Futureness is the future!

Equity is a perfect match for 22nd-century skills, education consultant Paul Banksley tells Rick Hess. “What we need,” he said, “are co-created, learner-centric alternatives. It all comes down to innovative, future-driven programming which promotes equitable 22nd-century heuristics and a praxis of pedagogical liberation while progressively decentering the oppressive legacy of meta-cognitive holistic supremacy.”

When he lost his job as a vacuum-cleaner salesman, Banksley realized that the future lies ahead. Why settle for 21st-century skills when the 22nd-century is sure to be an upgrade?

Funders are "looking for innovation that’ll cultivate thought partnerships, alleviate pain points, and actionize equity," he explains. Take chronic absenteeism:

“We’re all about skillfulness, well-beingness, and futureness. And guess what combats absenteeism? The researchers we’re paying say it’s just those things! And that each dollar spent on this stuff saves seven dollars later. So, when someone gives us $100 million, we tell them they’re really getting $700 million.”

Of course, AI is the next challenge. Banksley hopes to "leverage generative skills-based dynamic cognition to support equitable, mastery-based learning environments while transitioning students towards fifth-generation skills that turn them from AI consumers to innovative AI creators.”

The fictional ed guru has competition in the real world, Hess notes.

“The four new 22nd century Cs are here everyone, so buckle up: ‘care, connection, culture, community.’” proclaims the Association for Middle Level Education.

“The dialogue in the last five years has been progressively shifting from 21st to the 22nd century because . . . innovation, exploration, civic engagement and global citizenship are progressive futuristic skills,” according to the Tech Mahindra Foundation. "The future is building itself through us slowly and gradually and it won’t take much longer for it to be the other way around.”

Or, as Paul Banksley puts it: “The future is ahead of us.”