Expanding the repertoire of playful approaches in higher education through the use of fiction

This study explores the implications of adopting an ecological and playful approach to teaching in higher education. Using speculative design as a methodological framework, it analyses scenes from works of fiction to generate sensitising concepts that can inform contemporary pedagogical practice. Three recurring themes are identified in the narrative material through thematic analysis: challenging conventional norms in higher education, student frustration accompanied by signs of transformation, and learning that unfolds beyond the classroom. These themes are interpreted through an ecological and play-based theoretical lens. In line with speculative design, the sensitising concepts identified at the individual, intermediate, and structural levels function as heuristics rather than prescriptive recommendations. They suggest that learning emerges through engagement with affordance-rich environments, that uncertainty and emotional intensity within a safe setting should be embraced, and that playful approaches in higher education require structural support at the institutional level to take root and scale meaningfully.