Hope and future possibilities
We all expect schools to help students work toward a better future, especially through social action. However, by calling attention to how serious the world’s problems are, we may create a sense of despair. To counter this, we must provide students a sense of hope.
Why does hope matter?
Hope provides an antidote to feelings of despair among young people, especially when learning about serious problems such as climate change. Hopeful framing of issues emphasize how people can identify and take effective action to respond to a changing environment. This motivates young people to engage in positive social action and promotes psychological and emotional well-being.
Visionary Hope
Visionary hope looks to a world that may lie far beyond present day realities, a belief motivated by idealistic visions of relationships among people or between humans and the environment. Visionary hope imagines a future that may be difficult to attain, of a different scope and time scale than pragmatic hope—but a future that is no less realistic.
Pragmatic Hope
Pragmatic hope is the belief, based on a careful analysis of evidence, that a better future can realistically be attained—not just someday, but soon, through feasible strategies that are currently available. This kind of hope is focused on making a tangible difference in people’s lives today, grounded in a detailed understanding of practical considerations and real-world conditions
Knowledge for pragmatic and visionary hope
Hope cannot be just a warm fuzzy feeling and attitude. Hope depends on knowledge: possibilities, goals, and pathways.
POSSIBILITIES
Educators need to teach students about times when people have been able to successfully change the world for the better. Students need to recognize that it is possible for the world to be different than it is. This is what motivates people to work toward change, for without believing in the possibility of a better future, there would be little to reason to put in the effort.
E.g., Learning about societal arrangements different than those we take for granted, including different worldviews, philosophies, and ways or organizing society
GOALS
Goals provide an intentional target for planning and action. Goals can be short- or long-term, clearly articulated or fluid, easily achieved or difficult, but hope would be difficult without some concrete idea of what can be achieved.
E.g., Learning about the ideals that have motivated people over time rather than just learning about inspirational people or movements
PATHWAYS
Educators need to teach students about plans, strategies, or routes to achieve hopeful goals and the factors that affect success or failure. Seeing and articulating multiple plausible and effective pathways toward success, even in the face of obstacles or impediments, is a key element of hope.
E.g., Learning about concrete examples of social action and the strategies used by activists.
Preparing students for hopeful social action
Teachers need to provide students with a systematic way of understanding and comparing types of social action.
Social action aims to address a social issue or problem. Action always involves doing something, and a curriculum for social action should help students understand the options available, in a thoughtful and comprehensive way.
4 types of social action goals
- influence government, including selection of officials and affecting public administration, as found in laws and official policies, at any level (e.g., campaigning for a candidate; lobbying for or against legislation; or advocating for regulations to be implemented in specific ways);
- influence the attitudes of other people (e.g., advocating for acceptance of neurodiverse individuals or greater use of recycling);
- influence the practices of businesses or nonprofit organizations (e.g., boycotting a product or company or calling for the ouster of a CEO);
- provide a direct benefit to others or the environment (e.g., offering material assistance to members of a disadvantaged group, or intervening in some aspect of the local environment)
Publications
Ho, L. C., & Barton, K. C. (Nov 2024). Centering hope in social studies education. Social Education.
Barton, K. C., & Ho, L. C. (2024). Can we teach a hopeful history? History Teacher (History Association of New South Wales, Australia), 58(4), 9-12.
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