Educators today often talk about changes and how they seem to be coming at a faster rate. It's hard to take it all in. When people ask me to explain the disruptions reshaping our schools today, I refer to the ideas of Alvin Toffler.
In 1970, Toffler became famous with the publication of his best-selling book, Future Shock, which he said is “the shattering stress and disorientation that we induce in individuals by subjecting them to too much change in too short of a time.” He predicted the world was about to enter an amazing new age in which we would see massive societal and economic transformations, a rapid acceleration in change, and life would begin to move “faster and faster — in everything from technology to family structure to politics.” Toffler said people would be “moving more, throwing away their belongings sooner and having to adapt more often to new kinds of work” (Toffler 1970).
These ideas would sound familiar to American educators; they now live in the world Toffler predicted over four decades ago. Consider these facts:
· Knowledge is doubling every 12 months; an IBM study in 2012 predicted it will one day be doubling every 12 hours.
· Data is coming at schools in bigger batches, so much that it’s overwhelming.
· Technology continues to evolve and deepen its ability to affect change around the world.
· American society continues to redefine what is to be accepted, or not accepted, in American schools.
· The evolving global economy requires educators to prepare students for a world that doesn’t exist yet.
As I speak with educators from around America, I hear of the stress they endure on a daily basis. They want to produce 21st century results; yet, they are working in a 20th century model. The demands of the past, the accelerated disruptions of the present, and the need to shift to the future are overloading their ability to process information and to transform their schools. Their tasks are so varied and the landscape has become so complex that they often wonder where to start and how to arrange the steps. American educators are experiencing the stress Toffler predicted 46 years ago—they are living in a state of future shock.
To function more effectively in today’s fast-forward world, educators need to remember one of Toffler’s most famous quotes:
The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.
In education, the days of mastery are over; the new key to success is adaptation. Educators must be comfortable with not always knowing the next step—they must be willing to try new methods and constantly adapt to a disrupted environment. In other words, they must be comfortable with being uncomfortable. Educators can begin by asking some difficult questions, such as:
· How much memorization is needed in a time when the key to success is applying knowledge that is easily available through cloud sources?
· What are the roles of textbooks in schools when knowledge doubles yearly and will soon be doubling every 12 hours?
· How can educators teach today’s group of students, Gen Z?
· What does learning space look like in a 21st century school?
Ultimately, true success in an era of future shock does not revolve around test scores or accountability ratings— educators must answer the essential question of their careers: What does it mean to be educated in the 21st century?
If Toffler were helping educators find answers today, he would tell them to view education through a 21st century lens, not one left over from the previous century. They must shift their thinking, implement global skills, allow their students to use technology, and design their learning spaces to fit the needs of Gen Z. Educators must spend the rest of their careers learning, unlearning, and relearning—this is the way out of future shock.