Abstract:

Knowledge in foresight and environmental scanning is needed among teachers because of rapidly changing scenarios. Professional development of teachers is also supporting sustainability in lifelong learning. Higher education needs to match the changeable needs of the labour market. Pucciarelli and Kaplan (2016) present three core future challenges for higher education to address: competition and market share, mindset changes towards entrepreneurship and involvement of stakeholders in co‐creation. The trend toward continuing, distance and flexible learning put added pressure on teachers but also offer opportunities for innovation. Bonfield et al. (2020) discuss, by using scenario-planning methodology, digitalization and key affordances of Education 4.0, how pedagogies and teaching need to evolve. The transformation affects the professional role of the teachers. In this paper, we present results from a study on teachers’ view on future challenges in their profession and how to respond to these challenges by peer-learning and foresight. We present a qualitative empirical study involving teachers and adult educators from both Sweden and Finland exploring their future professional role. Empirical data comes from semi-structured qualitative interviews and teacher workshops. Among the themes discussed were challenges in the future, lifelong learning, the context of learning in the future, different ways to update skills and familiarity with futures thinking methods. Two workshops have been completed, with mixed groups (cross-border and inter-disciplinary) discussing sustainable futures. The participants in the study emphasized hybrid models for learning, formative teaching and coaching work styles. Among identified challenges: how to create added value for students, digital competence, greater requirements for substantive knowledge and a need for increased IT support. The empirical data also included future dilemmas: versatile and varied versus fragmented, autonomy and independence versus increased need for support, informal versus formal role and, learning management versus learning communities. The participants also suggested necessary future skills in the labour markets, to be considered. Data also resulted in a visualization of relevant trends to consider in the transformation of the teachers’ role as an educator in lifelong learning. Teachers are knowledgeable about trends and tendencies in their own professional environment. Teachers also have strategies for own professional development in their domains. There are less focus on scanning for changes in the external environment. We suggest foresight, tools and methods, as a new competence to overcome this gap.

Acknowledgements:
The study was carried out by Reconstruction of lifelong learning RELÄ –project, funded by Nordplus Adult programme during 2021-2023. Project partners: Mälardalen University (SE), Åbo Akademi University (FI) and Åland University of Applied Sciences (AX).

References:
[1] C. A. Bonfield, M. Salter, A. Longmuir, M. Benson & C. Adachi, “Transformation or evolution?: Education 4.0, teaching and learning in the digital age”, Higher Education Pedagogies, 5:1, 223-246, 2020
[2] F. Pucciarelli and A. Kaplan, A, “Competition and strategy in higher education: Managing complexity and uncertainty”, Business Horizons, No. 59, pp 311‐320, 2016

Keywords:

Lifelong learning, adult educator, foresight.