A focused discussion on the future of education in the next decade, presenting key concepts and emerging trends that are challenging our assumptions about public education and reshaping our vision of learning in the 21st century. Andrea Saveri, Tony Smith, Alan Briskin, and facilitator David Sibbet will be participating in the discussion and responding to questions from attendees.
"Public education as an institution won't survive the system shocks of the 21st century such as peak oil and climate change. What will survive are resilient communities with learning platforms that are flexible, open, and transparent ."
Andrea Saveri is a research director at The Institute for the Future (IFTF) where she has examined long-term demographic, social and technological trends that shape the transformation of work, community, and household life. She has pioneered the use of ethnographic and qualitative research methods as an important part of forecasting future social and technological trends. Saveri has used these and other methods to examine underlying factors and unarticulated needs and desires that shape the diffusion, adoption, and reinvention of information and communication technologies at home and work. She worked as the lead IFTF staff person on the KnowledgeWorks Foundation's Map of Future Forces Affecting Education.
"We're not just trying to do first-order change work, which is to do things better in the existing system. We're really talking about second-order change work, which is to do things fundamentally different."
Dr. Tony Smith has emerged as a key leader in transforming our vision of public schooling. After completing his doctoral work in Education at UC Berkeley in 2002, he worked with the Bay Area Coalition for Equitable Schools (BayCES) where he focused on leading school redesign efforts. While at BayCES, Smith led the Emeryville Citywide Initiative to create the necessary conditions for return of local control to the district less than three years after state takeover by redesigning the educational programs of the district and building citywide partnerships. When state administration ended in 2004, Smith was hired as the superintendent of EUSD. Emeryville has two schools, Anna Yates and Emery High, both of which have seen gains in their state API ranking during Smith's tenure. He joined the San Francisco Unified School District in November 2007.
Dr. Alan Briskin has spent nearly twenty-five years helping businesses, health care facilities and non-profit organizations to navigate change and find common purpose. Before he began his consulting practice, he worked as director of education in a residential home for delinquent youth. In recognition of his contributions, the governor of Vermont named Briskin to a state commission which oversaw the closing of reform schools and the creation of model programs for displaced youth. His most recent book, Daily Miracles: Stories and Practices of Humanity and Excellence in Health Care, was chosen as the Book of the Year in the category of Public Interest by the American Journal of Nursing.
"Learning to rise above self interest and collaborate in inventing new forms of organization and relationships that will not deplete the planet, but help it thrive, is the challenge of our times. This is nowhere more critical than in how we educate our children."
Mr. Sibbet's explorations in graphic facilitation, strategic visioning, and collaborative process design have revolutionized the field of organization development. For eight years, in the 1970's, he was executive director and director of training for the Coro Foundation, a leadership development institute known for its pioneering work in experience-based education. He regularly designs and leads strategy, visioning, future forces, and large-scale system change processes for clients throughout the world. He is a former Chicago Tribune journalist and the author of several books.
