.2 Study of the Future


Let's see how you do on a rather special kind of general history quiz. This quiz is designed to test your historical intuition. Since you are not really expected to know the answers, answering two of the six questions correctly is considered a "passing grade." But of course, the "grade" you get is not the issue - the reason we include the quiz is to have a bit of fun with history. Incidentally all the answers come from Daniel Boorstin's book, The Discoverers .

History Quiz.

How many the opportunities we miss to make history come alive - to intrigue us with its unexpected twists and turns, the vagaries and accidents which have shaped our past and which will continue to shape our future.

One of the things that still boggles our minds about Columbus, was that we have no idea if the routes he chose for his first voyage to the New World were by accident, or because he was an extraordinary navigator. The routes he
chose - both directions - were ideal for the whole age of sailing. How he figured that out, no one has a clue. It is obvious that when you have been there and done that, then you know about the winds. But no one has any idea how Columbus figured it out. This is one of the nice little mysteries of history.

Question:

How much do you know about the past, present and future? How certain are you about the past, the present, and the future? On a scale of 1-10 (1 - knowing absolutely nothing to 10 - knowing everything), how do you rate?

1. The past

Click Here for Answer #1

2. The present

Click Here for Answer #2

3. The future

Click Here for Answer #3

4. How long is the present (in words or numbers)?

Click Here for Answer #4


If I were to rate these items myself, I would give myself a 5 or 6 on the past, present and future. I know as much about the future as I do about the past. When we fail to realize how much we know about the future, we do not use
the information available to us and there is much available to us to study the future. This information can really make a huge difference in the way we act if we would use it. But we have the idea that we do not know much about the future and that allows us to act in such a way as to disregard all that valuable knowledge that is already there.

It's not that we know more about the near future than the distant future. Allow me to give you an example. I'm a whole lot more sure that none of us in this class will be alive in 100 years from now, than I am that none of us will be dead in 1 year from now. You get the point. There is a great deal of useful information out there. Another example would be understanding the cycle of the seasons. Anytime a farmer plants a crop, he is making a prediction about the future, rain patterns, and all sorts of things. We make predictions all the time.

The job of the teacher is to help students study the future. The irony is, this is what teaching is all about. My point here is that the study of the future is one of the most important things for a teacher to do. One way to do this is to study the past. It's one of the tools to study the future. All of these things together are part of the reason that I think it is important for you to at least start thinking about the history of education. I wish that I could give you a more comprehensive view because again, I think that there are really neat and exciting things going on in the history of
education, that we will not have time to look at. Even in our superficial view, we will take a little bit of time out to look at some of the fun things, as well as the important things.

What is one of the most important jobs of teachers, and how can they do it?
If Mr. Henry is a mathematics teacher, how might he prepare his students for the future by using his own knowledge of the past as well as his current resources?