Imaginative Teaching Research Articles

Assessing Cognitive and Perceptual Abilities in Imaginative and Mainstream Elementary Schools: A Case Comparison

This study investigates the impact of imaginative pedagogy on the cognitive and perceptual abilities of elementary school students aged 7-8, using a case comparison approach. Focusing on a Waldorf school as a case for imaginative education and a mainstream Greek school, the research examines abilities including Spatial, Linguistic, Kinesthetic, Naturalistic, Mathematical and Musical. The study utilized a mixed method consisting of playful assessment activities and classroom observations to evaluate these abilities comprehensively. The findings reveal that students in the Waldorf school demonstrate significant advantages in the Spatial, Linguistic, Kinesthetic and Naturalistic areas, attributed to the school's imaginative teaching methods. More specifically, imaginative pedagogy is shown to resonate well with competences related to physical activities, language processing, understanding of the natural world, and visual-spatial reasoning. In contrast, there are no significant differences in Math-Logic and Musical abilities between the two school types, despite the traditional emphasis on language and mathematics in mainstream Greek schools. The study highlights the potential benefits of imaginative pedagogy for holistic cognitive development, suggesting its applicability in mainstream education.

Investigating the Benefits of Imaginative Teaching Practices in Enhancing Educational Quality

The study examines the benefits of imaginative teaching practices in enhancing educational quality by focusing on innovative pedagogical approaches. It aims to evaluate the influence of these performances on key variables, including Student Engagement (SE), Academic Performance (AP), Educational Satisfaction (ES), Creativity Development (CD), and Critical Thinking Skills (CTS). Using SPSS software, various statistical methods, such as x2 tests, ANOVA (Analysis of Variance), T-tests, and descriptive statistics, were employed to analyze data collected from educators. The findings reveal significant improvements across all measured variables, indicating that imaginative teaching practices effectively enhance student engagement, academic performance, critical thinking skills, creativity, and overall satisfaction with the educational experience. These results suggest that incorporating creative methods in teaching can create a more dynamic, engaging, and effective learning environment, ultimately leading to improved educational outcomes.

Chat Generative Pre-Trained Transformer (ChatGPT): Boon or Bane – A Qualitative Meta-Synthesis

Abstract: Interest in Artificial Intelligence (AI) has increased dramatically since the launch of ChatGPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) in November 2022. While ChatGPT has captured the imagination of students and educators alike, several concerns have also emerged (Torrey et al., 2023). In this study, the researcher conducted a qualitative meta-synthesis that focused mainly to the range of ChatGPT by obtaining interrelated data from peer-reviewed publication or journals searched through the academic databases and meta-search engines (Google Scholar, JSTOR, EBSCO, and OVID). With the initial samples of 21 ChatGPT studies, ten (10) were selected based on the inclusion criteria. Conceptual translation was used to express the research findings. The data from each theme were synthesized and integrated to create a synthesis that represented the category as a whole. ChatGPT is here to stay, and individuals would undoubtedly use it for the rest of their lives. Integrating ChatGPT in a variety of settings, including education, particularly in business courses, offers numerous opportunities to improve learning experiences, personalize instruction, and rethink educators' roles. This change, however, poses restrictions classified as intrinsic and usage-related issues that make assessments, digital literacy, and ethical considerations challenging. To realize ChatGPT's full potential in education and overcome these barriers, stakeholders should develop solutions for ethical and equitable adoption in a naturally based and proactive approach.

On the nature, uses and functions of imagination in education: A multidisciplinary approach

This article aims to delve into the theoretical perspective on imagination in education, focusing specifically on Imaginative Education theory. The approach involves a dual objective: critically analyzing the limitations and specific potentials of Imaginative Education to stimulate contemporary discourse on imagination in education and using it as a foundation to frame current research in philosophy and psychology within an educational context. Key elements of this theoretical operation include a critical examination of philosophical taxonomies on the concept of imagination and its reinterpretation in relation to Predictive Coding and Embodied Cognition theories. The fundamental goal of this conceptual clarification goes beyond the theoretical realm. The article aspires to contribute to the growing interest in imagination, fantasy, and creativity as essential elements of curriculum design and teacher education, serving both as educational objectives and resources to create meaningful learning environments and experiences. Hence, the focus on the IE theory aims to bridge the gap between theoretical reflections on imagination and learning and their practical implications in curriculum design and teacher education or professional development.

Alimentary Images as Metaphor of Education

AbstractThe aim of this paper is to explore how the history of images and conceptual metaphors resulting from them that we use in educational reflections are formed regardless of if they are problematized in practical life. Insight into history shows how these images are shaped not only by our own experiences and by the context of our lives, but also by the history of such images, which are unconsciously inscribed in our metaphorical speech through so called “residues of meaning”. The paper clarifies this, using the examples of alimentary images, that are a transition from nutrix (wet nurse) to nutritor (teacher). The text offers selected examples of consideration of alimentary images. These are among the most primitive and therefore the deepest images of human experience. This history is an example of a cultural line that goes from ancient educational imagination to the more recent forms of such images, even if always with different accents.

Engineering Science Fiction Creation and Engineering Imagination Education

Engineering Science Fiction Creation and Engineering Imagination Education

ТВОРЧЕСТВО КАК ПУТЬ ПРЕОДОЛЕНИЯ ПСИХОЛОГИЧЕСКИХ ТРАВМ: ВАРИАНТ СУДЬБЫ ЭЛЬЗЫ СКИАПАРЕЛЛИ

Using the example of the biography of Elsa Schiaparelli, one of the most prominent figures in the fashion world, the role of creativity, which became the object of this study, in the life of a neurotic personality is shown. It is proved that creativity acts as a protective mechanism against psychological trauma and internal conflicts, helping to redirect the attention and energy of the individual into a creative channel. As a child, Elsa Schiaparelli had a traumatic experience associated with the understanding of her uselessness in the family, lack of love and care from her mother, and ugliness in comparison with her older sister. In the future, the psychological trauma was aggravated by the husband's neglect of the woman and his departure from the family where the sick girl was born. The dramatic life situation, without breaking Elsa, contributed to her rebellion. Thanks to him, Schiaparelli turned to creativity and made an ascent in the fashion world. Her education and enormous resources of imagination contributed to this. The life of Elsa Schiaparelli demonstrates the positive potential of creativity, contributing to the self-realization of the individual.

Language as a hermeneutic approach to emerging methodologies and technologies in higher education

In recent years, the profusion of methodologies available to teachers, thanks to the advancement of emerging and converging technologies, has created significant educational opportunities, but it also poses new challenges. Among these is the need to train teachers to exercise solid pedagogical judgment when implementing these approaches in the classrooms. One of the difficulties in making these critical judgments is the introduction of commercial terms into academic discourses, which hinder the thinking and assessment of these advancements from an educational standpoint. Therefore, the objective of this research is to reclaim the educational meaning of certain concepts necessary to contemplate these emerging technical and pedagogical methods in the realm of higher education in the face of the reconfigurations these terms have undergone due to the influence of economic ideas introduced by supranational organizations into the collective educational imagination. With this goal in mind, three documents from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development under the "Horizon 2030" program are first analyzed to identify ideas and concepts that have been integrated into academic discourses. Subsequently, from a hermeneutic-interpretative perspective, the meaning of these terms is revisited from the university philosophy and pedagogy standpoint. The results of this research enable an understanding of the authentic educational significance of words like new, valuable, critical, democratization, active, autonomy, or study, among others, which are essential to approach emerging methodological advances and technological approaches from an educational perspective, detached from economic considerations.

İlkokul Öğretim Program’larının Hayal Gücü Eğitimi Bağlamında İncelenmesi

Hayal gücü, her dönem güncelliğini koruyan önemli bir bilişsel beceridir. Bu becerinin öğrencilerde gelişiminin desteklenmesi ise bu alanda verilecek eğitim ile olacaktır. Hayal gücü eğitimi de okul müfredatı ile ilişkili olarak verilmelidir. Bu nedenle bu araştırmanın amacı ilkokul öğretim programlarının hayal gücü eğitimi bağlamında incelenmesidir. Bu amaca bağlı olarak araştırma doküman incelemesi yöntemi ile yürütülmüştür. Verilerin çözümlenmesinde içerik analizinden faydalanılmıştır. Bulgulardan elde edilen sonuçlara göre ilkokul öğretim programları arasında hayal gücü temasına en sık yerilenlerin müzik, görsel sanatlar ve Türkçe olduğu; en az sıklıkla yer verilenlerin beden eğitimi ve oyun, trafik güvenliği olduğu; sıklıkla olmasa da hayal gücü temasına yer verilenlerin hayat bilgisi, fen bilimleri ve sosyal bilgiler olduğu, hiç yer verilmeyen ilkokul öğretim programlarının ise matematik, İngilizce, din kültürü ve ahlak bilgisi, insan hakları, yurttaşlık ve demokrasi dersi öğretim programları olduğu ortaya çıkmıştır. Hayal gücünün bireyin gelişimine katkıları göz önüne alınarak Milli Eğitim Bakanlığı tarafından ilkokulda hayal gücü eğitimine önem verilmesi önerilir.

Exploring the power of imagination: unravelling students’ self-perception of academic abilities in imaginative and traditional schools in Greece

ABSTRACT While contemporary trends in education emphasise the primacy of economic and technological competencies, imagination often finds itself under-valued. This is particularly true in Greece, where alternative schools encounter numerous challenges, some arising from discrimination. Imaginative teaching employs imagination-based teaching methods to support and enhance the development of children’s and adolescents’ physical, social, emotional and cognitive skills. This study explores the effects of imaginative teaching methods on students’ abilities by examining 103 Greek students’ self-perception of them. The abilities correspond to eight constructs, as described by Howard Gardner in his Multiple Intelligences (MI) theory. Prior research has hinted at the potential correlation between these imaginative teaching strategies and MI educational applications. The Multiple Intelligences Developmental Assessment Scale (MIDAS) was used to assess the 8 MI constructs and 24 associated skills. Statistically significant results show that students having imaginative-based education have a higher estimation of their language and intrapersonal skills. Further research is needed to move forward from assessing the self-perception of students’ abilities to assessing their actual skills.

Fictional placemaking creating meaningful contexts for causal reasoning in secondary school biology education

ABSTRACT In secondary science education, students often do not feel engaged with the scientific concepts that are taught, which hinders conceptual learning. This lack of engagement can be overcome by fictional placemaking. Therefore, the purpose of our design-based research is to explore how the creation and use of fictional places lead to meaningful contexts providing opportunities for the learning of biology. Four design principles were formulated from theories on: (1) pedagogy of place; (2) communities of practice; (3) imaginative teaching; and (4) story-based learning. Based on these principles a lesson series was designed in which students were challenged to create societies living in domes on Mars as a fictional place. This lesson series was conducted in a ninth-grade class (28 students) at pre-university level. It was evaluated on the contribution of the design principles to create a meaningful context for the learning of biology. This research focuses on causal reasoning, which is a key competency in biology. The analysis of artefacts of group work showed evidence that students expressed different types of causal reasoning. Reflection on each of the design principles made clear how fictional placemaking provides opportunities for the development of students’ causal reasoning.

Leading Change: Administrative Imaginings for a Decolonial Education

This article follows the movements of educational imagination articulated by the late scholar of religious education Maria Harris to offer musings on academic leadership that attempts a decolonial turn for enduring change in theological education. With stylistic and thought experimentations, the essay identifies challenges besieging administrative leadership amid a global pandemic, shifting institutional and cultural landscapes, and enduring legacies of colonial, racial, and gendered regimes. Harris’s educational esthetic and theories of learning and change leadership frame insights for a decolonizing and diasporic consciousness for today’s religious educator who administers and leads with educational imagination.

Education as Revolution: Theorizing Education and Learning in Xin Shiji (1907–1910)

Xin shiji was a Chinese journal published in France by Chinese anarchists and revolutionaries from 1907 to 1910. This article examines the views of education and learning and views of Chinese language and script expressed in Xin shiji. Xin shiji presents a cosmopolitan moment of educational imagination in the late Qing and early Republican period of China that has been largely ignored in the scholarly literature on education of this period, which has focused instead on the role of education and educational transformation in state building. Dispassionate about disseminating ideas about citizenship and about exploring the role of education in creating new citizens, writers for Xin shiji emphasized the connection of an autonomous individual member of society who is not bound by the nation-state. This cosmopolitan vision of education did not situate itself within an existing tradition or presuppose the institutional and political forms through which education and learning should be implemented.

Peculiarities of teaching the academic discipline “Quartet class” in distance learning conditions

The relevance of the article is due to the new realities of today, namely, the transition of most Ukrainian educational institutions to distance learning. This has caused a change in the approach to the educational process and proved the importance of media literacy of educators, their knowledge and mastery of Internet technologies and the introduction of various useful applications into the curriculum.
 The purpose of the article is to overview the innovations of the educational process in modern realities, provide a list of tools and demonstrate the implementation of individual applications capable of modernizing online learning and helping to achieve efficient and high-quality results.
 The methodology. The purpose and objectives of the research have determined its methodology. Methods of empirical knowledge, systematization and generalization have formed the fundamental basis of the study.
 The results. The article highlights the peculiarities of the online learning process. Special attention is paid to the need to improve the media literacy of educators. An overview has been made and references have been chosen for courses, webinars, seminars, online platforms for professional development in the field of digital technologies. It has been proved that such software as Audacity, BandLab, Audio Editor Hokusai, Reaper, Samplitude, Cubase and the following online resources Audio-Joiner, Mp3cut.foxcom, clideo.com, filesmerge.com, solveigmm.com, mp3food.com have become useful in the process of teaching.
 Specific examples of the use of Google’s digital tools have been offered, including Google Classroom, Google form, Google sites. The study has also revealed the importance of individual student work and a systematized list of forms of independent student work in the quartet class has been provided, among them: listening to a given quartet composition; work with a quartet score; understanding of the form of musical works, their semantic load; learning the musical text, taking into account all the composer’s notes; selection of the most profitable application; arrangement of beats and their coordination between members of the ensemble; development of pausing and its coordination with other team members; finding the culminating points of the musical work and building the logical development of its composition.
 The scientific novelty of the article is the description of innovative options for interaction with students in non-standard learning conditions aimed at maximum productivity and success.
 The practical significance of this research lies in the introduction of the proposed ideas into the educational process and the stimulation of creativity development and the use of creative pedagogical approach in communication with students.
 Conclusions. One of the main conclusions of this study is that online teaching of ensemble disciplines, in particular the quartet class, requires a professional, creative pedagogical approach which is highly integrated with knowledge of computer technologies, monitoring of new digital tools that simplify the educational process and make it possible to motivate students and get high learning results. This article represents a kind of impetus for the creative imagination of educators and is aimed at its further development.

Innovative Learning Media in Era 4.0: Review

Various learning media innovations continue to grow which acts as a supplement in learning. A good learning media is effective, efficient, shortens the time for delivering teaching materials and can stimulate the imagination of educators when getting factual information through the media. Learning media is designed to provide a real picture of something abstract. The implementation of industry 4.0 can be through various innovative learning media. The use of innovative learning media can be through gadget intermediaries or digitally as a means of connecting conventional learning media into innovative learning media.

‘Missing school isn’t the end of the world (actually, it might prevent it)’: climate activists resisting adult power, repurposing privileges and reframing education

ABSTRACT In the current climate crisis, young people are portrayed paradoxically: victims and stakeholders, political protagonists and school truants. Based on ethnographic research with the climate movement, this article explores how youths manage their activism as it interfaces with their socialisation contexts, tracing prevalent adult antagonisms: radicalism, condescension and individualism. Drawing on sociological conceptualisations of climate precariousness and on an educational theorisation of subjectification, I argue that activists construct margins of resistance in their everyday political practices by incorporating processes that interrupt adult structures while reframing educational imagination. This highlights how the individual present is colonised by the risks posed to a collective future, leading adult power to be contested at a collective-public level (through performative reconfigurations of existing orders) and subverted at an individual-private level (by repurposing privileges towards climate struggle). Resistances to adultism uncover competing notions of future and education as integral to politicisation processes within the climate movement.

Engaging and Cultivating Imagination in Equity-Focused School Leadership

Research on equity-focused school leadership reveals how it is relational, emotional, and activist. This paper adds imaginative to this set of leadership qualities. First, imagination is conceptualized as soil. Thinking of imagination in this grounded, ecological way can help address misconceptions around what imagination is and does in the context of school leadership. The next section outlines some of the relational, emotional, and activist features of equity-focused school leadership that are rooted in imagination. Imaginative Education is introduced as a theoretical framework that offers a practical set of (cognitive) tools that leaders may employ to cultivate imagination in pursuit of equity in their schools. The paper concludes with recommendations for future research.

Analytical skills and imaginative education in the subject of history

The objective was to establish imaginative education in analytical skills in the history subject at the Veintitrés de Octubre Educational Unit of the Montecristi canton, Manabí province, Ecuador. To achieve this purpose, a mixed methodological approach was applied. First, the exploratory research allowed the application of surveys to teachers and students for data collection. Among the main findings found, the deficient application of imaginative education in history classes was evidenced due to the limited knowledge of this methodology on the part of teachers. 43% of the teachers surveyed know little or nothing about the tools of imaginative education, and a considerable 30% realize it moderately. For these and more reasons it is concluded that it is suitable as a strategy for teaching the subject above.

Educating Perfinkers: How Cognitive Tools Support Affective Engagement in Teacher Education

Our intention is to share our lived experiences as educators of educators employing Imaginative Education (IE) pedagogy. We aim to illuminate IE’s influence on our students’, and our own, affective alertness, and to leave readers feeling the possibility of this pedagogy for teaching and learning. Inspired by the literary and research praxis of métissage (Chambers et al., 2012; Hasebe-Ludt et al., 2009; Hasebe-Ludt et al., 2010), we offer this polyphonic text as a weaving together of our discrete and collective voices as imaginative teacher educators. Our writing reflects a relational process, one that invites us as writers and colleagues to better understand each other and our practices as IE educators (Hasebe-Ludt et al., 2009). It also allows us to share with other practitioners our struggles, questions, and triumphs as we make sense of our individual and collective praxis: how IE’s theory informs our practice, and how our practice informs our understanding of IE’s theory. This text, like IE’s philosophy, invites heterogeneous possibilities.

AN EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING APPROACH FOR DEVELOPING MENTAL MODELS IN ENGINEERING DESIGN EDUCATION

Mental simulation represents how a person interprets and understands the causal relations associated with the perceived information, and it is considered an important cognitive device to support engineering design activities. Mental models are considered information characterized in a person’s mind to understand the external world. They are important components to support effective mental simulation. This paper begins with a discussion on the experiential learning approach and how it supports learners in developing mental models for design activities. Following that, the paper looks at the four types of mental models: object, making, analysis and project, and illustrates how they capture different aspects and skills of design activities. Finally, the paper proposes an alternative framework, i.e., Spiral Learning Approach, which is an integration of Kolb’s experiential learningcycle and the Imaginative Education (IE) framework. While the Kolb’s cycle informs a pattern to leverage personal experiences to reusable knowledge, the IE’s framework suggests how prior experiences can trigger imagination and advance understandings. A hypothetical design of a snow removal device is used to illustrate the ideas of design-related mental models and the spirallearning approach.