Visioning Scenarios for Schooling for Tomorrow

This chapter takes as its starting point the OECD project on Schooling for Tomorrow. The report, What schools for the future? (OECD 2001) outlined six educational scenarios within one of three overall possible trends. The first trend saw the continuation of the status quo. The second trend re-visioned schooling with a strengthening of the place of schools either as core social centres or as focused learning organisations. The third trend shifted the focus away from schools as we know them by offering de-schooling scenarios. After outlining the development of these scenarios, the authors provide examples of three countries that have used the scenarios to encourage future focused thinking in their own educational settings. The focus then shifts to the Asia Pacific region where a study that examined the relevance of the scenarios to this region is discussed. This discussion leads to a more detailed look at the issues facing Japan before the chapter closes with an introduction to the concept of schooling for tomorrow in developing countries.