Purpose
In the previous Motives & Values session the participants reflected upon their own personal motives and values. This was explored through reflecting upon their experiences within academic study, work and in social situations, allowing participants to begin to identify their values and motives within a business context.

The Future History session aims to develop a planning strategy to enable the participant to move their ideas on in an informed and structured way. It develops a strategy for creating clear planning structures by looking at the major goals and detailing the actions and mechanisms that will enable the participant to get there.

The session will also provide an opportunity for the participants to map their personal skills and attributes in the context of their own goals. This is useful, as it will allow the identifications of strengths and weaknesses, enabling the participant to reflect on personal learning that should be encourages and developed for future success.

Research undertaken throughout the pilot of Insight Out Learning at Glasgow School of Art in 2nd and 3rd Terms of Session 2004/2005 noted that participants valued this exercise as one that made the reality of the 'distant' future seem more pressing. Participants came away with personal knowledge and an understanding of what their responsibilities were in managing their creative aspirations. Individuals did feel overwhelmed initially at what they needed to do, but became more confident once they had broken it down into steps that were achievable over a certain timescale. All participants indicated that this model and exercise was extremely appropriate and necessary in their learning.

Application
In the context of Insight Out Learning, the Future History Model has been applied to the planning of a business idea and the development of the individual's career in relation to their product or service. It is essentially a way to break down the big vision into achievable steps and actions, allowing the individual to work backwards from their ultimate goal.

In other contexts the application of this model can be applied to all activities that need careful planning. It can be used to analyse and detail a broad vision for the future equally well as it can be used for the planning of particular events and short-term projects.

Future History
Future History requests is that there is an identifiable goal e.g. Presenting at New Designers. As such, the model can be used for many group and individual activities in the academic environment where the responsibility for managing for success is placed squarely with the participants and not solely with facilitators.

This model is particularly useful for students at Stage 3 where they may be developing products/ideas within a business context. Future History has been designed so that it can be embedded into specific project based activities. It is particularly useful in encouraging Stage 3 students to think about the development of their skills, interests and career aspiration for Honours level study. Equally the model is highly appropriate for students in their Honours year thinking about how they plan for life outside college and how they will structure their activities.

Duration
This session should be delivered within a suitable timeframe to allow appropriate discussion, usually about 2 hours. The facilitator should be sympathetic to the participant engagement with the tasks and move the session on as appropriate.

The Aim of this session will be to:

• Introduce the concept of detailed planning
• Develop a strategy for creating clear planning structure looking at the major goals and how to get there.

The Learning Outcome of this session will be:

• Participants will discuss and share ideas within a team situation in preparation for the development of an individual business plan.
• Participants will have completed a personal plan and will have outlined goals to formulate their ideas/concepts.