Education in 2030. Prospects of the future by teachers’ trainees

Abstract

This study analyses 389 science-fiction stories about the future of education, written by students of the Teacher Training and Research in Education Master’s Degrees at the University of Alicante between the academic years 2009-2010 and 2019-2020. These stories were written as part of an assignment called “Education in 2030”, and they are available on our open-access course blogs. Our project employs a mixed-research approach and the analyses include both quantitative and qualitative aspects through descriptive statistics in a longitudinal study. According to the results, the stories are classified into two main categories: Positive Predictions and Negative Predictions, the latter being more prominent (52.94% of total), closely connected to dystopian science-fiction models. Within these two macro-categories, three main codes are established about Negative Predictions on one hand, namely Teacher-Learner, Learning process and System, and about Positive Predictions on the other hand: Teaching, Contents and Model. These codes structure the analysis branching into more sub-codes which also mark frequencies of occurrence of ideas and notions. We would like to highlight those codes that characterize the teacher figure as a “mediator” or “clandestine” as two recurrent educational models for the future. Excerpts from the analysed stories are included to illustrate the codes employed. The creation of educational stories within the science-fiction genre offers a rich, critical and comprehensive vision of the future. The stories analysed in this project portend significant changes in teaching practices and a new use of technology, but also show concern about potential dehumanisation in education and a growing distance between ideals and reality concerning work improvement, inclusion and sustainability.