Futures of school knowledge and inclusive pedagogies

Abstract

In this presentation, the researcher draws on insights from the notion of the ‘Three Futures’ of school knowledge to inform teaching approaches that foster student engagement, voice, agency and learning (Young & Lambert, 2014; Young & Muller, 2010). Grounded in the distinction among Future 1, Future 2 and Future 3, the presentation investigates how different conceptions of school knowledge determine what counts as worthwhile learning. On this basis, inclusive pedagogies are understood as requiring not only the participation of diverse students but also access to powerful disciplinary knowledge and structured opportunities to question and re-contextualise it. The approach during the presentation combines theoretical analysis with examples from the author’s research in business education. First, the ‘Three futures’ heuristic is outlined, highlighting the limits of Future 1 (traditional, fixed curricula) and Future 2 (over contextualised, skills-driven learning). Future 3 is then presented as a way of placing powerful disciplinary knowledge at the core of the curriculum while opening it up for critique, contestation and application to students’ lived worlds. This conceptual framing is illustrated through inclusive pedagogical practices, including cooperative learning strategies that invite students to interrogate business concepts, engage in deep thinking, and articulate their perspectives. Key insights point to a Future 3 curriculum as particularly promising for inclusive pedagogy: it enables students to access and work with powerful disciplinary knowledge in ways that support engagement and encourage critical examination of taken-for-granted assumptions in business and economic life. The presentation concludes by discussing implications for policy, classroom practice and future research, including the need for curriculum frameworks that value powerful knowledge, teacher education that develops inclusive, critical disciplinary pedagogies, and further empirical studies on how such approaches can enhance deep learning and agency in diverse classrooms.