In this research-based theoretical work, I develop a framework for a pedagogy of sensible experience, examining how desire and imagination function as formative forces in learning, creativity, and subjectivity. Grounded in philosophical inquiry and arts-based perspectives, I argue that education should not be reduced to content transmission, but understood as an embodied, affective, and meaning-making process.

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Rather than treating imagination as secondary, I propose it as a mode of knowledge capable of transforming perception and expanding agency. By foregrounding desire as an ethical and generative force, this work supports an educational stance in which learners become authors of experience, not passive recipients of instruction.

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Keywords: imagination · desire · sensible experience · embodied learning · creative pedagogy · authorship

Reference: Ferreira, V. D. (2025). The Forces of Desire and Imagination: Toward a Pedagogy of Sensible Experience. In Challenges of Contemporary Education (Vol. 22, pp. 395–410). AYA Editora.
Publisher page / Access: AYA Editora

This article examines the contemporary condition of the Gustavo Capanema Palace, an emblematic modernist building located in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, currently marked by degradation and institutional underuse.

 

Drawing on Adorno, Benjamin, Schorske and other theoretical interlocutors, we argue that public heritage management is inseparable from broader social imaginaries concerning the city, culture and state. Through a historically informed analysis, we interrogate the tension between modernist ideals of circulation, sociability and openness, and the current stagnation that transforms the building into a “statue” rather than a lived civic space. We further suggest that policies influenced by neoliberal ideology in the 1990s contributed to chronic infrastructure neglect, demonstrating a persistent political hierarchy in which development precedes culture and heritage preservation.

 

We conclude by advocating for a renewed public conception of cultural assets not as static commodities, but as catalysts for collective urban life.

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Feb 2011 – Apr 2012 | Researcher (Evaluation Research Team)
Observatório das Metrópoles (INCT), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)

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As a researcher on the evaluation team convened by the Observatory of the Metropolises, I participated in a comprehensive mixed-method assessment of Minha Casa Minha Vida – Entidades, a Brazilian federal housing program aimed at supporting civil-society-led, self-managed housing initiatives.

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My work focused on qualitative field research, including interviews and on-site observation, as well as the analytical integration of field-based evidence with institutional documentation and statistical data. I contributed to the production of evaluation reports oriented toward public policy stakeholders, ensuring that official program metrics were critically examined in relation to lived experiences, collective practices, and territorial realities.

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Advisor: Dr. Luciana Corrêa do Lago

Methods: qualitative interviews • document and policy analysis • mixed-method evaluation • field-based research • synthesis for public policy audiences.

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Mar 2011 – Apr 2012 | Principal Researcher
IPPUR-UFRJ (Brazil)

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In this master’s research, I investigated self-managed housing movements in Rio de Janeiro as political formation, collective labor, and social pedagogy. Using qualitative methods, including semi-structured interviews, document analysis, and spatial mapping. I examined how grassroots organizations built legitimacy, organized participation, and negotiated with the state to claim rights, resources, and recognition.

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Rather than treating housing as a technical output, the study frames self-management as a process where participants develop practices of collective decision-making, mutual responsibility, and shared governance, often marked by tensions between individual interests and community commitments. I argue that self-managed housing produces more than built space: it produces citizenship through cooperation, conflict, and shared authorship.​

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Advisor: Dr. Robert Moses Pechman

Peer-Reviewed Article | e-Metrópolis Journal (2011)
Location: Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)

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This peer-reviewed article examines Afonso Pena Square as a microcosm of urban life, investigating how public space is shaped through everyday sociability, perception, and affect. Using a qualitative, image-based approach, I argue that visual representation functions not as illustration, but as an epistemic method capable of capturing dimensions of city life that exceed purely rational or functional interpretations.

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“I chose to work with images because images make us imagine… The image exists between meaning and reason, between the material and the immaterial.”

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Keywords: public space · urban experience · visual methodology · perception · Rio de Janeiro

Publication: Ferreira, V. D. (2011). Poetic Painting of Afonso Pena Plaza. e-Metrópolis Journal, 1, 53–68.

Educational Documentation | PECEP (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)

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This issue documents PECEP’s educational and community-based initiatives throughout 2025, presenting popular education as a practice of collective learning, critical formation, and social inclusion. The publication highlights key experiences that strengthen student engagement and permanence, including PECEP’s traditional Festa Junina and the Career Fair (Feira das Profissões), which connects students with volunteers, alumni, and invited speakers across diverse professional fields.

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A central feature of the magazine is the extension partnership with the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Department of Anthropology, developed through the project “Diálogos Vivos — Learning and Thinking Together at PECEP.” The project promoted interdisciplinary debates and participatory dynamics grounded in social sciences, expanding students’ sociocultural repertoire and civic formation.

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Keywords: popular education · community learning · educational equity · civic formation · social technologies