Imagination in Educational Theory and Practice: A Many-Sided Vision

Inspired by papers developed for the 6th International Conference on Imagination and Education: Imaginative Practice, Imaginative Inquiry (Canberra, Australia, 2008), this book connects a cross-section of educators, researchers and administrators in a dialogue and exploration of imaginative and creative ways of teaching, learning and conducting educational inquiry. Imagination is a concept that spans traditional disciplinary and professional boundaries. The authors in this book acknowledge diverse theoretical and practical allegiances, but they concur that imagination will play an essential role in the building of new foundations for education in the 21st century. From our conception of human development through our ways of educating teachers to the teaching of mathematics, they argue for the centrality of imagination in the realization of human potential, and for its relevance to the most urgent problems confronting our world. Introduced by a wide-ranging literature review and extensively referenced, this volume makes an important contribution to a rapidly expanding field.

Thomas William Nielsen is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Education, University of Canberra, Australia, and a long-standing Associate, Visiting Scholar and Australian-branch coordinator of the Imaginative Education Research Group. Dr Nielsen is currently working with several schools around Australia, increasing student wellbeing and achievement through a 'Curriculum of Giving' (see curriculumofgiving.wikispaces.com). Robert Fitzgerald is Associate Dean Research and Professor in the Faculty of Education, University of Canberra, Australia, and a founding member of the Australian-branch of the Imaginative Education Research Group. In 2008 he co-directed the 6th International Conference on Imagination and Education with Thomas Nielsen. Robert's current work is exploring the ways in which educational technology and social media afford opportunities to re-shape and expand educational experiences in both developed and developing countries (see mathetic.info). Mark Fettes is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Education, Simon Fraser University, Canada, and a founding director of the Imaginative Education Research Group. From 2004 to 2008 he directed the LUCID project, a research alliance that developed and evaluated imaginative, culturally inclusive approaches to teaching indigenous children in three school districts in British Columbia. Recently he has worked on extending this approach to the field of ecological, place-based education.