Maxine Greene: an Approach to Aesthetic Education and a Vision of Social Imagination

Abstract

Abstract In this article we will introduce the reader to Dr. Maxine Greene and her philosophy of Aesthetic Education developed during her many years of teaching at Columbia University’s Teachers College. Greene saw the arts as “integral to the development of persons – to their cognitive, perceptual, emotional, and imaginative development” (2001, p. 7)+. Her theories about the arts in education were developed into a methodology and practice at the Lincoln Center Institute for the Arts in Education (lci), the educational branch of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. lci was founded in 1975 by Marc Schubart, lci’s Director and Chairman Emeritus, who had the idea to bring together a prominent philosopher of arts and education and a world class arts organization. Schubart and Greene were convinced that the inclusion of and engagement with works of art was vital to student success and would help schools to become authentic spaces for learning. lci was dedicated to developing the possibilities that the arts could offer in educational settings and exploring what Greene’s “Aesthetic Education” might look like in K-12 classrooms. lci was the first arts organization to have an educational philosophy and a “philosopher-in-residence,” a role in which Greene served until the end of her life.