Creating the Future School

Arguing that radical changes in schooling are to be expected due to advances in IT, this book is based on the changes a five year-old, Angelica, will see in her lifetime. It describes how schools are viewed by society and considers practical responses that schools can make to keep up with change.
Schools are often portrayed as being resistant to change, unwilling to teach new material and incapable of organizing themselves in different ways. Hedley Beare argues that there have been changes in the patterns of schooling in recent years but increasingly radical changes are expected due to advances in information technology. These changes are coming, he says, whether schools are "ready or not". This book is based on the changes a five year-old, Angelica will see in her lifetime. It is divided into two parts: the first describes how schools are viewed by society; the second considers practical responses that schools can make to keep up with change. It predicts that the career of teaching will change and the work of the professional educator will differ significantly from what has been the traditional teaching role in schools of the 20th century. The book addresses principals, senior members of school staff, teachers, governors and policy makers and aims to open up the reader's awareness to the profound shift in society and how society views its schools.