I invite international educators to adopt Futures Thinking/Strategic Foresight as a form of “creative vigilance.” As professionals, we have always been keenly attentive to the ever-changing and interwoven landscapes of geopolitics, government regulation and higher education. However, COVID-19 and the upcoming U.S. presidential election have required us to remain even more alert to disruption and change. This attentiveness can sometimes morph into less helpful ruminative speculation. However, Futures Thinking can be an antidote to unproductive rumination.
How does one practice “creative vigilance” through Futures Thinking? First, see the future as a verb rather than a noun. This mindset reinforces our collective agency in creating a positive shared future. Second, digest your daily media through a lens like the Eisenhower Box. It allows you to stop confusing the urgent with the important. Third, create a community with other practitioners around your primary “why” in international education. Do you care most deeply about fostering global citizenship, preparing students for 21st century jobs, or increasing equity of learning outcomes in higher education? This community can be found through your professional organization, your institution or blogs like mine.
An example of creative vigilance in action is a Futures Signals group. These are groups of practitioners who scan and share “signals” about possible futures on a regular basis. A signal can be a technology, an application, a service, a research project, a news story or even a personal anecdote. Most signals groups share 2-5 signals per month and then meet face-to-face via virtual conferencing to discern and discuss them. Signals are archived and then tagged in order to see emerging themes and patterns, also known as “drivers.”
William Gibson, the science fiction writer, is often quoted for saying that “The future is already here, it’s just not evenly distributed.” Futures Thinking allows international educators to creatively use their vigilance around understanding the issues of today to see where the future might be revealing itself. By paying attention to what’s important rather than what’s urgent, it allows us to not fall into rumination about the complexities we face, but rather primes us to be proactive in responding to them.