Teaching imagination
Pedagogical insights into political imagination
Keywords:
political imagination, utopia, feminist pedagogy, exercises in political imagination, social changeAbstract
Utopias and imagining different worlds are important tools for social critique. Imagination is not given, but a skill that requires practicing. This text examines teaching imagination at the university by using as an example a course entitled “Exercises in political imagination”, targeted at master’s students in sociology. By using concrete examples, the text discusses how art-based methods and practices can be used in social sciences, and how they can be used to teach critical thinking. The reflection is based on description of practices, the researchers’ field notes
from teaching situations, and the students’ course feedback. Imagination helps to promote social change and find new forms of knowing. Teaching imagination requires pedagogy of potential that does not provide ready-made answers but searches for ways to reach towards what is yet unknown.
