Practice Futures – serie

“What might the futures of practice be like?” is far from a straightforward question. Emphasising "the" before the word future, implies one future. But futures thinkers have identified a range of futures that people think about. In this book we reflect on possible, probable, and preferable futures in relation to practice and work. Readers are invited to consider how their own engagement in shaping possible futures will support ways of working that they deem preferable, even those they can hardly imagine. Challenging Future Practice Possibilities also examines influences that are maintaining the status quo and others that are pushing interest-driven change. Authors consider the major challenges that practice and practitioners face today such as wicked problems, fears for the future and complex demands and opportunities posed by the digital revolution. A number of examples of future-oriented work directions such as protean careers and artificial intelligence enhancing or even replacing human workforces, are considered along with concerns like the vulnerability of many work situations and workers. In some cases workers and employers alike are unprepared for these challenges, while others see adapting to these situations as yet another pathway of practice futures evolution.

“What might the futures of practice be like?” is far from a straightforward question. Emphasising "the" before the word future, implies one future. But futures thinkers have identified a range of futures that people think about. In this book we reflect on possible, probable, and preferable futures in relation to practice and work. Readers are invited to consider how their own engagement in shaping possible futures will support ways of working that they deem preferable, even those they can hardly imagine. Challenging Future Practice Possibilities also examines influences that are maintaining the status quo and others that are pushing interest-driven change. Authors consider the major challenges that practice and practitioners face today such as wicked problems, fears for the future and complex demands and opportunities posed by the digital revolution. A number of examples of future-oriented work directions such as protean careers and artificial intelligence enhancing or even replacing human workforces, are considered along with concerns like the vulnerability of many work situations and workers. In some cases workers and employers alike are unprepared for these challenges, while others see adapting to these situations as yet another pathway of practice futures evolution.

Universities are expected to produce employable graduates. In Education for Employability, experts explore critical questions in the employability agenda: Who sets the standards and expectations of employability? How do students monitor their own employability? How can universities design whole curricula and university environments that promote employability? What teaching and learning strategies facilitate the development of employability?Responsibility for developing and sustaining employability lies with a broad coalition of the individual students, the university, alumni, the professions and industry and is accomplished through the intended curriculum as well as co-curricular, extra-curricular and supra-curricular activities, events and learning opportunities.

Universities are expected to produce employable graduates. In Education for Employability, experts explore critical questions in the employability agenda: Who sets the standards and expectations of employability? How do students monitor their own employability? How can universities design whole curricula and university environments that promote employability? What teaching and learning strategies facilitate the development of employability?Responsibility for developing and sustaining employability lies with a broad coalition of the individual students, the university, alumni, the professions and industry and is accomplished through the intended curriculum as well as co-curricular, extra-curricular and supra-curricular activities, events and learning opportunities.

Practice wisdom is needed because the challenges people face in life, work and society are not simple and require more than knowledge, actions and decision making capabilities. In professional practice wisdom enhances people’s capacity to succeed and evolve and to assist their clients in achieving positive, relevant and satisfying outcomes.Practice Wisdom: Values and Interpretations brings diverse views and interpretations to an exploration of what wisdom in professional practice means and can become: academically, practically and inspirationally. The authors reflect on core dimensions of practice wisdom like ethics, mindfulness, moral virtue, particularisation and metacognition. The chapter authors tackle the trials that practice wisdom seekers encounter including the demand for resilience, perseverance, finding credibility and humility in practice wisdom, and linking wisdom into evidence for sound professional decision making. Readers are invited to consider what the place of practice wisdom encompasses in pursuing good practice outcomes amidst the turmoil and pressure of professional practice today. Do the imperatives of evidence-based practice and accountability leave enough space for wise practice or is wisdom seen by modern practice worlds as unnecessary, antiquated, unrealistic and redundant? Without a doubt these questions are answered positively in this book in support of the place and value of practice wisdom in professional practice today.

Practice wisdom is needed because the challenges people face in life, work and society are not simple and require more than knowledge, actions and decision making capabilities. In professional practice wisdom enhances people’s capacity to succeed and evolve and to assist their clients in achieving positive, relevant and satisfying outcomes.Practice Wisdom: Values and Interpretations brings diverse views and interpretations to an exploration of what wisdom in professional practice means and can become: academically, practically and inspirationally. The authors reflect on core dimensions of practice wisdom like ethics, mindfulness, moral virtue, particularisation and metacognition. The chapter authors tackle the trials that practice wisdom seekers encounter including the demand for resilience, perseverance, finding credibility and humility in practice wisdom, and linking wisdom into evidence for sound professional decision making. Readers are invited to consider what the place of practice wisdom encompasses in pursuing good practice outcomes amidst the turmoil and pressure of professional practice today. Do the imperatives of evidence-based practice and accountability leave enough space for wise practice or is wisdom seen by modern practice worlds as unnecessary, antiquated, unrealistic and redundant? Without a doubt these questions are answered positively in this book in support of the place and value of practice wisdom in professional practice today.

We often look back at changing trends in higher education and call them "bandwagons" (temporary fads that everyone rushes to be part of and "jump on"). While much of the hype and jargon of "The Employability Agenda" may fade from the tip of our tongues (or perhaps be subsumed into the norm) in the mid future, there are two fundamental changes that will not: the digital revolution embedded in changing work and economic practices and the “re-globalisation” of the world that this and other politico-economic changes have brought about. These will continue to be part of how we live and work, so tertiary education will need to take its part in supporting employ-ability far beyond either the timing or scope of preparation for initial employment.Employability is important to local, national and international labour market contexts, parameters and policies. As well as impacting workforces, employability is an essential characteristic of workers. It is very important that employability is understood and enacted as personal employability not just employment of individuals. We have found that employability is defined as much, if not more, by mindset rather than skillset. Part of this mindset involves recognising the unknowns of future work and an even bigger part is recognising our responsibilities as workers and educators lies in shaping our own employability and that of the novice learners and workers in our spaces of influence and communities of practice.In Education for Employability (Volume 2): Learning for Future Possibilities we continue on from the big agenda discussions of Education for Employability (Volume 1): The Employability Agenda to explore education for employability in a variety of spaces: in the context of higher education as an entrance into the workforce, in joining communities of practice and in the lifelong pursuit of employability – preparing people for a portfolio of careers rather than a job-for-life. These two books show how educational leaders, educators, industry partners and thought leaders are imagining and addressing the challenges posed by the current and future changes facing our work, practices and workplaces.

We often look back at changing trends in higher education and call them "bandwagons" (temporary fads that everyone rushes to be part of and "jump on"). While much of the hype and jargon of "The Employability Agenda" may fade from the tip of our tongues (or perhaps be subsumed into the norm) in the mid future, there are two fundamental changes that will not: the digital revolution embedded in changing work and economic practices and the “re-globalisation” of the world that this and other politico-economic changes have brought about. These will continue to be part of how we live and work, so tertiary education will need to take its part in supporting employ-ability far beyond either the timing or scope of preparation for initial employment.Employability is important to local, national and international labour market contexts, parameters and policies. As well as impacting workforces, employability is an essential characteristic of workers. It is very important that employability is understood and enacted as personal employability not just employment of individuals. We have found that employability is defined as much, if not more, by mindset rather than skillset. Part of this mindset involves recognising the unknowns of future work and an even bigger part is recognising our responsibilities as workers and educators lies in shaping our own employability and that of the novice learners and workers in our spaces of influence and communities of practice.In Education for Employability (Volume 2): Learning for Future Possibilities we continue on from the big agenda discussions of Education for Employability (Volume 1): The Employability Agenda to explore education for employability in a variety of spaces: in the context of higher education as an entrance into the workforce, in joining communities of practice and in the lifelong pursuit of employability – preparing people for a portfolio of careers rather than a job-for-life. These two books show how educational leaders, educators, industry partners and thought leaders are imagining and addressing the challenges posed by the current and future changes facing our work, practices and workplaces.

We are poised at a crossroads between a past that is outgrown and a future we must choose. This book examines the multiple ways that wisdom, grounded in life experience, science and theoretical knowledge, can contribute to positive and sustainable local and global futures. The authors in this book have brought their thinking to various aspects of this existential challenge using the lenses of Wisdom and Wise Practice, in an effort to explore ideas by which society might make choices in planning and acting for a wiser future.Wisdom practices have developed over millennia to assist people in approaching and managing life experiences and difficulties. While such practices were originally considered the purview of academic and religious scholars; at this important time in history, it must become everyone’s responsibility to wisely look ahead if we are to achieve a sustainable future for society.The authors of this book comprise international future-oriented leaders, scholars, practitioners, community members and commentators with a commitment to social justice, human service and development. The book explores the place of wisdom and wise living practices alongside other ways of knowing and acting, for shaping positive futures for people and the world we inhabit. The chapters examine major challenges across political, physical and social life worlds, aiming to promote a quantum shift in discourse and decision making to address current and future challenges.The four parts of the book follow forward thinking ideas of wise professional practice:• Facing future challenges,• Exploring practice pathways,• Examining options and• Future possibilities.