The Future of Education

This study investigates teachers’ visions of AI-supported inclusive education through a futures literacy perspective, focusing on how educators differentiate between desirable, probable, and plausible educational futures. Using a scenario-based qualitative design, data were collected from 50 teachers who described future educational environments in which artificial intelligence plays a significant role. The results indicate that teachers primarily envision AI as a pedagogical support tool enabling personalised learning, adaptive feedback, immersive environments, and increased accessibility. Inclusion is most frequently conceptualised in terms of learner agency, universal design, and equitable participation rather than deficit-based support. Scenario analysis identified four distinct configurations of AI-supported inclusive education. The most desirable scenario positions AI as an enabler of inclusive and learner-centred education, strengthening teacher agency and supporting diverse learners. However, efficiency-oriented and data-driven AI systems focused on monitoring, automation, and performance optimisation are perceived as the most probable trajectory. A third scenario highlights ethical risks, including surveillance, algorithmic bias, and the erosion of human relationships, defining normative boundaries of unacceptable futures. Finally, a hybrid and negotiated scenario emerges as the most plausible pathway, characterised by context-sensitive AI integration mediated by teachers’ professional judgement. These findings reveal normative–probabilistic–pragmatic tensions shaping teachers’ anticipatory thinking and demonstrate that inclusive AI futures depend not only on technological advancement but also on ethical governance, institutional conditions, and professional agency. The study contributes to futures-oriented educational research and highlights the importance of futures literacy in shaping inclusive, ethical, and human-centred educational transformation.

Keywords: futures literacy; artificial intelligence in education; inclusive education; teacher agency; educational futures

References:

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