ITM EDITORIAL, MARCH 2025
As the pace of change quickens and the implications of practically any trend is amplified by AI, it is not surprising that schools are conscious that they should be looking out for ‘the next big idea’. Fear of missing out is real and the responsibility to prepare students for the challenges to come acutely felt. Just keeping up with the future as it encroaches ever more on the present is plain hard work.
There is no shortage of indicators to help point the way to what we might include in a modern curriculum: the WEF’s Future of Jobs report series, the latest of which was published in 2025, referenced this month by Craig Eason is particularly useful and used by a growing number of schools to keep a handle on things.
And yet . . . and yet . . .
James MacDonald, the Director of the International School of Brussels made a telling point when ITM caught up with him recently. Like Jeff Bezos he is more interested in asking ‘what is going to stay the same?’ rather than ‘what is going to change?’ And if nothing goes out of fashion as quickly as the cutting edge, what are the ‘classic constants’ that will have as much credence in fifteen years as they do today. Will we still, like MacDonald suggests, be focusing on the development of great relationships in our schools? Absolutely. Challenging kids without overwhelming them? Yes. Using the ideas of Vygotsky as a theoretical tool for thinking about learning? Almost certainly.
And what about those skills that the corporate respondents to the latest WEF survey rated as essential? Topping the list for 2025 and still in the top three for 2030 was Analytical Thinking. Take a bow, Socrates.