This article is a condensed version of the author's research which explores the relationship between imaginative play and creativity in education, and examines the structures, approaches, benefits, and obstacles surrounding the topic of imaginative play and creativity. The photo collection is a reflection on the ponderings throughout the author's…

Dabrowski's theory of positive disintegration has been associated with the psychology of giftedness for four decades, and Sal Mendaglio has significantly contributed to the thoughtful understanding of the theory throughout those 40 years. In this interview, Mendaglio discusses the relationship between the theory of positive disintegration and the…

In this paper, I discuss the nostalgic encounters that a group of preservice teachers experienced while reading two graphic novels about adolescent life: Jillian and Mariko Tamaki's "This One Summer" and Lynda Barry's "My Perfect Life." Using the conceptual touchstones of psychoanalytic theory, I pay close attention to the…

In this essay, I reflect on my lived experiences as a girl child growing up in my home country of Botswana, and also as a mother in a foreign country, Canada. I am experimenting with my personal essay and making connections with academic articles that will help me understand my behaviors, attitudes, and responses to challenging situations that…

This paper, based upon our experiences starting a school, is part dialogue and part theory. The three authors have all played important roles in the design, creation, and ongoing support of an innovative public elementary school. The first part of the paper describes the impetus behind the creation of this "buildingless," environmentally…

In cultures of excess, the challenge is to see. In a time of climate change, how will humans find the questions, the reflections, the poems, or the prayers that will bring ecological justice and peace? This writing begins a response to the call made on the last day of our gathering at Loon Lake for a "commonist manifesto" around…

Social learning theory in the context of multi-actor engagement tends to relate reflexivity primarily to critical questioning of theories-in-use. We argue that viewing suspensive dialogue and imaginative envisioning as additional stages of reflexivity will serve at least three purposes: prevent over-emphasis on instrumental rationality focusing on…

In environmental and ecological education, a rich literature builds on the premise that place, the local natural context in which one lives, can be an emotionally engaging context for learning and the source of life-long concern for nature. A theory of imaginative education can help uncover new tools and strategies for place-based educators.…

In this article, I share the story of "The Positive Energy Quilts," a collective environmental adult education art project on Vancouver Island, British Columbia that challenged the building of a power plant. I illustrate how this project creatively, poignantly, and stealthily drew out knowledge, and visual-counter narratives, challenged…

What is the hold of literature on a reader's imagination, on my imagination? I remember many hours spent with books in a kind of romantic entanglement, and heartful obsession, and joyful reverie. I certainly remember being lost with words, lost in enthusiastic abandonment. I loved the sounds of words, and the images they conjured, and the…

Previous studies pay insufficient attention to the impact of "patriotism," a curious omission given how frequently both government officials and ordinary citizens used their love of country as a rallying cry. This article focuses on Saskatoon, whose 43,027 inhabitants made it Saskatchewan's second-largest city, and examine the way in…

This revised Early Learning Framework is the culmination of a collaborative process that included early childhood educators, primary teachers, academics, Indigenous organizations, Elders, government, and other professionals. The first Early Learning Framework published in 2008 changed the landscape of early years practice in British Columbia. It…

From flower arranging to negotiating with a willful cow, an educator stumbles across the threshold into a performative space of learning that invites her to pay attention to what matters when a teacher encounters her students. Performative inquiry in the classroom brings to the curriculum a spirit and practice of inquiry, critical and creative…

Ten years ago, only 10% of the aboriginal students attending the public school of Prince Rupert took down their diploma of secondary studies. Across British Columbia, only 47 percent of the Aboriginal students who entered Grade 8 in 2003 have since completed high school, compared to 79 percent for all students in the province, an inequity that…

This document, British Columbia's Early Learning Framework, is intended to guide and support early childhood educators, StrongStart BC facilitators, early years professionals, service providers, communities and governments in providing rich early learning experiences for children from birth to kindergarten. The document may also be of interest for…