As artificial intelligence (AI) increasingly shape the way we live and learn, educational institutions must do more than simply integrate new technologies—they should cultivate students’ capacity to critically interrogate and imagine the futures these technologies may produce. In response to this challenge, the authors have developed and tested a pedagogical toolkit designed to support secondary school teachers in designing and conducting anticipatory thinking activities with students. Rooted in the methodology of backcasting, this toolkit invites learners to explore preferable future scenarios with AI and robotics, identify necessary transformations, and consider concrete decisions that can be taken in the present to move toward those futures.

The toolkit is structured in three steps:
(1) an introductory phase to explore students’ perceptions, knowledge, and emotional responses to AI and robotics;
(2) a central phase based on a structured backcasting exercise that combines individual, group, and plenary activities organized around the STEEP (Social, Technological, Economic, Environmental, Political) framework; and
(3) a reflective phase designed to assess learning outcomes and shifts in students’ future orientation. Throughout this process, the toolkit offers a range of ready-to-use resources, including videos, questionnaires, and activity sheets, to support a flexible and engaging classroom experience.

Pilot implementations conducted in various Italian upper secondary schools have provided initial insights into the educational potential of this toolkit. Qualitative feedback revealed that students often struggle to imagine alternative futures and tend to default to familiar or pessimistic narratives. However, by engaging with the toolkit’s structured exercises, they gradually developed greater confidence, agency, and critical awareness of their role in shaping technological change. Teachers reported increased student participation, as well as the emergence of rich discussions around ethical, social, and environmental implications of AI and robotics. Notably, some student groups generated dystopian visions as their preferred futures—not out of provocation, but as a reflection of emotional uncertainty about the future—highlighting the importance of integrating affective dimensions into anticipatory education.

This arcticle will provide an overview of the toolkit's structure, pedagogical foundations, and implementation strategies. It will also share key findings and reflections from the first classroom trials. By combining key principles of critical pedagogy with futures studies methods, the toolkit offers a concrete example of how education can become a catalyst for cultural change—empowering young people not only to adapt to technological transformation, but to reimagine and co-create the futures they wish to inhabit.

Keywords: Futures Thinking, Backcasting Methodology, Toolkit, Critical Digital Education.