The problem of the future and the possibilities of the present in education research

• Progressive education research often seeks to create better futures through education.
• Such research often shows limited critical reflexivity in its own ideas of the future.
• Contemporary discourses of radical uncertainty also present new challenges.
• We need new ontological assumptions to open up possibility in the present.
• The creative use of contingency and culturally diverse futures is proposed.

Educators today are increasingly asked to transform education to meet the economic needs of the future. Progressive education research has long sought to contest such instrumental accounts of the future in education. The paper argues that this research, however, often shows limited critical reflexivity in its own assumptions about the future and offers educators limited support in responding to proliferating contemporary discourses of radical uncertainty. The paper draws on the work of Massumi (2007), Riel Miller (2011) and Adam and Groves (2007) to argue that if, instrumental education futures are to be resisted, researchers should develop methods that make visible the creative possibilities of the present and the powerful role of mutuality and reciprocity in guaranteeing better futures.