‘Change for the sake of change’ is something often denied by progressive educationalists, innovators and enthusiasts for educational development.  However, continuing practices without challenging their benefits, aims or value within new demands of education, not only hampers the development of new practices, but can actively hinder reaching the goals of education.

However, there is a middle way between the demand for change and the need for consistency - and that is simply based upon reflecting upon the most appropriate practices for the aims of education.  If we take the aims of the Children’s Plan as these core educational goals, then a number of different practices are needed to reach the wide range of demands set out.

Some of practices are challenged by possible futures: what does ‘being healthy’ mean in an aging population where advanced pharmaceuticals and treatments challenge our current definition - and what does this mean for the way we educate young people to be healthy?  In the same way, what are the practices that support young people being active citizens in a world of complex multiple identities and diverse and dynamic communities?

Some of the challenges persist; some of them are newly defined, and some of the current practices are made even more important (whilst other new practices are needed to emerge).

There’s a new question posed on Million Futures which asks about this issue.  What are the things that we want to persist: the practices, aims, values and mechanisms that we want to take from today into future educational practices?  Not continuity for the sake of continuity, but continuity in the face of the new and continuing challenges facing education.

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This post first appeared on http://blog.beyondcurrenthorizons.org.uk/ on 13 November 2008

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