These are times that demand flexibility and insight. Much of what we have assumed about our work and those who we seek to nurture and teach has changed and will continue to change. We need to be alert to what is shifting, what is enduring, and how we can position ourselves, our focus, and our skills to achieve success while sustaining our energy and sanity.
We know that adaptability is a key to survival in a changing and often unpredictable environment. Adaptability helps us to be versatile, stay resilient, and manage stress, and it prepares us to embrace change rather than fear or fight it.
However, adaptability has its primary focus on change that is already occurring. It is already here, and it demands an immediate response. While important to how we will choose to respond, adaptability does not anticipate, prepare for, and attempt to shape the future.
Because life is unpredictable, we cannot always wait to face the need for change before we decide how best to respond. We need to be able to move from a position of reacting to a more proactive approach. Experts describe this shift as moving from adaptation to agility.
Agility shifts our thinking and behavior from responding to change to anticipation and proactivity. Agility involves imagining the future and preparing to embrace, adjust, and shape what lies ahead. In an age of emerging artificial intelligence, shifting expectations of educators and education, and evolving opportunities to innovate, agility represents the next-level skill that can position us to shape our future and open new doors to success.
In future-focused leadership circles, agility is often referred to as “prospection.” Prospection is the practice of looking ahead, imagining possible scenarios, designing strategies, and taking purposeful, insightful actions. Let’s consider how agility and the practice of prospection might be useful to our thinking and practice in small and large applications.
First, we can practice agility by considering the chemistry and personality makeup of our classes and anticipating where there may be common interests, conflicting characteristics, and cautions to be observed. We can plan activities, design learning experiences, and shape interactions to maximize positive collective energy and build a strong community. Of course, our agility is the secret to smooth, successful, sustained classroom management.
Second, we might practice prospection by exploring emerging technologies, examining innovative instructional strategies, and identifying accelerated learning approaches. These elements can be woven into new learning experiences and supports for students, especially learners who struggle with traditional teaching practices and learning tools. Our agility can prepare learning paths that help all students find success.
Third, we can explore future-focused knowledge and enduring skills our students will need to be successful in learning and life. Armed with these insights, we might design our instructional strategies and shift our assessment focus to include crucial competencies students will need to rely on long after they leave us. Of course, we need to share timely information and credible implications with students and families to help them to understand the importance and utility of such a shift. Our agility can shape learning experiences that serve students for life.
Fourth, we need to consider our learners’ needs to provide the agile leadership and the technological and instructional skills necessary to understand, articulate, and advocate for necessary change. Embracing the future and practicing agility will demand new policy prospectives and flexible practice allowances. Our insight, agility, and advocacy will be crucial to realizing significant system changes.
Without question, we need to be ready and quick to adapt as needs evolve, expectations change, and required skills shift. However, we also must remain focused on the future and agile in anticipating what will be needed, remaining open to innovative ideas and perspectives, and ready to design strategies to shape what lies ahead.
