Reimagining learning futures through lenses of speculative fiction, scholarly analysis, and public dialogue

This paper explores an innovative approach to understanding educational futures through the Future Tense Fiction: Learning Futures project. The project paired three science fiction stories exploring technology's role in education with scholarly response essays and public webinars, creating spaces for generative dialogue across creative, academic, and public communities. Using a three-stage analytical approach (descriptive characterization, thematic analysis, and Bakhtinian interpretation) we examine how fiction writers, academics, and audiences engaged in productive dialogue about educational transformation. The study reveals dynamic interplay where fiction writers challenge dominant narratives, academics provide theoretical frameworks, and audiences contribute lived experiences and catalyze unexpected dialogue directions. Thematic analysis identifies interaction patterns (reinforcing, enriching, complicating) and contextual engagement themes, while Bakhtinian analysis reveals how productive tensions between authoritative and internally persuasive discourses generate deeper insights. The three-step framework, combining creative fiction, scholarly response, and public dialogue, offers one case for structuring conversations that honor multiple forms of knowledge. This approach demonstrates potential for bridging creative, academic, and public discourse about complex societal challenges, suggesting a replicable method adaptable to other domains beyond education .