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FrancoAngeli Journals

Alia

Vol. 17 No. 1 (2026): Educating for Complexity: Intersectionality, Decolonial Approaches to Teaching, and Practices of Care in Education

Between Imagination and Function. Educational Ecologies and the Construction of Robot Imaginaries in School

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3280/ess1-2026oa22525
Submitted
aprile 13, 2026
Published
2026-07-28

Abstract

This study explores children’s and pre-adolescents’ imaginaries about robots within PNRR-funded activities on coding and educational robotics. A corpus of 753 textual and graphic productions, elicited through the open prompt “What is a robot for you?”, was analysed using reflexive thematic analysis supported by descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings reveal a non-random distribution of representations across school levels, outlining an evolutionary trajectory from iconic and unstable forms in early grades, to culturally mediated imaginaries in middle primary school, and to more ontological and functional definitions in the lower secondary education. The most frequent category concerns the nature of robots, while relational and ethical dimensions remain marginal. Results suggest that students’ imaginaries should be understood as situated epistemic resources and highlight the need for educational robotics approaches that integrate technical, critical, and value-oriented dimensions.

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