Liam Bassett BEd(Primary & Secondary) | Director of Digital Learning (P-12)

Humans aren’t very good at predicting the future.

We’ve been wrong about flying cars, colonising Mars by 2020 and, let’s not forget, the predictions of the internet being a passing fad. But that’s exactly what makes futurism so fascinating – we don’t need to get it right all the time. It’s about imagining possibilities, exploring the ‘what ifs’ and preparing ourselves for a range of potential outcomes.

When I was 10 years old, I remember pleading with my mum to purchase an MP3 player. At the time, I formed a compelling argument:

My Discman keeps skipping songs on ‘So Fresh: Hits of Winter 2003’ and everyone at school has an MP3 player – I don’t want to be left behind.

The fact was most of the students didn’t have an MP3 player. Let’s chalk that one up to a white lie. 

Because whilst I was secretly a little upset that Justin Timberlake’s song ‘Cry Me a River’ did in fact keep skipping during the last chorus, I’ve always had the feeling that it wasn’t just about the technology itself – it was about staying connected, feeling a part of something bigger and not wanting to be left behind as the world moved forward. Even at that young age, I think I was unknowingly grappling with the essence of futurism: the drive to adapt, to evolve and to embrace new possibilities.

I feel grateful that my parents were always supportive of this. They understood that my curiosity and desire to keep up with the latest trends were more than just fleeting interests – they were part of a broader approach to engage with the world around me. Whether it was a new gadget or a new idea, they encouraged me to explore, to ask questions and to think critically about the changes happening in society.

Looking back, I realise that those formative experiences were foundational in shaping my perspective on the future. They taught me that change is inevitable, but it’s how we respond to it that truly matters. Instead of resisting new developments or finding reasons to not support them, my parents taught me to lean into them, to see them as opportunities rather than threats.

Fast forward a few years, and that same MP3 player was collecting thick dust as iPhones took over, integrating music, communication and so much more into a single device. My desire for the latest gadget wasn’t just about convenience; it was about being ready for what came next, even if I didn’t fully understand what that would be or whether it would have a lasting impact.

This mindset is something I carry with me today, especially in my role as an English teacher. I’ve come to understand that one of the most valuable things we can do for our students is to help them cultivate a future-ready mindset. Whilst Justin Timberlake is still somehow releasing new music(!), the world students are growing up in is vastly different from the one I knew as a child, and the pace of change is only accelerating.

As educators, I believe our role is to nurture their innate curiosity and adaptability, to help them see these changes as chances to learn and grow.

Learning should be difficult.

It should challenge students, push them out of their comfort zones and force them to confront new ideas and perspectives.

This involves creating a learning environment that is dynamic and responsive, one that embraces new tools and technologies while also encouraging critical thinking and ethical reflection. It’s about teaching students not just to use technology, but to question it, to understand its implications and to imagine how it could be harnessed for the greater good.

Schools are great at looking back. We celebrate traditions, revisit historical events and often base our teaching methods on what has worked over the last few decades. This retrospective approach has its merits – understanding history, after all, is crucial for learning from our mistakes and appreciating the context of our current approaches.

But if we focus too much on what’s behind us, we risk missing out on what lies ahead.

While history teaches us valuable lessons, the future challenges us to innovate and create. Schools must embrace this dual responsibility; it’s not enough to just teach students how to solve the problems of yesterday – we must also inspire them to anticipate and solve the problems of tomorrow. This requires a shift in how we think about education. We need to continue to go beyond the traditional curriculum and integrate future-focused skills like digital literacy, critical thinking, ethical reasoning, entrepreneurial thinking, emotional intelligence and adaptability into our everyday teaching.

Of course, this doesn’t mean abandoning the past. On the contrary, the past provides the context and continuity that students need to make sense of the future.

The challenge for schools is to find ways to connect the two.

20 years later, after ten years of teaching and dreaming of creating a subject that is grounded in futurism, I introduced a brand-new subject for our Year 9 students: Future Thinking.

This year in Future Thinking, students become futurists by analysing future-focused topics and trends, such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality, autonomous vehicles, wearable technologies, renewable energies, cryptocurrencies, personalised medicines, metaverses and more.

Through this, their thinking is stretched beyond the here and now and into the realm of what could be. I encourage students to dive into a feeling of uncomfortable uncertainty. They learn about the impact of current technologies, but they also explore emerging trends that are still on the horizon. This requires them to think critically about what these trends might mean for society, to question their assumptions, and to be open to a range of possible futures.

Additionally, in the subject students consider the broader societal implications and engage with a range of fiction and non-fiction multimodal texts of their choice, such as books, YouTube videos, podcasts, songs, video games, movies and TV shows. These texts are used to analyse how narratives, genre and structure shape perspectives and viewpoints in the context of future-focused topics.

It acts as a precursor to VCE English and Literature and, with an emphasis on constructivist and dialogic teaching principles, students take ownership of their learning and choose to focus on their unique areas of passion and interest.

The feedback from students has been overwhelmingly positive and it’s a subject that I can see expanding in years to come.

In education, embracing a futurism mindset is crucial. We can’t predict exactly what jobs our students will be doing in 10, 20 or 30 years, but we can help them develop the skills and mindset to navigate whatever comes their way. Futurism isn’t about having a crystal ball; it’s about fostering a flexible, resilient approach to learning and problem-solving that will serve our students no matter how the world changes.

Our role as educators must evolve from being mere purveyors of knowledge to becoming facilitators of exploration and innovation. We must create learning environments that blend the digital and physical worlds, fostering spaces where students can experiment, take risks and develop their unique visions for the future.

At Westbourne Grammar School, we are doing just that. The future is not a distant horizon; it is here, right now, and it is ours to shape.