The Roadmap Starts Now: Reclaiming the Future of Education

Walter McKenzie
2 days ago
5 min read

Mishkat Al Moumin is the Founder and President of The Communication of Success, transforming the way individuals and organizations succeed by bridging gaps in communication, leadership, and strategy to overcome challenges, embrace opportunities, and create impact and growth. This is her follow-up to our most recent Town Hall beginning the Roadmap 2030 project. Thank you for teaming with us, Mishkat, in this important work! You can contact her directly via email.

I’ve spent my life walking into rooms that weren’t built for me - courtrooms, classrooms, ministries, boardrooms. I’ve learned that if you wait for permission to lead, you’ve already surrendered your voice. The same is true for education. If we keep waiting for the perfect moment to fix what’s broken, we’ll keep producing broken outcomes.

That’s why Roadmap 2030 - facilitated by The Worthy Educator - doesn’t ask us to return to what once was. It dares us to reimagine what could be.

"This isn’t a white paper. It’s a wake-up call."

We’re not here to patch holes in a system designed for compliance, standardization, and silence. We’re here to design something worthy of our students’ courage. I’ve seen brilliance in classrooms with no electricity, watched students learn English by candlelight in Iraq, and mentored young women navigating systems never meant to see them, let alone serve them. And I’ve seen what’s possible when we stop managing students and start listening to them.

Roadmap 2030 begins with a powerful shift: students are not products. They are partners.

This vision calls for more than educational reform - it demands cultural transformation. That means auditing outdated policies that punish neurodivergence and poverty, ending the test-and-lecture cycles that silence curiosity, and making room for student voice in every part of the governance structure.

"I’ve led classrooms, advised global courts, and built institutions in post-conflict zones. And if I’ve learned anything, it’s this: the future of education doesn’t start in 2030. It starts with the decision we make right now."

Strategic Priorities, Rooted in Real Experience (2025–2027)

1. Retire What No Longer Serves

At the Defense Language Institute, I didn’t walk in with a master plan - I walked in with questions. Why weren’t students asked for feedback? Why did engagement plummet in otherwise brilliant classrooms? Why did every assessment feel like a monologue?

So, I designed feedback surveys when none existed. I later joined the LinguaNext project to help redesign the curriculum. But long before the titles and task forces, I began repurposing existing activities using interactive technology. The goal was simple: spark engagement and make space for student voice.

As Chair, I didn’t just talk about students - I talked with them. I led meetings with student leaders. I created a protocol that allowed them to appeal scores if they believed they met the requirements. It wasn’t about making things easy - it was about making things fair.

This is the kind of audit Roadmap 2030 calls for. Not just a review of what we teach, but how we invite students into the process. Let’s eliminate passive instruction models and policies that stifle rather than support.

The future demands interaction, not silence.

2. Invest in Learner-Centered Models

When I mentored displaced students during the COVID-19 pandemic, their learning didn’t begin with textbooks. It began with interest, connection, and dignity. One young woman wanted to become a writer, so we built her lessons around storytelling. Another wanted to become an engineer, so we focused on applied math.

This is what learner-centered education looks like: personalized pathways, mentorship-based programs, and skill recognition that stretches beyond the classroom. Micro-credentials. Portfolios. Real-world relevance.

Because learners aren’t pipelines to productivity. They are architects of possibility.

3. Empower Educators as Leaders

In my early years as an educator, I showed up ready to teach, to inspire, to help students succeed. But the decisions that shaped our classrooms were made far away, often without those of us doing the daily work even being asked. Years later, when I finally had a seat at the table, I was determined to bring others with me.

What I’ve come to understand across roles and borders is this: reform only works when it’s grounded in relationships. Efficiency means nothing without inclusion. And the people closest to the learners - teachers, mentors, even the students themselves, must be centered in any conversation about the future.

Roadmap 2030 reflects that belief. It calls on us to treat educators not as implementers of someone else’s ideas, but as co-creators of the system we all deserve. And it invites student voice not as a gesture, but as a driver of innovation and accountability.

When we lead together, we don’t just change policy. We transform the culture.

4. Infuse Civic and Emotional Literacy

When I led the effort to establish the Ukraine Veterans Court, I saw something profound: policy isn’t just about systems - it’s about people. Justice required not just legal frameworks, but healing, trust, and connection. The same is true in our schools.

In mentoring youth across cultures, I’ve witnessed the emotional terrain students carry - war, isolation, displacement, and bias. You cannot build brilliant minds on broken hearts.

Civic and emotional literacy aren’t optional. They are essential. Every curriculum should teach how to disagree with dignity, how to engage across difference, and how to lead with empathy.

We don’t just teach subjects. We teach what it means to belong.

5. Rethink Discipline: From Control to Connection

Discipline isn’t just about rules. It’s about relationships.

When I was Chair, I noticed a pattern: the same tools used to document student infractions could also be used to uplift their growth. So I flipped the system. I began using our documentation tools to record positive behavior when students showed initiative, collaboration, or leadership. I made sure that feedback was shared with their military units. It changed everything.

What if discipline wasn’t just reactive, but reflective?

Instead of punishing disengagement, we recognized effort. Instead of issuing warnings, we offered windows into how students were showing up, growing, and contributing. That shift - from compliance to connection - is what Roadmap 2030 calls for.

We need restorative approaches, yes. But we also need to reframe discipline as dialogue - a way to affirm students, not just correct them.

Milestones to 2030

We don’t need more vision statements. We need timelines to share with students and invite their feedback on. Because students aren’t bystanders in this work. They are partners in the roadmap. Here’s where we begin:

2025 – Launch curriculum audits and Roadmap coalitions with students, educators, and families.
2026 – Pilot learner-centered models in 25% of schools, with full community engagement.
2027 – Introduce student learning portfolios to reflect growth beyond grades.
2028 – Create public dashboards that track equity, access, and well-being - not just test scores.
2029 – Redesign teacher preparation programs to include emotional intelligence, cultural responsiveness, and leadership development.
2030 – Full implementation. Not a trial. Not a theory. A transformed system - designed, not inherited.

The Future Is Not a Forecast - It’s a Choice

Too many roadmaps gather dust. This one must gather momentum.

Roadmap 2030 isn’t about tweaking the margins. It’s about reimagining the center. The old systems asked students to conform. This one asks us to see them. The old models rewarded quiet. This one rewards curiosity. The old leadership hoarded power. This one shares it.

Whether you’re a teacher, a student, a parent, or a policymaker, this work belongs to you. We are not waiting until 2030. We are reclaiming the future now.

So ask yourself: What will you retire? What will you reimagine? What will you restore?

Because education doesn’t need more predictions. It needs more courage.

This is a cross-posting of Mishkat's original piece published July 6th here. Reposted with permission. Thank you, Mishkat, for sharing your brilliance!