Unimagining legal imaginaries using audio-visual content in the classroom

Abstract

The aim of this article is to contribute to the understanding of the phenomena that occur in the gap between legal rules and reality. It has two objectives: on the one hand, to highlight some legal «imaginaries» replicated by Colombian legal academia, and on the other, to propose how the use of non-traditional methodologies in legal education helps to «disimagine» or reflect on these imaginaries. The chosen imaginaries come from administrative law doctrine and are three: that the operation of the law attends exclusively to its regulated content, that only state agents produce legal decisions, and that the emotions of legal operators do not influence legal decisions. Methodologically, this paper uses auto-study of teaching practice and teacher training to analyze pedagogical practices used in class, as well as their reception in teaching evaluation surveys. The findings indicate that the use of pedagogical methodologies supported by storytelling and audiovisual materials allows for the «disimagining» of these imaginaries. The article concludes by proposing a legal research and pedagogy agenda that is still under construction, which highlights that the use of these methodologies contributes to the understanding of aspects that are «sub-theorized» in the legal discipline.