The Futures of Non-State Actors in Education
Change is the only constant in the era of postnormalcy. COVID-19 is redefining and reimagining pedagogies: the traditional mode of teaching is not expected to return; educational institutions are blending with a digital-first world to sustain hybrid-first experiences.
As volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity are becoming more apparent, Futures Studies must be applied to enhance anticipation, befriend change, detect opportunity, and appreciate novelty. The tools of foresight thinking reveal the assumptions that currently affect decision-making.
The past, present, and future of the education sector can be mapped through the Futures Triangle of Sohail Inayatullah. In the 2021 Global Education Monitoring Report of UNESCO, the pull of the future calls for an inclusive and equitable quality education. This vision is being pushed in the present by the increasing cases of digital divide, digital skills gaps, and poor technology adoption in the age of modernization. The equal access to education is hampered by lack of digital skills, poor experience with technology, inadequate equipment, and outdated systems. Educational authorities are also caught in a double bind with weights from the past. Countries around the world have various perceptions on the idea of education: is it for public good or for private investment? If the purpose is not unified, the goal is unattainable.
The exponential growth of technologies gives birth to Boundless Education. The omnipresence and omniscience of the Internet makes it an omnipotent medium: a new god. It is a master of time and space that can teach anytime and anywhere. Thus, the ambitious education goal cannot just be achieved by governments; in fact, it is the non-state actors who are currently more influential in the innovative initiatives to continue education during the pandemic. The continuous disruption contributes to changing consumers' demands: students are now questioning the value of traditional education. Online learning markets are flourishing with the increasing demand on accessing alternative learning modes.
If the Change Progression Method is applied to envision alternative futures based on the probable action responses of educational authorities, a no-change scenario permits the non-state institutions to continuously disrupt and innovate hybrid education, to the detriment of public good. In the marginal change scenario, regulatory bodies build robust awareness campaigns to educate students and parents against capitalistic motives. A future that adopts adaptive change, however, totally bans for-profit non-state institutions that contribute to inequitable education. Idealistically, a radical change scenario builds a more-than-human and collective education system that focuses on planetary sustainability for future survival; both state and non-state actors are regulated to co-create and co-exist with new and emerging technologies. Education is redefined for all students to become with the world.
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