Education Futures, Teachers and Technology
01 April 2010
In supporting positive outcomes for children and young people, teachers' have a special interest in the future. Their pupils’ lives will unfold over coming decades of change and teachers must support them in becoming prepared to live and shape the world outside of the classroom. As society and technologies change, so the image of education is reshaped to prepare people for new ways of working and living in the 21st century and teachers’ own practice will necessarily change to take account of this.
This one-day meeting built on the Beyond Current Horizons programme, led by Futurelab. It considered the future of teaching, and of teachers, drawing on discussion among a group of expert teachers, those involved in teacher training (initial training and continuing professional development) as well as researchers, industry partners and policy makers. The day was intended to explore the changing role of teachers and what the implications are for initial teacher training (ITT) and continuing professional development (CPD), with a particular focus upon the role of digital technologies. This briefing paper is not a full summary of the discussion, but a distillation of some of the main points, and pointers to areas which deserve further exploration.