Dystopian Schools: young people imagine the future of schooling

Abstract

This qualitative and interpretive study examines the school dystopias imagined by students from six Latin American countries, who envisioned through writing what the worst school of the future would be like. The findings were analyzed using grounded theory. The results indicate that the dystopian school of the future is one that divides, indoctrinates, and dehumanizes students. The analysis of the findings is presented through four analytical plots: inequality, power, dehumanization, and homogenization. The conclusions reveal that the worst school of the future embodies paradoxes, fears, and desires concerning both the present and the past, which are articulated through a discursive affinity about school across the region.