The Creation of the Future: The Role of the American University
by Frank H.T. Rhodes. Cornell University Press. 2001. 265 pages.
As the information technology revolution transforms all our institutions, what is the fate of the research university? In order to survive, research-oriented universities must successfully meet a number of challenges, including reexamining tenure policies, improving institutional governance, and maintaining a sense of commitment to the university ideal in an age of increasing specialization. Check price/buy book.
Cyberschools: An Education Renaissance
by Glenn R. Jones. Foreword by Alvin and Heidi Toffler. Jones Digital Century. 1997. 180 pages.
People need more education than ever before, and distance learning—connecting cable and classroom—offers a way to meet that need. Cable-TV industry leader Glenn Jones outlines how we can provide higher education to all those who want it. Check price/buy book.
The Disciplined Mind: What All Students Should Understand
by Howard Gardner. Simon & Schuster. 1999. 287 pages.
School should not be just about learning facts—it should include understanding truth, beauty, and goodness (and falsity, ugliness, and evil), believes author Howard Gardner, developer of the concept of multiple intelligences. He envisions an education system that will help younger generations rise to the challenges of the future while preserving the traditional goals of a humane education. Check price/buy book.
Education for the Twenty-First Century
by William H. Boyer. Caddo Gap Press. 2002. 264 pages. Paperback.
Essays on the transformative power of education and its continuing importance to the future. Subjects include education’s goals and education about war, including ideologies and antiterrorism. Education philosopher Boyer has compiled a compelling volume stressing critical thinking over intellectual conformity. Check price/buy book
An Education Track for Creativity and Other Quality Thinking Processes
by Berenice Bleedorn. Scarecrow Press Books. 2003. 196 pages. Paperback.
Educator and futurist Bleedorn explores education techniques for teachers to help students think critically and deal more effectively with crisis and future uncertainty. An important book for educators, this volume covers creative problem solving, conflict resolution, and global and futuristic thinking. Check price/buy book
Edutopia: Success Stories for Learning in the Digital Age
by the George Lucas Educational Foundation. Foreword by George Lucas. Jossey-Bass. 2002. 294 pages. Paperback and CD-ROM.
A collection of stories touting the success of various educational institutions that incorporate innovative teaching techniques and new technologies into the classroom. Examines parent involvement, business and community partnerships, teacher skills, professional development, and unsung heroes. A useful volume for the educator of the future, as well as parents, administrators, students, and the entire breadth of the education community. An accompanying CD-ROM features 11 short documentaries on project-based learning, assessment, emotional intelligence, and teacher preparation. Check price/buy book.
Einstein Never Used Flash Cards: How Our Children REALLY Learn--and Why They Need to Play More and Memorize Less
by Kathy Hirsh-Pasek and Roberta Michnick Golinkoff, with Diane Eyer. Rodale. 2003. 302 pages.
The authors hold that playful environments and spontaneous learning opportunities are key for happy, emotionally healthy, and intelligent children, as well as for fulfilled parents. This book offers usable and practical suggestions, such as games and experiments to do with children. Subjects include discovering hidden skills, developing social intelligence, and becoming an exceptional parent. Check price/buy book.
The Future of the American School System
by Irving H. Buchen. ScarecrowEducation. 2004. 333 pages. Paperback.
Futurist educator Buchen projects the direction of public education for the next 25 years. He identifies and examines the major drivers of change, profiles all the critical educational constituencies, and offers a number of commonsense solutions to current and future problems. He also provides scenarios of solutions to prove that new approaches are both doable and viable. Check price/buy book.
The Language Police: How Pressure Groups Restrict What Students Learn
by Diane Ravitch. Knopf. 2003. 255 pages.
Censorship in the form of pressure from the political right and left has placed education in jeopardy by bowdlerizing words and concepts for students and test-takers. Ravitch explores how textbook companies and school districts react when pressure groups dictate what subjects, words, and ideas can be used in textbooks and tests, and the impact on student learning. Check price/buy book.
Leadership And Futuring: Making Visions Happen
by John R. Hoyle. Corwin Press. 1995. 68 pages. Paperback.
Educators need to enhance three key leadership abilities: to care deeply for others, to communicate a clear message simply and persuasively, and to persist under difficult circumstances. Check price/buy book.
Leaving School: Finding Education
by Jon Wiles and John Lundt. Matanzas Press. 2004. 232 pages. Paperback.
Veteran educators Wiles and Lundt call for the abandonment of schools in the United States in this age of new technologies and explore Internet learning portals as a promising replacement. Identifying schools as the final monopoly, the authors call for busting the education trust and offer 12 steps to overhauling what they see as an outdated, antiquated system. Check price/buy book.
Preparing Schools And School Systems For The 21st Century
by Frank Withrow with Harvey Long and Gary Marx. American Association of School Administrators. 1999. 106 pages. Paperback.
What characteristics will schools need to prepare children for success in the Information Age? This companion to the best-selling study Preparing Students for the 21st Century collects the insights of 21 leaders in education, business, and government on what the future will be like for today's students and what schools must do to prepare them for global competition in the knowledge-based economy. Check price/buy book.
Preparing Students For The 21st Century
by Donna Uchida with Marvin Cetron and Floretta McKenzie. American Association of School Administrators. 1996. 74 pages. Paperback.
What MUST students learn to assure themselves a prosperous future? Compare your answers with those of more than 50 leaders in education, business, and government in this enlightening report on a Delphi study. Check price/buy book.
Restoring Free Speech and Liberty on Campus
by Donald Alexander Downs. The Independent Institute. 2005. 318 pages.
This book focuses on the threats to free speech and civil liberty that have sprung up on American campuses following the wave of so-called progressive reforms, including speech codes and broad anti-harassment codes, instituted in the late 1980s and the 1990s. Downs reveals how the deprivation of free speech, due process, and other basic civil liberties in higher education harms the truth-seeking mission of universities. Check price/buy book.
To Build a Better Teacher: The Emergence of a Competitive Education Industry
by Robert Gray Holland. Greenwood Publishing. 2003. 147 pages.
Education reformer Holland proposes breaking up the teacher-preparation monopoly dictating that teachers be accredited by a single national agency and replacing it with a market-based approach. He suggests setting up alternative tracks for bright liberal arts graduates or persons with valuable real-world experience to be hired as teachers, and using a value system for principals to judge how much each teacher has helped each child progress academically from school year to school year. Check price/buy book.
The University In Transformation: Global Perspectives on the Futures of the University
edited by Sohail Inayatullah and Jennifer Gidley. Bergin & Garvey/Greenwood Publishing Group. 2000. 270 pages.
This anthology of essays from scholars and futurists around the world describes how the forces of technology and economic globalization may alter what we think of as higher education. Topics include the virtual university, paying for college, feminist alternative universities, the role of corporations in higher education, and the rise of "multiversities." Check price/buy book.
What Next? Futuristic Scenarios for Creative Problem Solving
by Robert E. Myers and E. Paul Torrance. Zephyr Press. 1994. 286 pages. Paperback.
This workbook gives secondary-school teachers more than 50 exciting units that nourish creative thinking about the future. Check price/buy book.