Experimenting Futures: Critical Pedagogies Beyond Solutionism

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Portada del número 3 de la revista ReCIA, con imagen del grupo de investigación IAMLAb, pieza: Caos y Micelio, de 2025.
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Published: 2026-03-30
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21134/4a2vxs92
Keywords:
Critical Imagination, Experimental Pedagogy, Poiesis, Educational Futures, Critical Narratives, Educational Innovation, Philosophy Of Education, Critical Pedagogy

Main Article Content

Susanna Tesconi
UOC

Abstract

Dominant narratives in education, centered on technocratic innovation and predictive reason, tend to close off what is possible and to reduce the openness of educational experience. Building on the framework previously developed around a possible pedagogy of critical imagination (Tesconi, 2025), this paper seeks to explore its pedagogical potentials, with particular attention to the experimental dimension. The approach is theoretical and draws on critical pedagogy (Freire, 1970/2005; hooks, 1994; Biesta, 2013; Greene, 1995) as well as recent philosophical reflections on imagination as poiesis (Garcés & Gozalo-Salellas, 2025). From this perspective, the experimental is not conceived as hypothesis testing, but rather as a poietic and artistic practice that enables displacements, estrangements, and collective creations. It is concluded that experimental pedagogy provides a critical narrative against educational solutionism, by situating collectivity and openness as conditions of possibility for what is yet to come. In the words of Danilo Dolci, «ciascuno cresce solo se sognato» [«each one grows only if dreamed»]: to educate is also to dream of others as they are not yet.

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Article Details

Issue

No. 3 (2026): Imagining Futures: Precarious Times and Critical Narratives

Section

MONOGRÁFICO
Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Author Biography

Susanna Tesconi, UOC

Susanna Tesconi studied Philosophy at the University of Pisa (Italy), where she obtained both her undergraduate and Master’s degrees, and holds a PhD in Education from the Autonomous University of Barcelona. She is a researcher and university lecturer, and her work develops at the intersection of pedagogy, technology, and contemporary philosophical thought.   She is currently a professor at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) and a member of the MUSSOL research group. Her research focuses on contemporary learning ecologies and critical pedagogical imagination, analyzing how algorithmic rationalities and techno-scientific frameworks shape educational processes and forms of subjectivation.   She integrates theoretical research with situated educational practice, understanding learning environments as spaces for ontological and political experimentation. Her main interests are oriented toward critical educational practices that explore the relationships between technology, culture, and knowledge production.

How to Cite

Tesconi, S. (2026). Experimenting Futures: Critical Pedagogies Beyond Solutionism. ReCIA - Journal of the Arts Research Centre, 3, 71-82. https://doi.org/10.21134/4a2vxs92

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