Supported by a SSHRC grant to Dr Mark Fettes of Simon Fraser University at SFU, the inaugural meeting of IRNIE (International Research Network in Imagination and Education) was held at the Coast Plaza Hotel, Vancouver, on July 17 th and 18 th , 2006. A total of 37 participants from many parts of the globe took part in this ground-breaking meeting, which laid the foundation for further and future collaborative work.

At the meeting, participants were introduced to each other's work in short presentations. This first meeting was deliberately conceived to be inclusive of all kinds of educational research involving imagination, and thus a broad range of issues and contexts was represented. Individuals also had a chance to participate in roundtables which provided the opportunity to brainstorm areas of commonality for a broad-based collaborative research project. Further, discussions were held on approaches to research and methodology, on possible funding agencies such as SSHRC, and on the establishment of IRNIE's online database of researchers, research projects, publications and resources..

At the roundtable debriefing held on Tuesday afternoon, three major research areas for the network emerged. These were:

imaginative curriculum and pedagogy , extending from the preschool years to high school and postsecondary education;
imaginative education for marginalized groups of many kinds; typically extending beyond curriculum and pedagogy to include issues of school organization, community involvement, power and identity; and
imagination in teacher education and teacher development .

It also became clear that many members of the network have expertise in alternative educational practices, which could inform collaboration in many ways.

Cutting across these three major research areas were a number of common needs and objectives, which can be summarized under the headings of Theory, Research Methods, and Praxis.

Theory: Diverse theoretical frameworks and languages for conceptualizing the role of the imagination in learning and development — including, for instance, the Vygotskian tradition, Kieran Egan's recapitulation theory, and such educational movements as Waldorf schooling and Saito pedagogy — need to be further investigated, compared, and elaborated. While a single unified theory may be neither possible nor desirable, these various approaches can enrich one another and lessen the risks of oversimplification. We should also anticipate and foster theoretical dialogues with other areas of the social sciences and humanities.
Research methods: Investigating the role of the imagination in teaching and learning is methodologically challenging. We need to work towards common understandings of what counts as adequate evidence and adequate description — e.g. of imaginative engagement, of the cultural and educational context, or of a teacher's understanding and application of particular theoretical ideas. Also needed are strategies and models for productive research relationships between academic institutions and educational settings of various kinds.
Praxis: The network's ultimate objective is to help bring about changes in educational practice on a wide scale. Thus tools specifically designed to inspire and support imaginative educational practice are needed, including books, handbooks and teaching guides (both text and video), curriculum materials and resources, and workshops, courses, and programs for teacher development. Work is also needed on the translation of materials and approaches across languages and contexts. We need to be aware of the risk of cultural bias and unequal power relationships in all international and cross-cultural work, and to be willing to question ourselves and each other as the work moves forward.

Tentatively, then, IRNIE will focus on developing a research program that is concentrated in research areas A, B and C, above, and which fosters the sharing and elaboration of theoretical frameworks, research methods, and educational praxis. Over the next year, members of the network will seek opportunities for major collaborative initiatives that might bring together a number of projects and institutions in several countries under a common theme and set of ideas. The meeting concluded with the signing of a letter to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation outlining the case for research funding on a large scale.

To download a PDF file that includes this summary and a detailed summary of the sessions, please click here.

International Research Network on Imaginative Education