Collaborators Peter Bishop and Juli Rush Help Create Online Collection of Free Teaching Resources
PBS released Ari Wallach’s “A Brief History of the Future” an educational series this spring. The six-part series looks at positive ways to frame the future and counterbalance the overwhelmingly negative spin of the media. The series is currently available on both YouTube and PBS.
Peter Bishop and Ari Wallach became acquainted many years ago over their mutual interest in foresight literacy, so with the series on PBS, came the opportunity to support this series with learning resources. Ari recruited Peter, and Peter recruited Juli Rush, a UH graduate and middle school teacher in Houston. They began work with PBS LearningMedia last winter to develop learning tools for middle school teachers that can be used independently or in conjunction with the series.
For both Peter and Juli, PBS LearningMedia is a wonderful platform with a broad reach to many teachers, expanding futures literacy and supporting youth in a fast-changing world. Both Peter and Juli find the PBS series was very well done, providing aesthetically beautiful filmmaking with inspiring messages. This content is now available to educators for no cost: an incredible service of PBS LearningMedia.
Dr. Bishop has long sought ways to expand the reach of futures literacy and considers this an important milestone in his 10 years of work with Teach the Future. “Our goal remains to bring futures-thinking skills to students and educators around the world and to inspire them to influence their futures. PBS LearningMedia is helping us achieve this goal and spread futures literacy far and wide. We are excited to be part of this new series of learning tools and look forward to continuing to build on futures literacy moving toward decolonization and accessibility for all, especially children.”
In many ways, this project was the evolution of relationships for the common good: first, Peter and Ari, then Juli Rush, who adds to her past work with Peter Bishop, that of a collaborator…
“Working with Peter is always a really delightful part of the process when it comes to any futures literacy education. He's not only a mentor but also a friend, and who doesn't like doing neat stuff with their friends?! Being able to generate content for PBS and Ari Wallach's series alongside Peter was not only fun, but a learning process for me as I continue to grow as an educator. We can offer something special to fellow educators who are interested in foresight and futures work. Being able to provide that for teachers and students is what this work is all about!”
PBS created a new Collection of learning resources called Futures Literacy that contextualizes video clips from the series for use in middle and high school classrooms. This Collection contains ten Media Galleries, an Interactive Lesson, and one stand-alone video. Peter and Juli authored the Media Gallery entitled “Considering the Future: A Brief Introduction to Futures Thinking” which you can find here.
Peter and Juli developed their learning resource around five clips from the Series that focus on key concepts of foresight thinking:
The Purpose of Futures Thinking
Future Designers
Choices and their Consequences
What If: The Importance of Visualizing Success
A School of the Future
Learning resources provide teaching tips, further information, discussion questions, and a vocabulary list to help teachers integrate these media clips into their curriculum. Find these in the right-hand sidebar of the page.
Tania Burchell of PBS LearningMedia states, “Using videos taken from A Brief History of the Future, PBS LearningMedia partnered with educators to author a suite of learning materials focused on futures thinking. Our resulting Futures Literacy collection introduces students to pioneers who are charting brighter futures around the world. Through these case studies, the PBS LearningMedia lessons provide opportunities for students to learn the systems thinking skills that can help humanity build a better tomorrow for ourselves, our communities, and our planet.”
In considering the hopes for teachers, Juli would like to see these tools contribute to beautiful, enriched futures for youth:
“Part of what I really enjoyed about the series was the focus on so many individuals and groups doing this work across the globe. I hope that we are continuing to build generations of learners who have access to ways of thinking that work toward those beautiful futures.”
This collection was formally launched by PBS LearningMedia in May 2024.
Update on PBS Learning Media
We continue to be excited that Futures Literacy is available through PBS LearningMedia. We have learned that while streaming these materials is only available in the United States, they can be downloaded and viewed internationally. Please select the materials you wish to view at PBSLearningmedia.org and then select ‘download.’
Here is an example: https://ca.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/considering-future-intro-futures-thinking-gallery/a-brief-history-of-the-future/
Click the download button on the bottom right to download and use these other learning resources. A full menu of options will appear when you do a search that includes the term “Futures Literacy.”
