THINKING THE FUTURE AS A COMPETENCE: A PROPOSAL FOR FUTURES LITERACY AND SCENARIO DESIGN ARTICULATED WITH THE SOCIAL SCIENCES IN SCHOOLS

Abstract

In the context of rapid sociotechnical change and ubiquitous AI, this article contends that educating students to think ahead is a core curricular competence. Based on a narrative scoping review of peer-reviewed sources, we propose the institutionalization of Foresight Laboratories as a formative axis: beginning with futures literacy in basic education and progressing, in higher education, to formal methodologies (horizon scanning, futures wheel, scenario building, backcasting). The proposal links anticipatory methods to the Social Sciences, integrating analyses of values, power, and inequalities, and presents a layered architecture, a didactic sequence (sensitization → scanning → sensemaking → scenarios → backcasting → action plan → ethical reflection), competency assessment criteria (systems thinking, responsible imagination, ethical deliberation), and a 12-month implementation roadmap. The literature synthesis indicates gains in student engagement, curricular relevance, and agency, while highlighting challenges related to teacher development, assessment, and data governance. We conclude that Foresight Laboratories enhance education’s public mission by developing capacities to understand, debate, and choose among possible, plausible, probable, and preferable futures.