“You can’t really learn the future” – student perspectives of futures education in schools

Despite numerous attempts over the past 60 years, futures studies have so far failed to become a mainstream part of school education. In light of recent renewed interest in education futures amongst policymakers and academics, this paper reappraises the opportunities and impediments to establishing school-based futures education in the mid 2020s. Drawing on interviews with 61 Australian secondary school students who had participated in a futures education program, the paper explores student perceptions of establishing school-based futures education on a wider basis. Despite pockets of enthusiasm, most students remain doubtful of futures education fitting into their schooling – perceiving futures studies as too uncertain, unknowable, abstract and/or unsettling to be taken up as a regular part of schooling. The paper considers the forms of futures studies that might be seen as acceptable, and whether the most productive way of engaging young people in futures learning is to look toward non-formal and informal education.