There's a dark little joke exchanged by educators with a dissident streak:

Rip Van Winkle awakens in the 21st century after a hundred-year snooze and is, of course, utterly bewildered by what he sees.

Men and women dash about, talking to small metal devices pinned to their ears. Young people sit at home on sofas, moving miniature athletes around on electronic screens.

Older folk defy death and disability with metronomes in their chests and with hips made of metal and plastic. Airports, hospitals, shopping malls--every place Rip goes just baffles him.

But when he finally walks into a schoolroom, the old man knows exactly where he is. "This is a school," he declares. "We used to have these back in 1907. Only now the blackboards are white."

Milton-Freewater, let’s have a discussion about the future of our schools…

How can we design schools for a future that we can’t possibly predict? Image: MattandBekah.com How can we design schools for a future that we can’t possibly predict?

media centers? School: Cass Technical High School, Detroit Image: DesignShare.com media centers?

music rooms? School: Celentano Museum Academy, New Haven, Connecticut Image: DesignShare.com

social areas? School: High Tech High International, San Diego, California Image: DesignShare.com social areas?

outdoor classrooms? School: Three Mile Creek Elementary, Perry, Utah Image: DesignShare.com

open ceilings? School: Celentano Museum Academy, New Haven, Connecticut Image: DesignShare.com open ceilings?

green spaces indoors? School: Universidad de Monterrey: Preparatoia Unidad Valle Alto, Monterrey, N.L., Mexico Image: DesignShare.com

creative architecture? School: Georgetown South Child Development and Community Center, Manassas, Virginia Image: DesignShare.com creative architecture?

early childhood education? School: Georgetown South Child Development and Community Center, Manassas, Virginia Image: DesignShare.com

Image: DesignShare.com no chairs?

auditoriums? School: New Saline High School, Saline Michigan Image: DesignShare.com

colors? School: Stittsville Public School, Stittsville, Ontario, Canada Image: DesignShare.com colors?

School: Estrella Mountain Community College, Avondale, Arizona Image: DesignShare.com computer labs?

balconies? School: Gwinnett University Center, Lawrencevilla, Georgia Image: DesignShare.com balconies?

display cases? School: Kennewick Elementary School Kennebunk, Maine Image: DesignShare.com display cases?

cave seating? School: St. Stephen’s School, Algester, Queensland, Australia Image: DesignShare.com cave seating?

School: Gwinnett University Center, Lawrenceville, Georgia Image: DesignShare.com round buildings?

facilities open to the public? School: Little Village Lawndale High School, Chicago Image: DesignShare.com

galleries for student work? School: Galef Center for Fine Arts Los Angeles, California Image: DesignShare.com galleries for student work?

flexible furniture? School: Estrella Mountain Community College, Avondale, Arizona Image: DesignShare.com

small group meeting spaces? School: Cary Grove High School, Cary, Illinois Image: DesignShare.com small group meeting spaces?

hallways as classroom spaces? School: Pistorius-Schule, Herbrechtingen, Germany Image: DesignShare.com hallways as classroom spaces?

buildings on a hill? School: Hachoresch Elementary School, Zirchron Ya’acov, Israel Image: DesignShare.com buildings on a hill?

learning centers? School: Three Mile Creek Elementary, Perry, Utah Image: DesignShare.com learning centers?

lobbies? School: West Haven Elementary School, West Haven, Utah Image: DesignShare.com lobbies?

multipurpose rooms? School: West Haven Elementary School, West Haven, Utah Image: DesignShare.com multipurpose rooms?

alternative sports? School: Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School Image: DesignShare.com

courtyards? School: La Cañada High School, California Image: DesignShare.com courtyards?

non-traditional angles? School: Perspectives Charter School, Chicago Image: DesignShare.com

glass walls? School: Nus High School of Mathematics and Science, Singapore Image: DesignShare.com glass walls?

outdoor study areas? School: Chung Cheng High School, Singapore Image: DesignShare.com

School: Suzhou Singapore International School, Suzhou, China Image: DesignShare.com modern playgrounds?

rooftops? School: Gwinnett University Center, Georgia Image: DesignShare.com rooftops?

School: Cambridge Media Arts School, Cambridge, Massachutsetts Image: DesignShare.com production studios?

collaboration areas? School: Alpine Prototype Middle School, Alpine/Lehi, Utah Image: DesignShare.com

skylights? School: Reim Elementary School, Israel Image: DesignShare.com skylights?

faculty work areas? School: Estrella Mountain Community College, Avondale, Arizona Image: DesignShare.com

Image: DesignShare.com classrooms on wheels?

exposed architecture? School: Pistorius-Schule, Herbrechtingen, Germany Image: DesignShare.com exposed architecture?

greenhouses? School: IslandWood: A School in the Woods Bainbridge Island, Washington Image: DesignShare.com

incorporating old growth? School: Paschalisschool, The Hague, Netherlands Image: DesignShare.com incorporating old growth?

indoor play structures? School: Spruce Street Nursery School, Boston Image: DesignShare.com

cultural learning spaces? School: Bronx Charter School for the Arts Image: DesignShare.com cultural learning spaces?

life-skills areas? School: Spruce Street Nursery School, Boston Image: DesignShare.com

fitness centers? School: Cass Technical High School, Detroit Image: DesignShare.com fitness centers?

outdoor amphitheaters? School: Nan Hua Secondary School Singapore Image: DesignShare.com outdoor amphitheaters?

playgrounds as learning tools? School: PS 40 M and PS 33 M, Long Island City, New York Image: DesignShare.com playgrounds as learning tools?

reading rooms? School: PS1/Bergen School, New York, New York Image: DesignShare.com reading rooms?

reception desks? School: Keane Children’s Center/Charlestown Boys & Girls Club Charlestown, Massachusetts Image: DesignShare.com

buildings as educational tools? School: Warren Skaaren Environmental Learning Center at Westcave Preserve Dripping Springs, Texas Image: DesignShare.com buildings as educational tools?

science labs? School: Romeo Engineering & Technology Center Romeo, Michigan Image: DesignShare.com science labs?

solar panels? School: Heritage Middle School, Wake Forest, North Carolina Image: DesignShare.com

sports fields? School: Oakwell Park, Napoleon, Ohio Image: NapoleonOhio.cc sports fields?

technology in the hallways? School: Hackberry Elementary School, Frisco, Texas Image: DesignShare.com technology in the hallways?

activity spaces? School: PS1/Bergen School, New York, New York Image: DesignShare.com activity spaces?

ecology areas? School: Missouri Dept of Conservation Discovery Center Kansas City, Missouri Image: DesignShare.com ecology areas?

conference rooms? School: High Tech High International, San Diego, California Image: DesignShare.com conference rooms?

“We must be the change we wish to see in the world.” -Gandhi

© James Horner, Braveheart Pictures © DesignShare.com Music © James Horner, Braveheart Presentation Matt Horne

be the change…