Research

We are currently involved in a number of research projects. We also have a number in the planning stage, and have proposals either now in consideration or being prepared for submission. We are also beginning to design projects with some of our Associates’ in other countries. We will use this page to keep a record of these projects, and include findings, developed resources, etc.

Imaginative Education Research Network

In response to many requests for collaboration, the IERG has created a new website for the purpose of building a comprehensive national and international research network on imagination and education.  We wish to bring together individuals and groups with active theoretical and practical research agendas in this area, in order to support, challenge, and extend each other's work and interests. Possible stages or outcomes of this process include on-line and in-person symposia and workshops, research planning meetings, and large-scale externally funded joint research initiatives.  Members are invited to share papers, comments, and questions via the list-serv. The main language of the list is English, but contributions in other languages are welcome.

If you are interested in joining this network, please go to http://www.imaginativeeducation.org/IRNIE

LUCID

Our main research project currently underway explores the potential of imaginative education in improving academic and other educational outcomes in B.C. public school districts with high numbers of Aboriginal students. The project is funded by the Social Studies and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). We call the project LUCID, and you can read about it in detail here.

The LUCID project is headed up by Mark Fettes.

Cognitive tools and the imagination

This is another research project funded by the SSHRC. It is headed up by Kieran Egan, with assistance from Keiichi Takaya and Kanthi Jayasundera. A brief description of its aims:

Objective: To work with groups of teachers in fine-grained exploration of how a single “cognitive tool”—such as the use of “binary opposites” or “limits of reality and extremes of experience”—can be used by teachers in structuring and teaching a unit, and from close observation and multiple examples to develop reliable procedures for helping teachers routinely use a variety of such “cognitive tools” in their daily practice. Relatedly, I will assess students’ learning, focusing on the influence of the cognitive tool in their understanding of the content taught and their imaginative engagement with the content.