A central purpose of K–12 education is to prepare young people to for the future they will live in, enabling them to contribute meaningfully to society. To do so, schools must remain dynamic institutions—attuned to emerging trends and adaptable to the realities shaping students’ lives. In a world characterized by uncertainty, relying on evidence derived from past conditions to inform future decisions is insufficient.
Strategic foresight is a systematic approach to anticipating and preparing for alternative future scenarios. Strategic foresight strengthens decision making and planning activities under uncertainty and enables structured responses to emerging trends and societal transformations. Building on the education futures work of the OECD and UNESCO, the EdCan Network is facilitating a strategic foresight process to generate vivid future scenarios grounded in the realities, constraints, and ethical tensions that education professionals navigate on a daily basis.
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY
The EdCan Network is recruiting 8-10 education professionals to participate in our Strategic Foresight Think Tank Series. Through a series of nine jam sessions, participants will:
- Connect with future-thinkers from across the country,
- Gain hands on experience in strategic foresight through a structured process that will surface assumptions, engage in environmental and horizon scanning, develop a systems map, identify change drivers and generate plausible alternative future scenarios.
- Guide the development of a futures report and discussion kit designed to support strategic planning and policy decisions.
We are seeking education professionals from diverse roles, geographies and lived experiences to bring a variety of perspectives to the conversation. To ensure that we have as much diversity on the working group as possible, we are asking interested education professionals to submit an expression of interest.
COMMITMENT REQUIRED
The Strategic Foresight Think Tank Series consists of nine, 1.5 hour virtual jam sessions, held monthly from March – December 2026. Jam sessions are scheduled on Tuesday evenings from 6:30-8:00pm Eastern Time. As each session will build on the previous, participants are expected to participate in all jam session. In addition to participating in the jam sessions, participants will complete small assignments to prepared for each session, for an additional 1-2 hours per month of asynchronous learning.
- March 31, 2026 | 6:30 – 8:00pm ET
- April 28, 2026 | 6:30 – 8:00pm ET
- May 26, 2026 | 6:30 – 8:00pm ET
- June 23, 2026 | 6:30 – 8:00pm ET
- August 25, 2026 | 6:30 – 8:00pm ET
- September 29, 2026 | 6:30 – 8:00pm ET
- October 27, 2026 | 6:30 – 8:00pm ET
- November 24, 2026 | 6:30 – 8:00pm ET
- December 15, 2026 | 6:30 – 8:00pm ET
INTERESTED?
If you are employed in the education sector in any role – teacher, school leader, student support staff, superintendent – and are interested in thinking differently about the future of education, we invite you to submit your expression of interest by March 15th, 2026.
Please email your expression of interest to Kathleen Lane at klane@edcan.ca with “Think Tank Series” in the subject line. Please include the following information in the body of your email:
- A brief description of your current role and organization
- Why are you interested in participating in the strategic foresight working group?
- A bit about the perspectives you bring to the conversation
- Any barriers that may prevent you from fully participating in the monthly sessions
