This contribution takes a look at the close link that is created in the educational setting between the classics of the history of education and the promotion of pedagogical utopia, in the sense of a constant generative tension towards what is possible and what is “not yet.” After disambiguating the concept of utopia, starting from the reference theories, we use an interpretative key to outline and analyze the value of teaching the history of educational thought, also as proposed in the classic works that metaphorically embody the founding characteristics of the very concept of education. Then the development of a pedagogical utopia is associated both with its capacity to solicit a projective and emancipatory thought, and with the ethical and political dimension intrinsic in the educational professional. As a process that affects the domains of existence and experience, it seems to be not only inseparably related to the educational function of the history of pedagogical ideas, but also a driving force for new experiences, new thinking on education, and a different future for education.

Received 11 April 2021. Revised 18 June 2021. Accepted 26 June 2021. Published online 11 July 2021

Classics in the history of education, History of educational ideas, Utopia, Educational studies and utopia, Classics and teacher training,

http://dx.doi.org/10.26106/36vj-9d72