The Search is Over
One faces the future with one’s past. ~Pearl S. Buck
Fear not for the future, weep not for the past. ~Percy Bysshe Shelley
The future is made of the same stuff as the present. ~Simone Weil
Our group facilitated our Future Search Conference in class this week: “The Future of Enrollment in the MEd in Adult Learning Program at VCU in 2029.” Most of us had worked together previously on projects or in classes, so it went pretty smoothly for the most part. It was nice to see how everyone’s individual pieces meshed when we actually facilitated it because we didn’t have a whole lot of prep time since we were the first group. I think fellow late proponent Erica and I were both pleasantly surprised that going sooner rather than later was really a relief since we’ll get it all over with first!
I hope the class really enjoyed experiencing the Future Search. it was definitely a challenge for us to try to cut it down to fit within the time frame. I was afraid that curtailing some of the activities in that way would leave noticeable gaps, but I think it actually worked out pretty well. Our modifications to the initial VCU, M.Ed. and personal timelines seemed to cause a bit of confusion, maybe because we didn’t explain what we were doing well enough. In a full-length conference I don’t think it would have been an issue, since everyone would be writing on all three timelines.
I have to say, I thought that Tim, Erica, Pam and Ali did a fantastic job, so THANK YOU, guys! Putting it all together showed me how useful this strategy would actually be in the context of my own organization. And facilitating it made me confident enough to try it or even a mini version of it. My crystal ball forsees a little Future Search action for the training team when I get back to work…
