The Future Is Now: What ‘21st-Century Learning’ Means for Teaching

Abstract

This chapter captures some of the many common features of an education reform discourse, especially in relation to the notion of ‘twenty-first century learning’. This notion is fed by a narrative of an unknowable future, greatly propelled by ubiquitous digitisation and web saturation. This chapter refers to the penetration of digital devices into schools, and emergent innovative building designs. These manifestations encourage, enable and demand non-traditional approaches to teaching and learning, which, in turn, it is suggested in this chapter, challenge teachers to become reflective practitioners, and school leaders to be agents of change leadership.