2. The Innovative Focus

It is well-known that the complexities of current times represent threats to well-being and participation and requires the assumption and integration of multiple visions, as well as the involvement of people in life contexts (Fernandez, 2020). In the curricula and activities developed the attention is still strongly oriented to the management of current life while a limited attention is given to future, to direct SE capacities towards the construction of future, to face the challenges that children will almost certainly encounter.

A specific attention is given in all the activities proposed across the four domains  on  introducing activities where a  time perspective view, more specifically a future oriented  time perspective, is adopted guiding the decision-making process.

Time perspective (TP) refers to the way each person perceives and interprets experience, according to different time frames(Zimbardo & Boyd, 1999), and a sense of continuity between the time frames: past, present, and future (Savickas, 1997).

As regards Future Time Perspective (FTP), definitions in the literature describe it as the ability to imagine one’s future, the anticipation of future goals, including learning and

academic achievements  (Peetsma, 2000;  Peetsma, & van der Veen, 2011).

Future Time Perspective encompasses personal cognitions, feelings, and behavioural intentions with respect to the future: cognitions refer to thoughts about future outcomes and goals that are valued; feelings correspond to the emotions (e.g., hope and fear) that are associated with the future; finally, behavioural intentions relate to individual’s plans to engage in behaviours to realize future goals.

Future Time Perspective and School Life. Higher Future Time Orientation is associated with various behaviours that promote success in school, such as dedication and commitment to academic tasks; delay of gratification or resistance to distraction and use of self-regulation strategies (Bembenutty & Karabenick, 2004; de Bilde, Vansteenkiste, & Lens, 2011; Eccles & Wigfield, 2002; Gutierrez-Braojos et al., 2014; Peetsma, Hascher, & van der Veen, 2005; Peetsma & van der Veen, 2011; Simons, Vansteenkiste, Lens, &

Lacante, 2004).

Future Time Perspective and Decision Making. The ability to think about the future has been associated with many health behaviours, whereas to be blind to the future has been considered a predictor of a variety of maladaptive behaviours (Chen & Vazsonyi, 2011; Joireman et al., 2012). Having a prospective mindset and future orientation, seems to support the development of a safe decision-making, from the early ages and during adolescence (Daniel et al., 2013; Cheng, et al., 2012; Lin & Epstein, 2014). Moreover, FTP is central not only for education and health: in the domain of work, researchers have linked FTP to effective career decision making and planning,  and to  career-choice satisfaction.


The PSsmile choice

By orienting to the future and establishing specific goals in different life domains, by anticipating attitudes and behaviour to undertake in future situations, individuals of different ages develop motivation and decision-making skills and are driven to achieve those goals.

Being oriented to the future is therefore a fundamental concept to consider in educational context for supporting the way children build their lives, especially in complex times such as the ones we are currently living and those that future adolescents and adults will navigate throughBeing oriented to the future is therefore a fundamental concept to consider in educational context for supporting the way children build their lives, especially in complex times such as the ones we are currently living and those that future adolescents and adults will navigate through.