Youngsters’ multi‐dimensional future perceptions by the year 2020

Abstract

Educational futurology has a unique place in the overall futuristic efforts that schools must be places where future is foreseen, cast and shaped. To achieve this end, we educators should have a clear idea of what future looks like in the eye of young school children and the emotional atmosphere they experience at school. Type of school curricula, gender difference, socio‐economic status of the family, mother’s and father’s educational background and occupation seem to have great impact on the way youngsters perceive mid‐range futures, on a triple basis. Samples of the study were 839 high school students selected randomly among the 9th, 10th and 11th grades from 12 high schools of six different programmes, enrolled in the high schools in 1998‐1999 in Gaziantep province, Turkey. The preliminary form of the data collection tool was administered to 1,010 subjects to assure validity and reliability. Throughout the study, the sample’s future perceptions were assessed on five sub‐scales, namely personal future, national future, global future, peaceful future and future wars. Findings revealed that type of school curricula and gender differences seemed to have an impact on the students’ future perceptions by the year 2020. Another noteworthy finding was that subjects also failed to see the intersections between their personal future and national and global futures, which would have cross impact on their lives, in one way or another. In this particular paper the first three futures will be submitted and discussed, with respect to curricular differences.

Citation

Elçin Gören Summak, A. (2003), "Youngsters’ multi‐dimensional future perceptions by the year 2020", Foresight, Vol. 5 No. 3, pp. 43-47. https://doi.org/10.1108/14636680310485221