Future Wise: Educating Our Children for a Changing World - Hardcover

by David Perkins (Author)

How to teach big understandings and the ideas that matter most

Everyone has an opinion about education, and teachers face pressures from Common Core content standards, high-stakes testing, and countless other directions. But how do we know what today's learners will really need to know in the future? Future Wise: Educating Our Children for a Changing World is a toolkit for approaching that question with new insight. There is no one answer to the question of what's worth teaching, but with the tools in this book, you'll be one step closer to constructing a curriculum that prepares students for whatever situations they might face in the future.

K-12 teachers and administrators play a crucial role in building a thriving society. David Perkins, founding member and co-director of Project Zero at Harvard's Graduate School of Education, argues that curriculum is one of the most important elements of making students ready for the world of tomorrow. In Future Wise, you'll learn concepts, curriculum criteria, and techniques for prioritizing content so you can guide students toward the big understandings that matter.

• Understand how learners use knowledge in life after graduation
• Learn strategies for teaching critical thinking and addressing big questions
• Identify top priorities when it comes to disciplines and content areas
• Gain curriculum design skills that make the most of learning across the years of education

Future Wise presents a brand new framework for thinking about education. Curriculum can be one of the hardest things for teachers and administrators to change, but David Perkins shows that only by reimagining what we teach can we lead students down the road to functional knowledge. Future Wise is the practical guidebook you need to embark on this important quest.

Front Jacket

"Why do we need to know this?"

This standard student question can be annoying, but it is a version of one of the most important questions in education: What's worth learning in school?

"When that ballistic missile comes from the back of the room, it's a good reminder that the question doesn't just belong to state school boards, authors of textbooks, writers of curriculum standards, and other elite. It's on the minds of our students. This entire book is about how we answer that question."
--FROM THE INTRODUCTION

In Future Wise: Educating Our Children for a Changing World David Perkins, founding member of Harvard's Project Zero, offers a toolkit for thinking through "what's worth learning?" There is no one answer, but with the information and insights Perkins shares, teachers, administrators, curriculum developers, politicians, parents, and even students can take a big step toward a curriculum that truly prepares learners for life in a complex, changing, and challenging world.

Throughout this vital resource, Perkins explores the key concepts, curriculum criteria, and techniques for prioritizing content so teachers can guide students toward the big understandings that matter. By reimagining the curriculum, teachers can go beyond the basic skills and cultivate critical and creative thinking, as well as the collaborative, leadership, and entrepreneurial skills that speak strongly to living and thriving in any era. With a new focus, educators can encourage learners to not simply master content academically, but also to notice where content connects to life situations, yields insights, and prompts productive action.

As Perkins explains, what is conventionally taught in our schools today may not develop the kinds of citizens, workers, family, and community members we want and need. The basic skills of reading, writing, and arithmetic, even if strongly developed, aren't enough. Future Wise shows that only by reimagining what we teach our children can we lead students down the road to learning that is truly lifeworthy.

Back Jacket

In Future Wise: Educating Our Children for a Changing World David Perkins, founding member of Harvard's Project Zero, offers a toolkit for thinking through "what's worth learning?" There is no one answer, but with the information and insights Perkins shares, teachers, administrators, curriculum developers, politicians, parents, and even students can take a big step toward a curriculum that truly prepares learners for life in a complex, changing, and challenging world.

Throughout this vital resource, Perkins explores the key concepts, curriculum criteria, and techniques for prioritizing content so teachers can guide students toward the big understandings that matter. By reimagining the curriculum, teachers can go beyond the basic skills and cultivate critical and creative thinking, as well as the collaborative, leadership, and entrepreneurial skills that speak strongly to living and thriving in any era. With a new focus, educators can encourage learners to not simply master content academically, but also to notice where content connects to life situations, yields insights, and prompts productive action.

As Perkins explains, what is conventionally taught in our schools today may not develop the kinds of citizens, workers, family, and community members we want and need. The basic skills of reading, writing, and arithmetic, even if strongly developed, aren't enough. Future Wise shows that only by reimagining what we teach our children can we lead students down the road to learning that is truly lifeworthy.

Author Biography

David N. Perkins is the Carl H. Pforzheimer, Jr. Research Professor of Teaching and Learning at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Recently retired from the senior faculty, he is a founding member and senior co-director of Project Zero, a research and development institute at the graduate school. He has authored several books, including Making Learning Whole, Smart Schools, Outsmarting IQ, and The Eureka Effect.