Imagination and the Engaged Learner: Cognitive Tools for the Classroom

by EGAN

Overview

Students' imaginations are often considered as something that might be engaged after the hard work of learning has been done. Countering such beliefs, Egan and Judson show that the imagination—one of the great workhorses of learning—can be used to make all learning and all teaching more effective. Through techniques that any teacher can learn and easily apply in any classroom, they demonstrate how and why imagination can be used across the curriculum and grade levels to make teaching and learning more interesting, engaging, and pleasurable for all. Teachers who use these techniques will discover the emotions, images, stories, metaphors, sense of wonder, heroic narratives, and other cognitive tools that can bring life and energy to their classroom. This practical handbook will help teachers learn how to use these enlivening techniques in their daily practice to stimulate students' intellectual activity and growth.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807757123
Publisher:	Teachers College Press
Publication date:	12/18/2015
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	160
Sales rank:	994,804
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.40(h) x 1.00(d)

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Acknowledgments xi

Part I Engaging Primary/Elementary School Students

1 Imagination and Its Importance in All Classrooms 3

What is Imagination? 3

Why Is It So Important in Everyday Classrooms? 4

What Is New About the Imaginative Education Approach? 5

Conclusion 8

2 What Learning in Oral Cultures Can Teach Us About Teaching 9

Three Learning Tools 10

Conclusion 16

3 Stories 19

The Power of the Story Form 19

Examples of How the Story Form Can Be Used in Teaching 21

Conclusion 25

4 Binary Opposites 27

Shaping the Story: Abstract and Affective Binary Oppositions 27

Examples of How Binary Oppositions Can Be Used in Teaching 30

Conclusion 33

5 Mental Imagery 35

Evoking Vivid Mental Imagery with Words 35

Examples of How Images Can Be Used in Teaching 37

Conclusion 39

6 Metaphor 41

Learning Through Metaphor 41

Examples of How Metaphor Can Be Used in Teaching 43

Conclusion 47

7 Jokes and Humor 49

Jokes and Humor in the Classroom 49

Examples of How Jokes and Humor Can Be Used in Teaching 52

Conclusion 54

8 A New Way of Planning 55

IE Planning Frameworks for Primary/Elementary School Teachers 55

Example of How IE Planning Framework for Primary/Elementary School Can Be Used in Teaching 60

Conclusion 65

Part II Engaging Intermediate/Secondary School Students

9 The Impact of Literacy on Imagination, Learning, and Teaching 69

Three Learning Tools 71

Conclusion 76

10 Extremes of Reality 79

The Limits, Extreme and Exotic Aspects of Curricular Topics 79

Examples of How Extremes of Reality Can Be Used in Teaching 82

Conclusion 84

11 The Heroic Narrative 85

Identifying a Transcendent Human Quality 85

Examples of How Heroic Narratives Can Be Used in Teaching 88

Conclusion 91

12 Hopes, Fears, Passions, and Ingenuity 93

Embedding Topics in the Context of Human Meaning and Emotion 93

Examples of How Human Hopes, Fears, Passions, and Ingenuity Can Be Used in Teaching 95

Conclusion 98

13 Evoking Wonder 101

Seeing the World as Wonder-full 101

Examples of How a Sense of Wonder Can Be Used in Teaching 104

Conclusion 108

14 Changing Contexts 111

Creating Imaginative Contexts for Learning: Upsetting Routines 111

Examples of How Changing Contexts Can Be Used in Teaching 115

Conclusion 117

15 A New Way of Planning 119

IE Planning Frameworks for Intermediate/Secondary School Teachers 119

Examples of How IE Planning Framework for Intermediate/Secondary School Can Be Used in Teaching 122

Collaborative Planning 130

Conclusion 132

References 135

Index 139

About the Authors 149