Educational Fabulations

This highly original collection presents speculative fiction as fiction-based research to re-imagine education in the  future. Given the particular convergence of economic and governmental pressures in educational institutions today, schools represent imaginative sites especially well-suited to interrogation through an SF lens. The relevance for education of the exploration and interrogation of themes related to technology, human nature, and social organization is evident; yet the speculative fiction approach is unique in its harnessing of creative capacities to envision alternatives. The contributions in this collection are generated from educational experience and research, drawing on scholarship in curriculum studies and teacher education and on the authors' experiences and imaginations as teachers, teacher educators, educational scholars, and human beings. 

“The writing is accessible, and the ideas are well supported with recent research, citing multiple texts from the past decade. … Language teachers who have the tools necessary to integrate the material into their classes might find the text useful, but SF can be used in all curriculum areas. Were more of the text dedicated to practical tips to using what is discussed within it would find a wider audience.” (Ryan Collis, Canadian Journal of Education, Vol. 45 (3), 2022)

Diane Conrad is Professor of Drama and Theatre Education at the University of Alberta, Canada. Sean Weibe is Professor of Education at the University of Prince Edward Island, Canada. He teaches courses in multiliteracies, curriculum theory, and critical pedagogy.