Creating a better future: Implications from futures imagination education in Taiwan

Abstract

As the world is changing and transforming at a fast pace, students today are expected to face more challenges in the future. For example, they need to prepare for jobs that do not yet exist, use technologies that have not been invented yet, or even solve problems that have not been discovered yet.The current study proposes that futures imagination is the key to better prepare students to face unknown challenges and an implementable education policy in Taiwan. This article introduces the development process and results of a futures imagination education program in compulsory education in Taiwan. In 2011, the Ministry of Education (MOE) in Taiwan started promoting the futures imagination program at all levels of education through different action plans for four consecutive years. The current study examines the ‘Grades 1–9 Action Plan’ and its teacher education workshops throughout this period. The Grades 1–9 Action Plan was implemented in compulsory education. The subjects of this study are teachers who participated in the action plan; they learned how to implement futures imaginative approaches in their classrooms. Through their cycle of planning, action, observation, and reflection from 2011 to 2015, they reported their findings through written reports, and then we collected their results through interviews and surveys. The results showed that students show higher learning interests and will have a more in-depth view of the future, which is expected to prepare students to adapt to their futures, and this contributes to their learning interests.