{"id":333,"date":"2021-10-30T17:53:31","date_gmt":"2021-10-31T00:53:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0204\/?p=333"},"modified":"2021-10-30T17:53:31","modified_gmt":"2021-10-31T00:53:31","slug":"speculative-futures-essay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0204\/speculative-futures-essay\/","title":{"rendered":"Speculative Futures Essay"},"content":{"rendered":"

Education is not neutral but it perpetuates the illusion of neutrality. It is this illusory capacity of education that has allowed various interests to manipulate its discourse to their ends. The danger lies in the power of the illusion, because not only does it transcend time, it manifests society\u2019s needs and consequences. These systems produce inequities by their very existence, inequities manifest by omission, by overt and subliminal oppression, inequities that have existed for as long as education has existed. These consequences have far-reaching impacts that remain entrenched, sustaining old narratives of oppression in spite of concerted efforts. Education has been gifted a veil of ignorance in that it exists under an assumption that it is good for all.<\/span>
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\nBy 2030, the equity policies of the early 2020s became entrenched in educational policy but they were not the idealized versions of those who had envisioned them. As a catalyst, COVID-19 proved change was possible as it positioned technology as the tool to make equitable educational change. COVID-19 allowed for educational think tanks, academics, and stakeholders to reenvision a better, more inclusive future, one propelled by Black Lives Matter and Idle No More movements of the late 2010s. But in 2030, these grand ideas were never seen through to fruition. Once the next triggering event, or crisis, took place, assumptions that education would be easier to manage were proven false, as divisive politics compounded into post-democratic ideologies fostered by corporate views of education and for-profiteering. Proving once again, that colonial systems such as education would never learn from the past. The policies that unfolded were veiled with appropriate catchphrases that appeased the masses, but much like progressive pushes for change before it, a look back at the decade following 2020 revealed nothing more than the interplay of the ideation of change.\u00a0 <\/span>
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\nOver these ten years of education, two critical causalities were at play in constant juxtaposition: technology as equalizer or potential liberator versus technology as for-profit and fundamentally reductionist. <\/span>In a systematic review of educational technology research patterns, Bozkurt (2020) notes that every innovation triggers socio-economic change (Bozkurt, 2020). As a result, education became innovative and was reframed for an ever-evolving economic framework. In 2015, Bates argued the necessity of <\/span>soft skills <\/span><\/i>such as critical thinking, digital fluency, and active learning; skills developed over time through intentional teaching and programming that would differentiate the humans from automation that could replace us (Bates, 2015). These skills would equip students with marketable attributes but they would simultaneously be systematically repeating historical colonial understandings of the educational system. And while we engaged in this conversation, what would the data reveal? Some theorists argued that the tech we were using as a tool to prepare students for the future, was also inequitably measuring their ability (Prescott, 2021).<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

What if this socioeconomic view of education was the barrier to its own progress? <\/span>At Lakeside, Selwyn et al. (2020), speculate a future of educational technology through the mundane, day-to-day happenstance of school life. In this future, Selwyn et al. employ an implicit belief in progress. While optimistic futures are propelled to progress by crises (Sewlyn, 2021), this progress requires an underpinning of substantial urgency that has historically been reserved for labour movements <\/span>(Motta, 2013). In 2030, these forms of resistance had branched out from grassroots and policy initiatives to fundamental retheorizing of educational systems and structures. Lakeside would be a warning of the dangers of dataveillance and commercialized education (Sewlyn et al., 2020), but would require further consideration for inclusionary change. <\/span>Macglichrist (2019), on the other hand, subverts these narratives for their cruel optimism implicit in all of these futures, naming these futures as dependent on a deficit mindset or deficit discourse (Macglichrist, 2019).\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The tangible and measurable changes that have taken place to combat systemic oppressions such as updating curriculum and pedagogy, and providing access to technologies to narrow the digital divide, were but bandaid solutions. This is where explicitly transformative activist agendas (Stetsenko, 2020) enter the narrative. Macglichrist argues for the centring of historically excluded voices and the urgency for change to include representation and inclusion in educational technology innovations (Monarch Education, 2020). The transformative work is in constant dialogue with social movements (Motta, 2013) such as Idle No More and Black Lives Matter, as resisting colonial conceptualizations of educational discourse. Framing design through an anti-colonial transformative activist lens affords educational innovations to be implemented at a faster pace: they are trustworthy, they are holistic, they centre the student and the well-being of members of education systems. This epistemological shift propels design frameworks that empower students and teachers in a bottom-up effect counter to traditional trickle-down thinking. For education, the consequences include a revealing of systemic failings that made for, gave, created, manifested proactive policy which would guide curriculum, pedagogy, and design.
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\n<\/span> In 2030, digital learning environments have evolved to include design justice, where technological innovations are designed to holistically acknowledge the intersectional factors students face (Costanza-Chock, 2020). This shift to intentional holistic design afforded authentic transformative learning experiences to take place (Veletsianos, 2016), and student well-being thrived. We would go on to see transformational learning in all educational paradigms from K-12 and higher education, public and private, and its permanence is a testament to the insurmountable desire for student success, mental health, and well-being. COVID-19 demonstrated the speed at which change was possible while highlighting those who would benefit from this change, their <\/span>anticipatory behaviours (Selwyn, 2021), and the consequential impacts. <\/span>
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\nEducation systems are a microcosm of the sociological state of communities, a consistent reflection or co-construction of societal norms and values (Macglichrist et al., 2020). In 2020, Ben Williamson warns of the outsourcing of education by corporations and notes the pushback from resistance groups (Monarch Education, 2020). Push back by resistance movements represent a major failing of these systems. The actors leading this progressive educational movement sought a future of education informed by scholar-academics rather than for-profit organizations because they could see within these systems the harm being caused. The conceptualization of a <\/span>pushback<\/span><\/i> would depend, with urgency, on those who would labour equity policy into existence. A centring of the perspectives of marginalized, underserved, and underrepresented groups <\/span>(Selwyn, 2021)<\/span>, would be necessary to resist the dangerous consequences of corporate views of education.
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\n<\/span> Another lesson from 2020 was the danger of theorizing without meaningful action, ultimately perpetuating a cycle of cruel optimism (Macgilchrist, 2019). Concepts such as Critical Race Theory continued to be reenvisioned or manipulated for various narratives (Lantz, 2021), often without substantial action. This tokenism is problematic not only to the grassroots movements working to rewrite oppressive narratives, but it also causes harm to students, educators, and communities, who must navigate these narratives. It is harmful when it limits student engagement, creates unsafe learning environments, centres educator biases and ineptitude, based on the illusion of change.
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\n<\/span> The reframing of education in the 2020s wasn\u2019t large enough and it would take years for the illusion of equity to be revealed, dismantled, and reconciled. <\/span>Evidenced by systemic oppressions from curriculum to teacher biases, social movements resisted and won. <\/span>The issues, like microaggressions, existed in plain sight, hidden in the mundane, working to subvert progress. It would take transformative agendas to unpack the details that when combined reveal systemic injustices, injustices that work reciprocally in a society that maintains the structures that sustain these oppressions, structures such as systems of education.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n


\nReferences<\/span><\/p>\n

Bates, A. W. (2021). <\/span>Do we need a theory for blended learning? <\/span><\/i>Vancouver, BC: Tony Bates <\/span>Associates Ltd. Retrieved from <\/span>https:\/\/www.tonybates.ca\/2021\/10\/19\/do-we-need-a-theory-for-blended-learning\/<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Bates, A. W. (2018). <\/span>2018 review: 21st century knowledge and skills. <\/span><\/i>Vancouver, BC: Tony <\/span>Bates Associates Ltd. Retrieved from <\/span>https:\/\/www.tonybates.ca\/2018\/12\/27\/2018-review-21st-century-knowledge-and-skills
\n<\/span>
\n<\/b>Bozkurt, A. (2020). Educational technology research patterns in the realm of the digital <\/span>knowledge age. <\/span>Journal of Interactive Media in Education, 2020<\/span><\/i>(1), 1-18. DOI: <\/span>
\n<\/span> http:\/\/doi.org\/10.5334\/jime.570<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/a>
\nCostanza-Chock, S. (2020). <\/span>Design justice: community-led practices to build the worlds we need <\/span><\/i>(Ser. Information policy series). MIT Press. Retrieved October 28, 2021, from <\/span>https:\/\/library.oapen.org\/handle\/20.500.12657\/43542<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Lantz, P.M. (2021). The tenets of critical race theory have a long-standing and important role in <\/span>population health science. <\/span>Milbank Quarterly Opinion.<\/span><\/i> DOI: <\/span>https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1599\/mqop.2021.0714<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/a>
\nMacgilchrist, F. (2019). Cruel optimism in edtech: When the digital data practices of educational <\/span>technology providers inadvertently hinder educational equity. <\/span>Learning, Media and <\/span><\/i>Technology, 44<\/span><\/i>(1), 77\u201386. DOI: <\/span>https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1080\/17439884.2018.1556217<\/span><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Macgilchrist, F., Allert, H., & Bruch, A. (2020). Students and society in the 2020s. Three future <\/span>\u2018histories\u2019 of education and technology, <\/span>Learning, Media and Technology, 45<\/span><\/i>(1), 76-89.\u00a0 <\/span>DOI: <\/span>https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1080\/17439884.2019.1656235<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Monash Education. (2020, June 24). <\/span>Digital Education after COVID-19 Symposium <\/span><\/i>[Video]<\/span>. <\/span><\/i>YouTube. <\/span>https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=GmvN7V9dqCg<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Motta, S. C. (2013). Reinventing the lefts in Latin America: Critical perspectives from below. <\/span>Latin American Perspectives<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>40<\/span><\/i>(4), 5\u201318. DOI: <\/span>
\n<\/span> https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/0094582X13489665<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Selwyn, N. (2021). Ed-Tech Within Limits: Anticipating educational technology in times of <\/span>environmental crisis. <\/span>E-Learning and Digital Media, 18<\/span><\/i>(5), 496\u2013510. DOI: <\/span>https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/20427530211022951<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/a>
\nSelwyn, N., Pangrazio, L., Nemorin, S., & Perrotta, C. (2020). What might the school of 2030 be <\/span>like? An exercise in social science fiction. <\/span>Learning, Media and Technology, 45<\/span><\/i>(1), <\/span>90-106. DOI: https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1080\/17439884.2020.1694944<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\nStetsenko, A. (2020). Hope, political imagination, and agency in marxism and beyond: <\/span>Explicating the transformative worldview and ethico-ontoepistemology. <\/span>Educational <\/span><\/i>Philosophy and Theory<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>52<\/span><\/i>(7), 726\u2013737. DOI: <\/span>
\n<\/span> https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1080\/00131857.2019.1654373<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/a>
\nVeletsianos, G. (2016). Digital learning environments. In N. Rushby & D. Surry (Eds), <\/span>Handbook of Learning Technologies <\/span><\/i>(pp. 242-260). UK: John Wiley & Sons.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Education is not neutral but it perpetuates the illusion of neutrality. It is this illusory capacity of education that has allowed various interests to manipulate its discourse to their ends. The danger lies in the power of the illusion, because… Continue Reading →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":203,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lrnt523"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0204\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0204\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0204\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0204\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/203"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0204\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=333"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0204\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":334,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0204\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333\/revisions\/334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0204\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0204\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0204\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}