Abstract
Amidst social and technological changes, the changing nature of work, and in the face of global disruptions, we must consider how to forge education for an unknown future. We need tools for considering education futures in ways that allow for collective imaginings, explorations and conversations about the future and present shape of education. In design theory and practice, the approach of design futures provides a means for critically envisioning possible futures, not as predictions but as creative provocations—as imaginative near-futures that raise questions about direction, challenge understandings and provide a lens on the present. In this chapter we explore the potential for adopting the practice of design fiction writing in education, as “Educational Design Fictions”. We present a series of six Educational Design Fictions that showcase a range of narrative approaches, contexts and styles. We then—by way of a multivocal reflection—critically examine these stories for their potential in shaping discussion about education. We show that Educational Design Fictions prompt a shift in thinking from current trajectories, highlight a disjunction between possible worlds and the legacy of existing practices, and provide a new lens on the challenges and assumptions of the present. The Educational Design Fictions presented are not strict design fictions in terms of diegetic prototypes and are not exclusively in the future but rather succeed by evocatively defining possible worlds which lead conversation to different perspectives. In this chapter the “conversation” is through discussion between authors—who also reflect on the process of writing itself. We expect this chapter to be of interest to those who would see value in a generative method for informing and promoting discussion about the future direction of education.