The Tools of Imagination Series
This series of “teacher tips” is designed to introduce you to the practice of Imaginative Education. It is for all educators. No matter the age of your students or your subject matter, the imagination plays a central role in all human learning and intellectual development. Each of the tips below introduces a “cognitive tool”, or learning tool. These tools will allow you to routinely engage your students and maximize their learning. When you ignite imagination and engage emotion, knowledge becomes meaningful. Scroll down to the bottom for the LATEST post!
Orange = The Toolkit of Oral Language. These tools are particularly powerful with our youngest students but should be used by ALL educators to bring out the emotional force of topics. Learn more here.
- #1 Find The Story In The Topic
- #2 Find A Source of Dramatic Tension
- #3 Evoke Mental Images With Words
- #4 Metaphors Matter
- #5 Laugh As You Learn
- #6 Engage The Body
- #7 Identify The Unknown
Green = The Toolkit of Written Language. These tools reflect the most vivid ways that literate individuals engage with the world around them. They should be actively employed from mid-elementary through secondary school. Learn more here.
- #8 Seek Heroic Qualities
- #9 Let Them Obsess
- #10 Humanize
- #11 Engage Their Inner Rebel
- #12 Stimulate Wonder
- #13 Play With Visual Formats
- #14 Illuminate Extremes & Limits
- #15 Change The Context
Purple = The Toolkit of Theoretical Language. These tools reflect tools of theoretical thinking. They will engage the imaginations and emotions of students in contexts of Higher Education primarily. Learn more here.
- #16 Take Them Out Of This World
- #17 Employ A Meta-Narrative Structure
- #18 Introduce General Theories & Anomalies
- #19: Stimulate A Sense Of Agency
Learn More
Three Toolkits To Help Maximize Student Engagement (About cognitive tools and toolkits for learning)
Put Engagement First: Think Differently About Your Students (About how cognitive tools shape “kinds of understanding”–what every teacher needs to know about imaginative engagement)
Imaginative Education (What this approach to teaching is ALL about!)
Terrific series. You demonstrate many heroic qualities!