Editorial February 27, 1989 Issue

Education—future perfect

Allison W. Phinney, Jr.

Some of us less-than-knowledgeable grammarians may not recall that when we say, "I shall have accomplished" or "I will have achieved by the year 2000," we are making use of the future perfect tense.

Thought leaders discussing the most pressing items of a global agenda for the twenty-first century recently described education and morality as what would make possible the handling of all the other problems—nuclear threat, environmental problems, haves and have-nots, economic unbalance, and so on. See Rushworth M. Kidder, An Agenda for the 21st Century (Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 1987), pp. 195–200. It made me think again about that tense called future perfect.

So much of our consideration of education is apt to fall into future perfect—for ourselves as individuals but also nationally and globally. Traditionally, education tends to be the hope of the race, more than the actuality.

Enjoy 1 free Sentinel article or audio program each month, including content from 1898 to today.

Send a comment to the editors
NEXT IN THIS ISSUE
Poem
You are needed
February 27, 1989
Contents

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit