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Imaginative teaching piques government interest
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Contact:
Mark Fettes, 604.291.4489, mtfettes@sfu.ca
Paul Shaker, 604.291.3148, pshaker@sfu.ca
Carol Thorbes, 604.291.3035, cthorbes@sfu.ca
Mark Fettes, 604.291.4489, mtfettes@sfu.ca
Paul Shaker, 604.291.3148, pshaker@sfu.ca
Carol Thorbes, 604.291.3035, cthorbes@sfu.ca
June 21, 2005
Leading edge, culturally sensitive research on education at SFU has caught the eye of the provincial government and spawned a new master of education program. The provincial deputy minister of advanced education Philip Steenkamp recently met with several members of SFU's academic community, including President Michael Stevenson, dean of education Paul Shaker and dean of arts John Pierce. One of the many issues they discussed was the progress of education professor Mark Fettes' federally funded project Learning for Understanding through Culturally Inclusive Imaginative Development (LUCID).
Fettes and other researchers in the education faculty's Imaginative Education Research Group (IERG) are studying the application of education professor Kieran Egan's imaginative learning theory in schools with a high First Nations student population. Egan, the founder of IERG, has developed courses and teaching strategies based on his theory that students learn best when subject matter triggers their emotions by engaging their imagination.
Fettes and his collaborators are working with First Nations education leaders, and 26 aboriginal and non-aboriginal teachers in three BC school districts, to integrate Egan's theory in classroom practice. Fettes' team is trying to integrate aboriginal knowledge, values, perspectives and history into a mainstream, imagination-based curriculum.
The team presented Steenkamp with its latest findings. “Culturally sensitive, imagination-based learning can lead to greater enthusiasm and energy for learning among children, especially those from a marginalized cultural group who show little interest in the mainstream curriculum,” says Fettes.
The project's success has prompted Fettes' team to design a two-year off-campus master of education program. So far 19 people, including teachers in Fettes' project and other educators in their school districts, are enrolled in the degree program.
Steenkamp has asked Fettes' team to keep him informed of the project's development. “The deputy minister sees it as being potentially very instrumental in increasing aboriginal high school graduation rates and participation in higher education,” explains Fettes.
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(electronic photo available)
Websites:
Learning for understanding through Culturally Inclusive Imaginative Development:
www.ierg.net/lucid/
SFU Education: www3.educ.sfu.ca/conferences/ierg2005/
Mark Fettes: www3.educ.sfu.ca/faculty_member.php?contactid=48
Kieran Egan: www3.educ.sfu.ca/faculty_member.php?contactid=46
Fettes and other researchers in the education faculty's Imaginative Education Research Group (IERG) are studying the application of education professor Kieran Egan's imaginative learning theory in schools with a high First Nations student population. Egan, the founder of IERG, has developed courses and teaching strategies based on his theory that students learn best when subject matter triggers their emotions by engaging their imagination.
Fettes and his collaborators are working with First Nations education leaders, and 26 aboriginal and non-aboriginal teachers in three BC school districts, to integrate Egan's theory in classroom practice. Fettes' team is trying to integrate aboriginal knowledge, values, perspectives and history into a mainstream, imagination-based curriculum.
The team presented Steenkamp with its latest findings. “Culturally sensitive, imagination-based learning can lead to greater enthusiasm and energy for learning among children, especially those from a marginalized cultural group who show little interest in the mainstream curriculum,” says Fettes.
The project's success has prompted Fettes' team to design a two-year off-campus master of education program. So far 19 people, including teachers in Fettes' project and other educators in their school districts, are enrolled in the degree program.
Steenkamp has asked Fettes' team to keep him informed of the project's development. “The deputy minister sees it as being potentially very instrumental in increasing aboriginal high school graduation rates and participation in higher education,” explains Fettes.
-30-
(electronic photo available)
Websites:
Learning for understanding through Culturally Inclusive Imaginative Development:
www.ierg.net/lucid/
SFU Education: www3.educ.sfu.ca/conferences/ierg2005/
Mark Fettes: www3.educ.sfu.ca/faculty_member.php?contactid=48
Kieran Egan: www3.educ.sfu.ca/faculty_member.php?contactid=46