This article by Rovira-Collado, Martínez-Carratalá, and Miras proposes an unusual way to think about the future of education: science-fiction stories written by teachers in training. The corpus is substantial (387 final stories produced over eleven academic years) and clearly delimited in terms of institutional and temporal context.
The theoretical framework draws solid connections between science fiction, utopia/dystopia, and educational reflection, treating these narratives not as mere fantasies but as diagnostic tools for understanding the present. The article clearly explains its mixed-methods design, the construction of categories, and the use of qualitative analysis tools, which adds transparency to the methodological process.
The results reveal an unstable balance between hope and pessimism, with a slight predominance of negative predictions, especially in the Secondary Education Master’s program. The figure of the teacher appears stretched between three images: technological replacement, “clandestine” resistance to oppressive systems, and pedagogical mediation that humanizes digital environments.
The analysis of codes on virtuality, digitalization, dehumanization, and working-conditions improvements shows how students link the future of education with social inequality, precariousness, and ecological crisis, but also with the possibility of more flexible technological classrooms, inclusive models, and a critical integration of ICT. The inclusion of textual excerpts from the stories gives substance to the categories and prevents the analysis from remaining purely abstract.
As a critical review, the study stands out for the originality of its object and for the project’s longitudinal continuity, which makes it possible to trace shifts in future-teacher perceptions before and after milestones such as Covid-19. However, the study is limited to a single university and does not explore in depth the differences between student profiles or the specific impact of the historical context of each academic year—an aspect the authors themselves identify as a pending line of inquiry.
Even so, the article offers a compelling tool for initial teacher education: using science-fiction writing not only as a creative exercise but as a device to make fears, desires, and contradictions about education in 2030 visible, and to foster situated discussions on the relationship between technology, social justice, and teaching practice.
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How to Cite: Rovira-Collado, J., Martínez-Carratalá, F. A., & Miras, S. (2024). Education in 2030. Prospects of the future by teachers’ trainees. RIED-Revista Iberoamericana de Educación a Distancia, 27(1), 41–60. https://doi.org/10.5944/ried.27.1.37987