Sixteen Trends: Their Profound Impact on Our Future

 Gary Marx, author and futurist

Wednesday, February 4, 2009
TWO EVENTS!
1:15-2:15 PM, The Kenilworth Club & Assembly Hall, 410 Kenilworth Ave., Kenilworth 60043 Map
and
7:30-9:00 PM, The Joseph Sears School, Nygaard Auditorium, 542 Abbotsford Rd., Kenilworth 60043 Map

While educators, parents, and communities deal with a crush of important day-to-day issues, startling seismic shifts are changing the social and educational landscape, with more on the way. In two stimulating presentations, author and education futurist Gary Marx, who has spoken in all 50 U.S. states and on five continents, explores trends such as

• the aging of the population,

• the motivations of the Millennial Generation,

• the impact of emerging technologies on the pace of change,

• the emphasis on an economy based on social and intellectual capital,

• the move from information acquisition to knowledge creation and breakthrough thinking,

• the forces pushing standardization toward personalization,

• the expansion of careers and growing competition for talented people,

• the coming change from a majority-minority to a minority-minority society,

• the growing concern about planetary security,

• the need to make ethical choices,

• and a host of others.

Marx, whose recent books include Sixteen Trends … Their Profound Impact on Our Future, and Future Focused Leadership … Preparing Schools, Students, and Communities for Tomorrow’s Realities, lays out the evidence for these trends and then speculates on their profound implications for both society at large and education systems, such as schools and colleges, in particular. After discussing trends, Marx often asks participants to consider further implications of those trends for the education system, for what students need to know and be able to do to be prepared for life in a global knowledge/information age, and for economic growth and development and quality of life in the community. He adds, “We have a distinct choice--we can simply defend what we have…or we can create what we need to get our students, our schools, and our communities ready for a fast-changing world.”

The presentation is co-sponsored by The Joseph Sears School and the Family Awareness Network of New Trier Township (FAN). For more information contact the Joseph Sears School at 847-256-5006.

Marx flyer (PDF)

A pamphlet based on his book Sixteen Trends ... was distributed to every family with students at Sears School. 

The same week, Gary Marx will also meet with a group of north suburban school superintendents.

Podcast from NYSCATE 2007 (New York State Association for Computers and Technology in Education)

Books by Gary Marx, (Amazon links)

Sixteen Trends, Their Profound Impact on Our Future: Implications for Students, Education, Communities, Countries, and the Whole of Society

Future-focused Leadership: Preparing Schools, Students, And Communities for Tomorrow's Realities