Paper presented at the European Conference on Educational Research, Edinburgh, 20–23 September 2000

Network: European Curriculum Research

Futures Education in Finnish National Framework Curriculum

For the Comprehensive School

Anu Haapala

Ph.D., Senior research assistant

Department of Education, University of Joensuu

P.O. Box 111, FIN-80101 Joensuu, Finland

Tel. +358-13-251 2366

Fax. +358-13-251 3564

email:

Introduction

Challenges for a new school reform have been set from many different directions during last years. Many changes in society call in questions, is education up-to-date enough and does education prepare young people for the future enough. Criticism has been addressed to school as an institution just like to church: nothing has not really changed. (Gardner 1999, 41-59.) Same kind of debate about the dilemma of conservatism and progressivism in education has been discussed also in Finland. (Rikkinen & Särkijärvi 1999, 15-17.) The challenges have been described from different point of views, but the main idea has dealt with the rapid change of society. For example according to Whitaker (1997, 3) there is the general challenge – learning to live and cope with the world that is changing faster than we feel comfortable with. More specific challenges have been described by him as follows: To create school cultures that are optimistic, confident and future-focused, to develop a curriculum appropriate to a world of constant and accelerating change, to prepare pupils for a world that will be significantly different from the one at present and to design management processes for schools that are more flexible, creative and open to continuous improvement. The challenges have to been answered – otherwise there might be situation like Gardner (1999, 42) has envisioned: schools are likely to be replaced by other, more responsive institutions.

Education has always had an intentional dimension for the future. In the same time education has had an important role to play in times of turbulent change if defining the aim of education to prepare young people to meet future as a well-adjusted and flexible adults. Its focus is in the intellectual and social preparation of the young for their adult roles in the future both formal and informal education (Holbrook 1998, 150). The objective of education has been then to increase future readiness, referring to a comprehensive readiness in the fields of information, skills, emotions and actions to face any kind of future and act on its development. The definition of the future readiness and skills included in it has been varied time by time and there has been many kind of visions about the needs of futures generation. Since the revolution in information technology the role of cognitive skills (critical and creative thinking, information processing and so on) has increased rapidly in the visions (see more details e.g. Tough 1998).

To reach sufficient future readiness the future should has an essential role. Traditionally future has had this kind of significant role when defining the aims for the education, when members of educational office, educators or futurologists have created and constructed visions about the future and based on them outlined which skills and abilities might be important to teach for young people. On the other hand taken-for-granted futures apply a predetermined version of the future as a basis for decision making. This is however only one way to see the relation of future and education according to Page (1996, 128). She expressed that there are two more assumptions how the future is generally considered. Firstly futures are addressed tacitly in educational statements but not discussed in direct terms or secondly a token reference to futures issues is used solely for rhetorical purposes. All these assumptions relies very heavily on past and present and this is one reason why Slaughter (1993, 305-306) has pointed out that education is inherently backward looking.

This kind of traditional role of future, and futures studies, in education is still important, but after all, because of changes of nowadays, it is seen insufficient. This is why education has been observed also from the different point of futures studies, when futures studies are possible to understand as kind of subject matter of education in the same time when emphasising the view of future. The tendency is called futures education (Hicks & Slaughter 1998; Mikkonen 2000).

Futures education as an educational tendency

Futures education is perceived as an educational tendency, which stresses that the future perspective be considered in every thematic and practical aspect of school education. It is based on the general principles of futures studies, which state that although the future is unknown, its development can be influenced (Amara 1981). In keeping with humanistic futures studies, the subjective nature of future and endeavours to actively direct its progress are given emphasis to. According to the principles of futures education to prepare young people for the changes ahead, it needs to take a transforming orientation that promotes the skills needed for critical reflection and action. (Hicks & Holden 1995, 17-18.)

Futures education emphasis the meaning of future as one important point of view in every school subject and trend in different subject domains, not a really new subject in the curriculum. Three basic questions of futures education are: what is the situation now (present), where do we want to get to (vision) and how do we get there (action) (Hicks 1994, 32-33). Futures education requires developing skills of foresight, that is the ability to anticipate and be more pre-active to change. All actions have consequences in the future. Becoming aware of the wide range of choices can lead to more responsible and thoughtful decision making in the present.

Essential parts of future readiness from the point of futures education are futures thinking and future consciousness. Futures thinking is considered an individual’s way of communicating with the environment and a means of acquiring, defining and evaluating information regarding the future. (Masini 1993; Remes 1993.) Future consciousness is value-rational understanding of how everyday decisions and choices affect the formation of future. The view of future and its formation are central for the development of future readiness, as the view of future has a two-way meaning for the individual: on one hand, it is created in order to define the goals that are set for actions, and on the other, actions based on it in the present create future. Futures education aims at supporting the development of the view of future as a dimension of world view (Mikkonen 2000).

Challenges and curriculum

The effective management of primary schools – indeed, of all organizations – will demand a new sense of future consciousness, a capacity to focus on the complexities of change (Whitaker 1997, 3).

Curriculum is an important instrument for directing education policy and promoting educational equality. In Finland primary and secondary schools draft curricula of their own independently based on the national framework curriculum for the comprehensive school. The foundations of the national core curriculum determine the social and cultural changes central for the development of the education system, and the value basis of schoolwork. When the society as a whole is in a continuous state of change, the curricula also need to be flexible. The significance of local decision-making and expertise and the needs of local actors have become strongly accentuated. (Kosunen & Huusko 1999.)

When preparing young people for the future in school education, teachers are in a position to facilitate the future consciousness of their students and have a role to play in guiding the direction and growth of educational institutions (Holbrook 1998, 149). Teachers are in a key role when defining the aims, choosing the materials for teaching and specially guiding the learning processes of adolescents. Through these processes, one of the aims is to develop also the view of future based on the worldview. Constructing the understanding through experiences when the character of our experiences is influenced profoundly by person's cognitive lens develops a worldview (Matthews 1995, 112-113). The teacher has then a very important role in guiding the cognitive processes and emphasising the view of future as a natural part of life and extension.

Examining the ideas of futures education from the Finnish national framework curriculum

The curriculum can be examined in the traditional sense as a course of study or as educative experience. On the other hand the curriculum can be studied as a text, which makes it natural to refer to the construction or drafting of curriculum or to study the curriculum as a process, where pupils and teacher(s) interact in order to implement the objectives of education. (Kelly 1999; Kosunen & Huusko 1999.) In this study the curriculum has been examined as a text and educative experience in the framework of futures education to find out, how the ideas of futures education might be seen in the text.

There is rarely a word, future, mentioned in the curriculum. Despite of it the concern for the future is already present in the various programmes and guidelines. Changing just future oriented education to real futures education, it requires a strong future consciousness of teachers to find these future-oriented elements out from curriculum. If educators have a futures orientation, and they are conscious of it, the more likely they will be able to recognise and develop such an orientation in others. Hence a key responsibility for those engaged in the futures field is to ensure that there is effective futures instruction for current teachers including appropriate, accessible texts informed by researcher on futures thinking and futures teaching (Holbrook 1998, 150). For this, there are many sources of useful materials for teachers and teacher educators (see Hicks & Holden 1995, 17-18).

The future-oriented elements included in Finnish national framework curriculum (1994) will be described from two different points of view. The main question is, how national framework curriculum subjects and cross-curricular themes can contribute to more future-orientated thinking both locally and globally. Principles of pedagogical thinking are very important when talking about the defined educational aims and teaching practices. This is why the curriculum is firstly considered from the framework of principles in pedagogical thinking (conception of man, conception of knowledge and conception of learning) (see Patrikainen 1999) in relation to futures education. Secondly different subject domains are described also in relation to futures education.

Futures education in the Finnish national framework curriculum

The principles of pedagogical thinking in relation to futures education

Because futures education could be seen as a complementary tendency in prevailing education, the main principles of pedagogical thinking are very similar in futures education than in the national framework curriculum (1994). The principals in Finnish national curriculum framework are based on humanistic conception of man, rather subjective than objective conception of knowledge and as a result of these principles the conception of learning is based rather on cognitivism / constructivism than behaviorism (Patrikainen 1999).

There are five aspects characteristic of the conception of man in futures education, which become emphasised, when considering deeply the conception of man in relation to futures education. These aspects are activism, holism, ethical understanding and responsibility, individualism and equality (Mikkonen 2000). All these aspects are included implicitly in the main aims in the Finnish national curriculum framework (1994) and are described as a whole as follows: “Education should prepare pupils for the experience of adult life, for its opportunities and responsibilities.” Individualism, holism and equality are emphasised most in the Finnish national curriculum framework (1994) when talking about “developing the pupil to be balanced, holistic and individual adults”. Individualism does not mean egoism or selfishness, rather it means individualism in the equal community. Ethical understanding and responsibility are found out especially from the aims of environmental education, biology, geography and religion.

When considering deeply the conception of knowledge in relation to futures education, three different aspects could be found out from the national framework curriculum. First aspect is to consider the real nature of knowledge, which is a little bit complicated one, because of the nature of information about the future. In fact there is no objective knowledge about the future at all. All kind of knowledge of it is based on past and present (Amara 1981). Anyway it is doubtful whether the knowledge of past and present in different subjects is objective either, but when talking about the knowledge regarding to the future, the starting-point is that there is some mutual understanding of knowledge about past and present. The second aspect is to examine the different subject matters and the knowledge related in futures, which will be described more deeply in the next section just like the third aspect, which is considering the skills, which are essential when deal with the knowledge related to future and futures studies.

According to the recently debate the conception of learning is based on the conceptions of man and knowledge (see e.g. Rauste - von Wright & von Wright 1994). As a conclusion of that the conception of learning in futures education might be examined through the model adapted from Robottom and Hart (1993), who have described the principals of pedagogical thinking in environmental education. When considering the conception of learning in futures education, the main idea is, that because all kind of information have to be constructed personally, based on the knowledge of past and present – by creating different, closely argued visions about the future - the only way to learn about the future is constructivism. Anyway when emphasising the critical way of thinking and activism, the next step might be reconstructivism, then.

Table 1. Comparing the principles of pedagogical thinking and their characteristics (adapted from Robottom and Hart 1993) from the framework of futures education

Category
Futures education
/
Objectivism
Knowledge about the past and present /
Constructivism
Knowledge about the future /
Critical
Action for the future and facing the future
CONCEPTION OF LEARNING / Behaviorism / Constructivism / Reconstructivism
CONCEPTION OF KNOWLEDGE / Objective, universal, determinism / Subjective, contextual, responsive / Dialectic, contextual, emergent
PUPIL / Receiver of new information / Active learner / constructor / Critical constructor of new information
TEACHER / Divider of knowledge / Organiser of new learning experiences / Co-operative participant in learning experiences
AIMS / external / External, but have been negotiated / Be criticised and might be seen ideological

Different subjects in relation to futures education

On one hand futures education is only a futuristic point of view to any subject in the school, even though there is some new subject matter distinguish to futures education. Because of that futures education could be seen more like a cross-curricular theme, like an umbrella to the other subjects rather than a new subject. When considering different subjects in relation to futures education, the subject in Finnish national framework curriculum (1994) could be classified into the subjects, which subject matter is essentially related to the future and futures studies (e.g. biology, geography - environmental issues etc.) or the subjects, which develop the skills, which are essential when dealing with information concerned about the future (e.g. mathematics, arts and crafts – logical and creative thinking etc.).

In Finnish national framework curriculum for comprehensive school the subjects, whose subject matter is essentially related to the future and futures studies are first of all biology, geography, science, history and civics. According to the Finnish national framework curriculum (1994) one of the main aims in science (physics and chemistry), biology and geography is to develop the deep understanding of interaction between human being and environment. The temporal dimension is then very essential point of view when considering the development of environment in the urban and rural areas. When talking about history in relation to futures education at first sight it might seem peculiar. However, the history is one of the most important subject to help pupils to realise what is development and how different actions might affect on development. After all just like the present has been based on past, the future will be based on the present.

When examining the subjects, which act as go-between subjects by developing the essential skills to deal with information concerned about the future, the most important subjects in Finnish national framework curriculum for comprehensive school are mother tongue, mathematics, physical education, music, arts and crafts and information technology. One of the aims of mother tongue (Finnish) is to develop the linguistic consciousness, the skills to express themselves and their ideas coincide with cultural consciousness also (FNCF 1994). Foreign languages increase on one hand the knowledge about the cultural and political issues somewhere else, on the other hand foreign language is the way of expressing himself like mother tongue. In relation to futures education both Finnish and some foreign language are the way to express the dreams, hopes, fears and real visions about the personal, local and global future. To create realistic – or at least logical – visions about the future, the critical, logical and creative thinking skills are required. One way to develop these skills is mathematical way of thinking and problem-solving generally. On the other hand one very important way to develop the creative thinking skills are the subjects like music, arts and crafts, where the aim is to learn to express the feelings through the other way than using the words (FNCF 1994). Futures images might be expressed also without words. Information technology in the framework of futures education means a “highway” to get more and newest information about the past, present and critically about the future also.

CONCLUSION

Even though the future is unknown, we should learn to anticipate it and prepare pupils for it. If we do not do so, we will fail in our legal and moral obligations to them. Most of what goes on in education draws on the past, is enacted in the present, but is intended for some future use.

There is a lot of implicit matter about the future in the Finnish national curriculum framework, but it requires a strong future consciousness of teachers to find these future-oriented elements out from curriculum and make them explicit, which now needs to be made. This means at first examining the subjects also from futuristic point of view and secondly developing the skills required for dealing with information related to the future. These skills are mostly cognitive skills – critical, logical, ethical and creative thinking, but also broadmindedness is required. The third main aim is to support the ability and self-confidence to act for the future.