Challenging Future Practice Possibilities

“What might the futures of practice be like?” is far from a straightforward question. Emphasising "the" before the word future, implies one future. But futures thinkers have identified a range of futures that people think about. In this book we reflect on possible, probable, and preferable futures in relation to practice and work. Readers are invited to consider how their own engagement in shaping possible futures will support ways of working that they deem preferable, even those they can hardly imagine. Challenging Future Practice Possibilities also examines influences that are maintaining the status quo and others that are pushing interest-driven change. Authors consider the major challenges that practice and practitioners face today such as wicked problems, fears for the future and complex demands and opportunities posed by the digital revolution. A number of examples of future-oriented work directions such as protean careers and artificial intelligence enhancing or even replacing human workforces, are considered along with concerns like the vulnerability of many work situations and workers. In some cases workers and employers alike are unprepared for these challenges, while others see adapting to these situations as yet another pathway of practice futures evolution.

Table of Contents:
Preface Acknowledgements Part 1: Grappling with Practice Futures 1 Exploring Practice in Context  Joy Higgs 2 Thinking the Unthinkable: Challenges of Imagining and Engaging with Unimaginable Practice Futures  Steven Cork and Debbie Horsfall 3 Plausible Practice Futures  Steven Cork and Kristin Alford 4 The Impact of Practice on Wicked Problems and Unpredictable Futures  Peter Goodyear and Lina Markauskaite 5 The Changing Face of Work: Considering Business Models and the Employment Market  Paul Whybrow and Asheley Jones Part 2: Practice and the Common Good 6 Re-claiming Social Purpose and Adding Values to the World around Us  Debbie Horsfall and Joy Higgs 7 Our Place in Society and the Environment: Opportunities and Responsibilities for Professional Practice Futures  Steven Cork 8 Practice Futures for Indigenous Agency: Our Gaps, Our Leaps  Sandy O’Sullivan 9 Changing Work Realities: Creating Socially and Environmentally Responsible Workplaces  Rosemary Leonard and Margot Cairnes 10 Towards Future Practice in Socio-political Contexts  Megan Conway and Joy Higgs Part 3: Pursuing Practice Futures 11 The Place of Agency and Related Capacities in Future Practices  Franziska Trede and Joy Higgs 12 Employability and Career Development Learning through Social Media: Exploring the Potential of LinkedIn  Ruth Bridgstock 13 Re-imagining Practice Structures and Pathways: Starting to Realise Tomorrow’s Practices Today  Joy Higgs and Daniel Radovich 14 Freelancing, Entrepreneurship and Inherent Career Risk: An Exploration in the Creative Industries  Noel Maloney 15 Young People’s Hopes and Fears for the Future  Steven Cork and Jennifer Malbon 16 Facing Recruitment Challenges: Entering Workplace Practices  James Cloutman and Graham Jenkins 17 PhDs and Future Practice  Bernadine Van Gramberg 18 Educational Innovations: Preparing for Future Work  Asheley Jones 19 Otherness in Practice (in the Health Professions)  Janice Orrell and Julie Ash 20 Workplace Innovations and Practice Futures  Thomas Carey, Farhad Dastur and Iryna Karaush Part 4: Reflections 21 Reflections about Work: What Might Be My Future Practice Roles?  Joy Higgs Notes on Contributors