The form and function of education fiction

A design heuristic to foster convivial forms of inquiry

Bibliographic Data

ID21785437
AuthorsAdam Matthews (0000-0003-4013-0232, University of Birmingham, corresponding author), Charlie Davis (0000-0001-5213-4076, University of Nottingham)
Year2025
Pages1-14
Publication date2025-11-26
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueLearning Media and Technology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1743-9884 • E-ISSN: 1743-9892
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/17439884.2025.2591703
OpenAlexW4416714450
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited63

The production of education fiction fosters social inquiry to imagine more equitable and socially just education futures. To support these claims, we reflect on our work developing character-based stories representing aspects of what it might mean to become an academic of working-class heritage and propose a design heuristic for creators and analysts of education fiction. We consider the relationship between form and function; encoding (making) and decoding (interpreting) to explore the affordances of education fiction as both process and material product. The design heuristic is conceptually grounded in our own projects, and is informed by media and cultural studies, the broader humanities and education. Our work illustrates how the design heuristic can be used as a prompting device in both the analysis and creation of education fiction. We argue that the design heuristic supports people to convivially work and live with difference to imagine more inclusive education futures through education fiction projects

Affordance · Design education · Futures contract · Heuristic · Qualitative research · Educational Theory and Curriculum Studies · Literacy, Media, and Education · Posthumanist Ethics and Activism

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access