We’re currently living in a VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous) world – a world characterised by rapid change and disruption. We’ve witnessed several jobs made redundant by new technological advancements amidst a range of new opportunities springing up rapidly. It should come as no surprise that the future is said to be a diverse world of unprecedented prospects and opportunities unimaginable in the present, which will pose a challenge to educators who are responsible for preparing the current generation for it. Experts claim that within the next five to ten years we will see a new world that will alter the way humans work, live, and interact with each other. This will include working with and even competing against AI-powered intelligent machines and robots. Such changes will open many doors to an exciting future but only for those who have the skills to overcome the challenges of an unpredictable future.

For a teacher to continue to be a key stakeholder responsible for transforming the lives of students and to remain relevant in this new world, they need to have more than subject knowledge alone. They will need to develop and refine their attitudes, dispositions, approaches, mind-sets, English language skills and life skills as well as build a heightened awareness of the world around them.  This also includes a need to anticipate the expectations of generations to come.  The ‘school of the future’ will require a ‘teacher of the future’ – a teacher working with ease and confidence in a technology-enabled environment. Only those who are prepared to work and compete in a world that will see humans, AI-driven machines, and robots working alongside each other will be future-ready and thrive.

How can one re-invent oneself as a ‘teacher of the future’? The answer is ZQ for Teachers.

ZQ for Teachers helps educators map their skills and abilities against its nine-dimensional matrix whilst identifying areas for development and guiding them to critically reflect on their practices with the aim of transforming them into their most competent and confident selves. 

In order to advance instructional practice, educators have used a variety of learning theories, from behaviourism and cognitivism to constructivism and humanist learning. Since the nineteen-eighties, technology has been radically changing the landscape of education. This development made ‘pre-technology’ learning theories redundant and paved way for connectivism – a learning theory with a focus on combining thoughts, theories, and general information whilst offering opportunities to make choices about teaching and learning in a state of constant connectivity made possible through technology.

Each of these and several other learning theories alongside extensive academic research have contributed to the evolution of what is understood as ‘education’ today – covering autonomous-learning, classroom teaching and online learning. The findings of a 2019-research conducted by Zamit (UK) in collaboration with QAI (a UK-based certification, assessment, and benchmarking body) revealed that the success of teachers in the VUCA world depends on more than just the expertise within their fields. The study also revealed that while ‘succeeding in the 21^st Century’, and ‘being prepared for the 4^th Industrial Revolution’ may be buzzwords in use, their meaning and relevance for teachers remains ambiguous.  So, what can teachers do to be ready for the future? How can they predict which career paths will emerge and which ones will disappear? What should they prioritise in their teaching? What technologies should they master? Which skills and competencies should they refine? Which dispositions and values do they need to have to be future-ready?

The findings of the research also showed that the ‘teacher of the future’ needs to have a deeper understanding of the world to come and its consequential attitudes, mindsets, pedagogical skills, and technological competencies. They also need to be able to appreciate that technology will play an even more dominant role in the future which might result in a substantial reduction in the number of routine teaching jobs. Thanks to advances in AI, natural language processing, and inexpensive computer technology, jobs that once weren’t considered good candidates for automation suddenly are. The tasks least likely to be replaced by a computer are those requiring the highest degrees of social, emotional, and creative intelligence. Therefore, the ‘teacher of today’ needs to acquire all of the aforementioned skills in order to become the ‘teacher of the future’.

With these requirements in mind, and to help teachers continue to have the upper hand when it comes to education, Zamit and QAI have developed the nine-dimensional ZQ for Teachers. It was designed with the objective of profiling teachers’ against set criteria. With the help of ZQ for Teachers, instead of being replaced, the ‘teacher of the future’ will use technology to complement their jobs and will be able to work alongside their inanimate colleagues rather than under their dominance.

Although a relatively new index, ZQ for Teachers is set to become the global benchmark and will provide educational institutions with an objective snapshot of how future-ready a teacher is.