YOUNG
PEOPLE AND THE FUTURE:
A Futures Education Model
Research
paper by Carmen Stewart, project coordinator,
Re-imagining your neighbourhood,
1998.
Abstract
Author/Organisation notes
Young People and the Future
Futures Education
Re-Imagining Sunshine - a pilot project
About Sunshine
Survey Findings
Connection to the Local Community
Providing Opportunities for Authentic Participation
Developing a Confidence that other People Care
Development of the Imagination
Urban design
Visual Arts
"Re-Imagining Your Neighbourhood"
Council Participation
Conclusion
Notes and references
Young
People and the Future
In
recent years substantial research has been done
into the images, hopes and fears that young people
have for the future and how these perceptions
encourage or discourage their participation in
society. Numerous reports have been prepared
by researchers including Eckersley, Hutchinson,
Hicks and Holden, documenting the fear and apathy
that many Western youth experience in discussing
their expectations for the future. (1)
Identified trends have been discussed from psychological,
social and cultural perspectives and meanings.
A 1995 study carried out for the Australian Commission
for the Future found that:
..
youth seem unusually apathetic about the
future. They are not negligent or
ignorant of the challenges, they just feel
powerless to do anything about it. (2)
The findings indicate that young people are aware
of and affected by the growing complexity and
challenges of our global situation. Not
surprisingly their concerns reflect the major
social and environmental concerns of communities
globally. The apathy we must confront is
not due to a lack of information about the problems,
but rather a lack of information about and belief
in the possibilities for a life-giving and sustainable
future. Trends of youth pessimism are not
inevitable. In "The Future: Images
and Processes", Elise Boulding discusses how the
quality of our intentions and actions declines
when we lose our ability to imagine significant
aspects of a life-giving future (3).
A lot of the research that has been done in to
how young people perceive the future has concentrated
on their images of 'probable' futures. In
light of this understanding it is suggested that
there is a strong need to help young people develop
their understanding of and ability to imagine
'preferable' futures.
Futures
Education
This
has been the focus of more recent research
in the futures field. Numerous educators
and researchers have been exploring processes
of empowerment and image construction as
methods of encouraging social confidence
and action. Jenny Gidley's 1997
study focused on a holistic, imaginative
and artistic approach to educating about
the future. In investigating the views
and visions of Steiner educated students
she found that:
...
educational input can potentially facilitate a
positive, prospective outlook, thereby empowering
students for their future lives.... It is argued
that the qualities that strengthen this need to
be taken seriously. This research
demonstrates
that it is vital that the current emphasis on
'head knowledge' in mainstream education be balanced
in the future by:
*
the cultivation of the imagination through
story telling and the arts;
*
a reinvention of human values to include activism,
spirituality, and future care.
(4)
Similar findings have been cited in studies by
Boulding, Hicks and Holden, Slaughter and Hutchinson.
(5)
Young people can experience social confidence,
vision and an energetic enthusiasm to participate
when presented with a holistic context for exploring
the future. Futures education is primarily
concerned with processes of re-vitalising social
purpose and direction through subjective experience
and understanding.
Re-imagining
Sunshine - a
pilot project
Students
at Sunshine Secondary College painting their 1997
mural.
In
1997 Imagine the
Future designed and facilitated a successful
futures education project called Re-imagining
Sunshine. Thirty year 11 students
from Sunshine Secondary College in Victoria (Australia.)
participated in a project to imagine a socially
and environmentally sustainable future for their
neighbourhood. In so doing, the broader
objective was to help young people feel more hopeful
about the future of our world and capable of contributing
to it in creative and constructive ways.
Section
of the 1997 mural.
The
project ran for 15 weeks in weekly classes of
1½ hours. The content was purposefully
designed to fit in to the course work of existing
curriculum. There is validity in establishing
a separate futures studies curriculum as has recently
occurred in Queensland (Aust.). In designing
the project however, we felt it was more important
to present the future as being of relevance to
all areas of inquiry. The project was facilitated
with English, Environmental Studies and Photography
students.
The
chosen methodology was situated within the emergent,
empowerment focussed futures education approach.
Ideas and methods were drawn from the work of
Joanna Macy, Elise Boulding, Hicks and Holden,
Frank Hutchinson, Richard Eckersley, the UNESCO
'Growing Up in Cities' project, and the objectives
of Imagine the Future
Inc. Based on the cross-disciplinary
processes of empowerment work, futures education
and community research, the project utilised a
mix of techniques and specific futures methodologies.
The
students began by identifying the social
and environmental issues of concern to them
and their community. They then researched
and discussed strategies to deal with these
issues in positive and constructive ways.
This research formed a series of recommendations
concerning issues of environmental and social
health. The visioning process culminated
in the painting of a mural expressing the
sort of future for Sunshine that the students
would like to live in. This work was
presented to the wider community and local
council.
About
Sunshine
Sunshine
is a diverse and growing neighbourhood located
in the municipality of Brimbank. The
region is of substantial historical, cultural,
industrial, economic and environmental significance.
Brimbank is predominantly a working class,
low income region that was founded on industry
and post-war multicultural communities.
It is the largest municipality in the Western
region of Melbourne with a very diverse
population. 75% of the students at
the local high schools are from a non-English
speaking background. The setting of
Brimbank is an important context for this
project as it faces major issues of environmental
and social sustainability - issues that
are of relevance to many communities around
the world. The diversity of cultural
experience and understanding within it adds
a richness to the process of exploring ideas
and visions concerning future health.
In piloting our futures education project
in Brimbank, we are hoping to develop a
model of working with young people and communities
that is relevant to other cultural and social
contexts.
Survey
Findings
I
would like to introduce the learnings from
'Re-Imagining Sunshine' by referring to
some of the findings from a survey of students
regarding their expectations of the future.
This comparative survey was carried out
in weeks one and fourteen of the project
to gauge the ways in which their perceptions
changed through participating in this model
of futures education.
24
students participated in the first survey
and 25 students in the second survey.
Responses to survey 1 (held in week 1) are
recorded under S1 and responses to survey
2 (held in week 14) are recorded under S2.
F1 corresponds to responses by females in
survey 1 and F2 are responses received in
survey 2. M1 corresponds to responses
by males in survey 1 and M2 are responses
received in survey 2.
1.
Thinking about Australia in 23 years time,
that's the year 2020, do you think that
our overall quality of life will be better
than it is now, about the same, or worse
than it is now?
| |
S1 |
S2 |
F1 |
F2 |
M1 |
M2 |
| Better
than now |
37% |
68% |
23% |
58% |
55% |
77%
|
| About
the same |
21%
|
28% |
31% |
42% |
9% |
15% |
| Worse
than now |
42% |
4% |
46% |
- |
36% |
7% |
| Don't
Know |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
There
was an increased expectation in the second
survey that the quality of life in Australia
in the future will be better than it is
now. Of particular note is the change
in attitude of female participants.
2.
Do you expect things to get better, remain
the same, or get worse in Australia between now
and 2010 in the following areas?
|
Better |
|
Same |
|
Worse |
|
Unsure |
|
|
S1 |
S2 |
S1 |
S2 |
S1 |
S2 |
S1 |
S2 |
Our
Natural Environment |
26% |
60% |
4% |
20% |
70% |
20% |
- |
-
|
Crime
and Violence |
13% |
20% |
9% |
36% |
74% |
28% |
4% |
16% |
Gap
between Rich and Poor |
13% |
24% |
26% |
44% |
44% |
24% |
17% |
8% |
Family
Life |
35%
|
40% |
52% |
52% |
13% |
4% |
- |
4% |
Our
Physical Health |
39%
|
60% |
26% |
28% |
35% |
12% |
-
|
- |
Our
Mental Health |
30%
|
52% |
44%
|
40% |
22% |
8% |
4% |
- |
Substance
Abuse |
26%
|
20% |
22% |
40% |
39% |
12% |
13% |
28% |
Racism |
44%
|
72% |
30% |
12% |
26% |
8% |
- |
8% |
Australia's
Economy |
54%
|
44% |
25% |
16%
|
13% |
36% |
8% |
4% |
Justice
and equality |
39%
|
56% |
35% |
40%
|
22% |
4% |
4% |
- |
Employment
Opportunities |
22%
|
48% |
17% |
28%
|
35% |
20%
|
26% |
4% |
The
examples given from the comparative survey
indicate that 'Re-Imagining Sunshine' was
effective in helping students develop a
greater hope and confidence in
the future. The following is a summary
of my understanding of the key processes
that led to this change in perspective.
Connection
to the Local Community
Both
global and local issues were discussed.
The focus of our future visioning and problem
solving was however kept local. It was our
aim not only to create a positive vision of the
future, but also an understanding of how such
a future could function and be created.
Tangible achievements in visioning and problem
solving can be made at a local level where there
is a high degree of relevance to life experience
and understanding. Fiske et al. describes
this relevance to one's personal life as image
salience. The greater the salience the greater
the opportunity for action. (6)
At
the beginning of the project a lot of the
students expressed a desire to see Sunshine
improved, but displayed little sense of
connection to it. As Karen Malone
from the UNESCO Growing Up in Cities
project said to me, "how do you expect young
people to develop a sense of connection
with the future when they don't have a sense
of connection with the present?" Factors
such as belonging to a cohesive community
culture and having accessible and stimulating
public spaces were very important to students.
Talking about their own experiences of living
in Sunshine, learning about its history,
expressing their concerns and learning about
local initiatives for change, opened them
up to a greater sense of connection to their
neighbourhood. They moved from focussing
on "Scumshine" and its numerous perceived
flaws, to displaying a sense of pride and
commitment to it. This sense of place
and belonging was enhanced by their own
descriptive vision of how Sunshine could
look and function in the future and the
encouragement and support they received
from local council and media.
Providing
Opportunities for Authentic Participation
An
important stage of empowerment is to be provided
with a forum for active participation. Having
the confidence and opportunity to take action
is empowering in its reinforcement of a person's
ability to participate and effect change. (7)
The local community is an important forum for
the authentic and active participation of young
people in policy making and social involvement.
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
includes a series of articles regarding young
people's rights of participation. This was
built upon in "The Habitat Agenda" which reports
that:
The
needs of children and youth, particularly with
regard to their living environment, have to be
taken fully into account. Special attention needs
to be paid to the participatory processes dealing
with the shaping of cities, towns and neighbourhoods;
this is in order to secure the living conditions
of children and youth and to make use of their
insight, creativity and thoughts on the environment.
(8)
The participating students initially displayed
little confidence in the effectiveness of
making formal recommendations to council.
They wanted to be involved in determining
their neighbourhood, but didn't feel their
opinions would be respected. Young people
are very aware of 'token' gestures from
'grown ups' seeking their passive involvement.
In establishing a relationship with local
council, we provided an affirming and authentic
opportunity for students to participate
in policy making processes. An emphasis
on young people's rights to participate
in decision making has been identified as
a need in recent youth futures research
as an important precursor to active citizenship.
The
process of submitting recommendations to
local council was for the students a form
of social action; they felt that this act
was contributing to the future of their
community. Their recommendations reflected
realistic and well-considered ideas for
change. The changes they wanted were
relatively selfless desires to see their
creek restored to health, strategies to
develop community pride, accessible services
and the cleaning and beautifying of their
built environment. They had realistic
ideas of how these steps could be implemented
and an understanding of the social and personal
responsibility involved in creating this
change. Their recommendations reflected
an intimate knowledge of Sunshine and a
genuine concern for its long term social
and environmental health. Their work
was officially presented to local council,
media and the wider community.
Developing
a Confidence that other People Care
The
students valued the opportunity to name,
discuss and debate their concerns in class.
Their concerns were validated and they were
provided with a space to reflect upon how
these issues affected them personally.
Many commented that it was positive to learn
that their individual concerns were shared
by peers - it broke a sense of isolation.
A lot of the student's initial feelings
of hopelessness stemmed from a belief that
other people, particularly adults, don't
care about our world and that change therefore
is impossible. They could talk in
specific details about local and global
problems, yet struggled with an ability
to suggest practical solutions. The educational
content was designed to provide examples
of what individuals and communities are
practically doing to achieve change.
This included guest speaker presentations
on practical local initiatives to promote
social and environmental health. The
content provided the students with information
that they don't normally access in mainstream
education; information aimed at inspiring
social confidence and an understanding of
practical ways of acting. As Rogers
and Tough discuss:
In
order to feel empowered, people need to hear or
read success stories where individuals have made
a difference, and they need to experience hope
and cautious optimism from those who 'know the
facts' but are able to sustain hope and commitment.
(9)
Development
of the Imagination
In
week one of the project students were asked
to draw or write about the sort of future
that they would 'like' to live in.
Approximately 35% of the students drew pictures
of life on other planets, bombs exploding,
grey skies and a planet on the brink of
environmental destruction. The students
who documented in writing focused on what
they hoped would no longer exist e.g. violence,
destruction, pollution etc. The strength
of their negative imaginings were difficult
to move beyond even when asked to document
what they would 'like' the future to be
like. The only positive responses
received were concepts of peace, colours
of green land and blue skies. The
greater the strength and relevance of the
future images we create the greater the
potential for action. To create relevance
to the lives of the students it was important
to move beyond concepts of future peace
and a clean environment to an understanding
of how such a future could actually look,
function and be created at a local level.
Concepts alone do not hold the strength
needed to create an empowering belief in
the possibility of a healthy future, nor
do they indicate with clarity the actions
needed to create it.
A
critical feature of ... social therapeutic imaging
is that the imager must be able to picture significant
details of .. a healthy society... The significant
aspect of imaging is that human beings construct
social reality in their minds prior to the sociophysical
task of constructing the external reality.
(10)
One of the difficulties I encountered as a facilitator
was finding visual and written resources to aid
the imaginative process. I found many examples
of initiatives emerging out of Europe and examples
of Australian based projects such as the design
of the Halifax Ecocity. They were valuable
resources to give examples of possibilities, particularly
for urban design, but lacked a relevance to the
student's present experience of life in their
neighbourhood. One of the images I used
as an example of a sustainable future was from
"Educating for the Future" by David Hicks. (11)
Students were asked to discuss the benefits of
living in such a community. Whilst they
felt that it was preferable to the future they
expected, their responses focused on the lack
of choices and the way in which they perceived
such a self-contained community to lack in interaction
with the outside world. One student wrote
that "this future seems very balmy and peaceful,
but I'm not sure that I'd like to live in it.
The environment is healthy but I think I'd get
real bored seeing everyone in my community all
the time and everything being the same."
There is a need to develop visual resources that
capture aspects of both sustainability and life
in a dynamic and stimulating social environment.
We need resources that appeal to the imagination,
mind and senses.
Urban
Design
Utilising
urban design methods contributed to the
development of the student's imaginations.
We spent several lessons walking around
the creek, housing, entertainment and shopping
areas in Sunshine. These walks enabled
us to discuss what features of the built
environment are socially and ecologically
healthy and the possibilities that exist
for improvement. This physical
presence initiated many ideas, drawings,
imaginings and stories of how the students
use their natural and built landscapes.
As well as inspiring the student's imaginations,
these walks provided me with important insights
in to the ways in which young people see,
experience and value their physical environment.
Visual
Arts
Designing
and painting a mural was a very powerful
medium for developing the student's vision
for the future of Sunshine. Each student
was asked to visually represent something
that they felt to be of importance to the
future. Collectively these imaginings
came together in to a visual representation
of the sort of future that they would like
to live in. Their vision of the future
unfolded in the act of putting their individual
images together in to a final design.
The students felt both an individual and
collective sense of ownership of the vision
expressed in the mural. An important
contribution to this sense of ownership
was not dictating what images were appropriate
to include. Referring back to the
student's own concerns, aspirations and
learnings recorded through out the project,
provided sufficient ideas and structure
to the imaging process.
The
final product of the student's visioning
process was a 10M x 3M mural detailing aspects
of a stimulating and healthy community.
Concepts included recreation and entertainment;
a lively community of interaction and vibrant
urban design; and an understanding of the
importance of nature corridors, native flora
and fauna, appropriate technology and alternative
energy resources. The mural was officially
unveiled by the local mayor and is now on
permanent display at the local shopping
plaza. The mural was a significant
accomplishment in grounded visioning, particularly
when reflecting on the student's initial
inability to move beyond concepts of colour
and peace. Visual arts is being used again
in "Re-Imagining Your Neighbourhood" as
a medium for developing social vision.
Re-Imagining
Your Neighbourhood
Painted
tile by students, Sunshine, 1998.
Re-Imagining
Your Neighbourhood is an integrated
research, consultation and visioning process on
issues of community health and sustainability.
80 students from Sunshine and Marian Catholic
Colleges in Victoria are participating in this
16 week futures education project. Participating
students have been presented with a focus of imagining
a healthy and sustainable future for their neighbourhood.
We are arriving at this objective through the
following project phases:
- Identifying
the social and environmental issues of
concern to students and their community.
- Identifying
how and why these situations occur.
- Exploring
strategies to deal with these issues in
positive and constructive ways.
- Discussing
the role of values in creating healthy
futures.
- Developing
stories and images of healthy and sustainable
neighbourhoods.
- Developing
recommendations based on the student's
concerns and ideas for change to contribute
to community planning processes.
- Involving
students in urban design initiatives as
a means of practically engaging them in
determining their local environment.
- Expressing
the student's vision of a healthy and
sustainable future through a large mosaic
art piece and a series of paving tiles
to be permanently installed in a prominent
public space.
- Presenting
the work of the students to Council, local
media and the wider community.
