FUTURE LEARNING “The school has a mission to communicate basic values and encourage the students learning to prepare them to live and act in the society. The school should mediate knowledge that constitutes the common frame of reference that all in the society needs.” – Translation of the curriculum (Skolverket, 2011) As the curriculum states above, the school’s task is to educate children to become good citizens ready for the future. The question is then: does the knowledge gained in school correspond to the needs in the future and what are those needs? Our society is changing at a rapid pace and education has to reflect these changes. Climate change, digitalization, globalization and shifts on the labour market all affect what is considered as relevant competences and how we prepare our children to live and act in the future.
CLIMATE CHANGES - We are all part of the global issue of climate change. If we continue to live and act as we currently are doing we will face serious problems. The children are our future and education is a key factor towards a sustainable development. It is only through knowledge about how our way of living affects the environment we can contribute to creating a sustainable future. In the current curriculum it is stated that the school has a responsibility to educate knowledge and understanding about how the lifestyle impacts the health, the environment and the society (Skolverket, 2011).
DIGITALIZATION
- Digitalization is a transformation in society that has and will continue to have significant impact in schools. It is an important competence for the children to develop but it is also a tool within pedagogies. For example it can add more diversity to the education, create possibilities for collaborations and make it easier to adjust the learning to the individual. It can also provide children with new ways of expressing themselves, exploring and perceiving the world.
24 P A RT O N E - B A C KG RO U N D