The Workings of the Imagination: Full of Contradictions

Egan, Kieran, Maureen Stout, and Keiichi Takaya, eds.
Teaching and Learning Outside the Box: Inspiring Imagination Across the Curriculum
New York: Teachers College Press, 2007
Much to the vexation of my friends and family, I love to play devil’s advocate, arguing an opposing side just for the sake of considering it and as a way to expand the [...]

Utopian Education: A Glimpse of What It Might Look Like

Whitin, Phyllis, and David J. Whitin
Inquiry at the Window: Pursuing the Wonders of Learners
Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 1997
I have a head full of images of the perfect classroom and they all have a central theme: students wanting to know more. The aim of stimulating curiosity has driven much of my teaching and growth as an educator. [...]

Changing the Nature of Education One Teacher at a Time

Lewis, Richard
Living by Wonder: Writings on the Imaginative Life of Childhood
New York: Parabola Books, 1998
Lincoln Center Institute (LCI) hosted an “Imagination Conversation” on June 25th as part of the National Dance Education Organization’s annual conference, bringing together a diverse group of artists and artist/educators (digital artist Paul Kaiser of the Open Ended Group, writer/activist Jonathan [...]

Playing Through Life: How Fantasy, Imagination and Make Believe May Aid in Building and Sustaining Stable, Resilient, Focused and Creative Lives

Singer, Dorothy G. and Singer, Jerome L.
The House of Make-Believe
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1990

Book cover from THE HOUSE OF MAKE-BELIEVE by Dorothy G. Singer and Jerome L. Singer appears courtesy of Harvard University Press, Copyright ©1990 by Dorothy G. Singer and Jerome L. Singer.
Athletes have been using the power of the imagination for [...]

The Role of Imaginative Play

Barell, John
Playgrounds of Our Minds
New York: Teachers College Press, 1980
Few people would disagree that in the 21st Century, the rate of change is accelerating. A YouTube video posted in October 2008, Did You Know? , illustrates this with some attention-grabbing points. “The top 10 in-demand jobs in 2010 did not exist in 2004.” “We are [...]

Play to their emotions. Tell an interesting story. Humanize the facts. A formula for imaginative learning.

Egan, Kieran
Imagination in Teaching and Learning: The Middle School Years
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992
I’m really bad at remembering dates. For me, there is a big holiday in late December and I was married sometime in the spring. I get a phone call every year from my mother, where she really has nothing to say [...]

Helping Students Find their Voices: teaching ideas and tools for fostering an imaginative use of language in the classroom and beyond

Pugh, Sharon L.; Hicks, Jean Wolph; and Davis, Marcia
Metaphorical Ways of Knowing: The Imaginative Nature of Thought and Expression
Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English, 1997
Image: Copyright 1997 by the National Council of Teachers of English. Posted with permission.
We live in a visually oriented world. Advertisers know all too well that a picture is [...]

Involve Yourself in Learning to be an Inventive Teacher

Jagla, Virginia M.
Teachers’ Everyday Use of Imagination and Intuition: In Pursuit of the Illusive Image
Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1994
At Lincoln Center Institute several years ago, I recall the talk amongst teaching artists centered on planning: planning for planning sessions, developing lesson plans, the values and pitfalls of over planning and under [...]

Philosophy Light with a Compelling Call to Arms for Educators

Warnock, Mary
Imagination & Time
Blackwell Publishers, 1994
During the past two years teaching artists, partnering educators, and the leadership and staff of Lincoln Center Institute have been exploring the concept of imagination as a central value in education. As an LCI teaching artist I have participated in some of these explorations—verbal and embodied, where we have discovered [...]