One of the fundamental responsibilities of a society is to educate its young so that they can grow into responsible and capable adults, able to maintain and sustain that society. Given the evidence surrounding us today, our educational system is not measuring up. We have failed to respond to impending climate disaster despite evidence over the past decades. We are refuting the work of scientists, and science in general that would guide our actions regarding the covid pandemic, and are rejecting vaccines in favor of horse dewormers, and have been vulnerable to the most outlandish conspiracy theories, evidencing little critical thinking that should have been developed in functioning education systems. The question becomes, what education, what learning do our young people need if they are to become those capable, responsible adults who can respond effectively to the crises we face today, and those that will arrive in the future? What do our students need to know, what dispositions do they need to develop, and what social and emotional learning and support do they need so that they can live healthy and productive lives, in service to themselves, their communities, and to the planet. Doug Selwyn invited nineteen contributors to respond to that fundamental question of what learning our students need to become responsible and effective citizens, able to meet whatever comes to them in the future, and how can we help them to attain that learning. Each contributor decided what aspect of that question to respond to, in short essays or via interview, and they have been gathered into this book. There has been no attempt to align them into a neat package; the message is more that we have to think about many aspects of the question, that there are many points of view that we need to consider in our own unique circumstances, and that there is value in gathering a range of thought and experience when considering how best to plan, and then to act. The other major purpose of the book is to urge us to begin planning and acting now for the education we want, rather than to put it off because of the crisis of the moment. There are always crises in education, and so we keep doing what was done before, which has been failing us. That's not good enough.

Book Information
ISBN 9781433194658
Author Doug Selwyn
Format Paperback
Imprint Peter Lang Publishing Inc
Publisher Peter Lang Publishing Inc