Bridging Imagination and Reality in the Classroom: A Collaborative Autoethnographic Study of ‘Fiction to Fact’ Pedagogy

Abstract

Educators in Nepalese higher education employ diverse pedagogical approaches to facilitate learning but often struggle to articulate their own signature pedagogy the distinctive teaching style they have developed through years of practice. This study explores the concept of 'fiction to fact' as a signature pedagogy and examines its alignment with Jerome Bruner's narrative constructivism and the sociocultural theories of Piaget and Vygotsky within Nepal's evolving higher education context. Here, fiction refers to imagination and mental planning, whereas fact denotes the realization of those plans in practice. The study demonstrates how this pedagogy transforms students' emotional and cognitive learning experiences by stimulating curiosity, encouraging active participation, and connecting imagination with real-world application. A collaborative autoethnographic reflection method was employed, integrating the researcher's classroom experiences with the practices of three community school teachers who implemented the 'fiction to fact' approach. Data were generated through classroom observation notes and critical self-reflections and analyzed thematically. The findings reveal that this signature pedagogy significantly enhanced students' engagement, understanding, and transformative learning. It effectively supported students in designing project plans, developing worksheets, visualizing prototypes, and refining their work until successful completion, thereby bridging imagination and reality. The study concludes that the 'fiction to fact' approach represents an innovative and effective signature pedagogy that can help educators identify, strengthen, and articulate their own pedagogical identity while improving classroom practice. It recommends integrating this approach into Nepal's teacher licensing curriculum and teacher education programs to equip teachers with innovative pedagogies required for 21st-century education.