Engaging Students' Imaginations in Learning
Dr. Kieran Egan’s work focuses on the role of the imagination in learning, and explores how teachers might make their work more effective by engaging students’ imaginations with the content of the curriculum.
He achieves this aim by a number of routes: the development of a new general theory of education; giving talks and workshops in B.C. about this theory and practices to Ministry of Education, School District personnel, and to numerous groups of teachers and parents around the world; and, the development of new ways to apply the theory in everyday classrooms. These practices have become known generally as the “Imaginative Education” (IE) approach.
New programs have been developed that elaborate on the principles and practices of IE and are designed to engage students’ imaginations in effective learning. Some of these programs have focused IE principles on specific curriculum areas, others are somewhat disruptive of the usual routines of schooling, such as the Learning in Depth program, and the Whole School Projects program. The Imaginative Education Research Group to research has been founded to develop implementation strategies, and create networks of co-researchers and teachers across the province and world. To assist teachers in using Imaginative Education practice, Dr. Egan and his colleagues, have developed curriculum-specific websites that include implementation strategies and lesson plans.
