ABSTRACT
The range of possible futures ahead of us is very wide indeed and choices are involved at every stage. A different way of considering the futures field is to regard it as a forward-looking matrix. Even today, when futures research and study are a global concern, the USA remains the heartland of futures work. A perception grew that they were indeed part of a wider process, a movement away from immersion in a taken-for-granted present to a conscious evaluation of possible, probable and preferable futures. When teachers are given the time to familiarize themselves with futures concepts and approaches, most tend to change what they do in small but significant ways. The promise of technology lures us onward, and the pressure of competition makes stopping virtually impossible. As the technology race quickens, new developments sweep toward us faster, and a fatal mistake grows more likely.
