Copyright © 2019, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited. Chapter 12 259 DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-5317-5.ch012 ABSTRACT This chapter explores the extent to which complexity thinking is useful for framing change-oriented educational research - particularly research with a focus on education’s future. Its starting point is that the advent of the Anthropocene challenges some of education’s foundational concepts, so much so that, if we want to continue to have an education system, substantial re-thinking is required. The chapter reviews the literature on future-focused education. It then looks at complexity thinking in general, and at how it is being used in educational contexts. Using this, it explores the issues this raises for how we think about research in general, and education in particular, and suggests some strategies for framing the kind of research that will be needed to support education’s re-development for the age of the Anthropocene. INTRODUCTION The challenge is not that we must find ways to “know” the future; rather, we need to find ways to live and act with not knowing the future (Miller, 2011, p. 1). Education seems to always be “in crisis” and in need of reform. While change seems constant, it largely takes place on the surface of things, leaving the deeper Is Complexity Thinking a Useful Frame for Change-Oriented Educational Research? Jane Gilbert Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand