Future focused learning

Future Focused Learning (FFL) develops the skills and attributes that students need to connect, succeed and thrive in a rapidly changing and increasingly complex world.

FFL incorporates elements of the:

Melbourne declaration
Quality teaching framework
Australian curriculum general capabilities
NSW wellbeing framework
QHHS school vision
Great teaching
Inspired learning

and research into gamified education into a dynamic and constantly evolving program that approaches ‘wicked problems’ with the ‘knowledge, skills, behaviours and dispositions that will assist students to actively shape their future.

Why not only STEM

If STEM is all the future why then are we not spending all of that time on STEM-based learning rather than Future Focused Learning? In fact much of FFL is STEM based but the reason it is FFL and not STEM is due to the ongoing research that has demonstrated that the citizen of the future needs more than the ability to code or develop algorithms – they also need the ‘soft’ skills that are easily transferred from one industry to another.

Transferable skills

The 12 transferable skills underpin all teaching and learning within the lessons as students focus on collaboration, communication and creation, use critical and creative thinking to solve complex problems and engage in hands on, authentic learning activities to develop the skills they need to be responsible and active global citizens now and in the future.

The 12 Transferable Skills

Students who demonstrate flexibility are resourceful, adaptable and enterprising. They can access and utilise a wider range of approaches to a problem or situation.
Students who demonstrate persistence are resilient and prepared to take a risk in their learning. They look for and try alternatives if they are not successful. They do not give up.
Students who possess strong communication skills are able to express a point of view, represent themselves and their ideas in a more convincing way.
Students who develop effective presentation skills are more likely to engage their audience, represent their solutions in an effective way and imbue their buyers with more confidence in the product. Whether that product is themselves, their project or something they have developed.
Students who develop a problem solving mindset are more likely to seek and implement pro-active solutions that shape and change their world in a positive way. Students who have learned to problem solve are less likely to accept the status quo.
Critically literate students do not just accept what they read, see or are told. They question, they challenge, they sift through information, they evaluate, they synthesise, seek evidence and engage in reasoning and consideration before moving to a judgement.
Critically Numerate students make discerning decisions about everyday issues which involve mathematical concepts. They analyse, question and apply numeracy strategies to solve every day and larger problems.
Digitally Literate students harness the power of technology and use it ethically and responsibly to navigate the research, communication and production of their work.
Students who have learned to think creatively are able to develop new ideas and different approaches to the same situation. They are more imaginative and have higher levels of focus and concentration
Students who think have learned to think critically are more logical and rational in their decision making. They are more reflective and are better able to learn from their errors, refine systems and processes.
Students who have learned to work collaboratively are able to join their best efforts to the best efforts of others and therefore achieve a stronger result that has considered more perspectives.
Design and innovation skills are essential in the modern world and need to be nurtured and developed. Students who have developed these skills can engineer new and imaginative solutions or refine existing products.