Bright Futures

Bright futures certainly has all the makings of a forward thinking twenty first century teaching philosophy. The plan seeks to eliminate the traditional teacher centered mode of instruction through a processes the plan calls “Phasing out”, and replaces the old philosophy with a pragmatic model that fosters a positive learning community where student’s direct their own learning. Bright Futures also aims to integrate technology as fully as possible into every aspect of the curriculum, and eliminate the possibility of anything less than a one-to-one computer program at the school.

A large aspect that compounds upon the creation of a positive learning community is the reimagining of co-curricular offerings that schools possess today. Bright Futures hopes to make these activities far more inclusive, and supporting of students by ensuring that coaches and activity leaders are fully versed in adolescent development.

Bright Futures vision is that teachers and parents become more active and reflective of the teaching process, calling teachers to reflect on their own development to help themselves as educators, but to also reflect on the unique and diverse educational needs of their students, and to learn to appreciate these differences in a way that enhances the classroom.

Bright futures is certainly an ambitious program, and has the potential to make some lasting improvements in the public education environment, however the difficulty of implementing such sweeping reforms cannot be understated. Thankfully Bright Futures offers two distinct goals to be implemented immediately to smooth integration. They suggest that organizations supporting the middle level of education form into consortiums which can in turn spearhead these reforms, and to secondly find funds to implement these changes.