.
Changing worlds - The future is uncertain.
The SCHOOL FUTURES project offers a portal—a gateway to the future—helping us understand the various forces shaping our world and familiarising ourselves with their potential impact on tomorrow’s worlds. By working with plausible but fundamentally different future scenarios, the project's approach and the materials developed from it provide a foundation for discussions that support the future-oriented reorientation of learning.
Objective
The project aims to empower participants to help shape the future more effectively. Learning through the creation and evaluation of future visions is based on a participatory process (Figure 1), which offers better insights into:
(i) Different worldviews and the connections between technological, cultural, and social changes in the present and future;
(ii) Diverse opinions and values associated with various developments; and
(iii) Potential actions and their social acceptance (Figure 1).
The ideas, approaches, and processes developed by the three schools can be adopted, adapted, and integrated into the everyday life of other schools in Luxembourg over the medium term. The work of these three schools can help establish the conditions for successful and sustainable school development, contributing to the advancement of the entire education system. The project seeks to foster a new culture of networked, future-oriented thinking, creativity, and autonomy within schools. It aims to create development paths that lead to the realisation of a vision—a vision of teaching and learning that takes greater account of the strong interactions between culture, values, the economy, technology, social behaviour, quality of life, and the perceived environment. Currently, these factors are often given too little consideration in schools, where teachers struggle to work in a networked way under existing structural conditions. As a core component of the education system, schools play a crucial role in shaping how individuals can contribute to building the future.
During the project, each school sets its own goals for sustainable development and develops potential solutions. For example, the Athénée is examining the reform of the Division Supérieure: How could the new opportunities for shaping the content and orientations of the existing subject-based division into sections, which dictate the specific learning content for pupils, be used to offer students more flexibility and choice? Is this truly desirable and feasible? Meanwhile, Fieldgen is developing and planning to implement a cross-school, coherent sustainability strategy.
The Lycée Technique d'Esch is exploring new teaching and learning opportunities offered by digital technologies, specifically how classes that primarily use iPads can be organised to empower students to co-create lesson content and materials.
What are the benefits of creating images of the future?
Sustainability highlights not only the interconnectedness of local and global events but also the connections between today’s actions and future circumstances. Ideas about the "future" often trigger discussions about what needs to change in the present (Figure 2). Looking ahead together helps to recognise opportunities and constraints for action more clearly, allowing them to be discussed from different perspectives. Various methods exist for this purpose (e.g., scenarios, visions, and forecasts), each fulfilling a different function. Scenarios explore which images of the future could materialise under specific conditions, presenting very different possible future worlds to highlight risks, surprises, uncertainties, and knowledge gaps. This method is often associated with networked thinking. In contrast, a vision offers a desirable, directional future. Both methods complement each other. Creating and evaluating visions of the future together helps us understand different perspectives and integrate various types of expertise about society, the economy, nature, and technology.
The project provides an opportunity to initiate participatory processes with scientific support. Methods for creating and evaluating visions of the future help distinguish between forces of change we can potentially influence and those beyond our control (Figure 3). Forces over which we have little or no influence need to be better assessed, while those we may be able to influence—especially through collaboration with stakeholders in education, politics, and business—are the focus of action (Figure 3).
Learning to help shape the future
As part of the educational landscape, schools have a decisive influence on how society and individuals can contribute to shaping the future. In addition to imparting knowledge, it is crucial to foster a lifelong willingness to learn and act. However, are today’s schools in Luxembourg truly teaching the skills and knowledge that will enable pupils to shape a self-determined, responsible everyday and working life in the future? School systems are often criticised for being slow to adapt to social change.
