This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American
50 years ago today, Martin Luther King inspired a nation with his I Have A Dream Speech.
What if Martin Luther King was never allowed to put his revolutionary dream into action, stifled by an educational climate that promotes conformity, efficiency, and standardization? In our nation's standards-based, standardized testing educational culture, there is no incentive to have a grand vision, passion, or purpose. Our society suffers as a result.
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But things don't have to be this way.
Imagine a nation-- not of test takers-- but of dreamers, well equipped to put their bold vision into practice.
Welcome to the Future
Today, The Future Project launches Dream.org, a national search to find America's most daring dreamers and unite them to empower a generation through their stories and vision.
The aim is to build America's Dream Team, led by thousands of students in schools across America. They will be trained to become dream directors for their communities and worlds, inspiring an entire new generation of dreamers to put their dreams-- no matter how big or small-- into action.
Who will you nominate?
It's time we stop holding children back with arbitrary testing and confining schoolhouse walls. We're a lot closer than we think to building a nation of dreamers.
image credit: Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORB
