Homo Ludens: Explorations of Semiotic Fields in Upper Secondary School

Abstract

The educational values upheld in secondary education reflect a broader clash between the persistence of traditional methods and the implementation of innovative teaching approaches aimed at fostering social change. Essentially, there's a tension between the emphasis on standardized testing, which often leads to predominantly frontal, single-discipline, and monolingual teaching, and the emergence of strategies and practices based on literacies, creative thinking, and the use of digital technologies and interactive media. While these new practices don't completely replace traditional ones, secondary education is increasingly seen as a place for hands-on, critical learning experiences. The challenge lies in effectively blending disciplinary skills and knowledge with technology, enabling students to create meaningful artifacts collaboratively. We will refer first to a theory of literacy and learning based on the design of videogames that provides a conceptualization of literacy as a frequentation of semiotic fields (Gee 2013), to connect then to Umberto Eco’s theory of Encyclopaedia. This theoretical reconstruction leads to a brief exemplification of project-based activities that combines digital skills with Latin Literature. Combining Philosophy of Language with Philosophy of Education offers a path to a pedagogy grounded in understanding and producing meaning within pragmatical, semiotical, and aesthetical contexts. The article outlines the value of active and critical learning as a practical and strategic articulation that the educational system is adopting. In this context, we ask what possible developments a semiotics of educational design may have.