We propose that "teacher candidates need to have extended experiences with learning to teach imaginatively," which is to say that teacher candidates need to have experiences that enable them to consider new possibilities in education. We first attend to the general theoretical framework offered by imaginative education before moving on…

Nearly everyone who has tried to describe an image of the educated person, from Plato to the present, includes at least two requirements: first, educated people must be widely knowledgeable and, second, they must know something in depth. The authors would like to advocate a somewhat novel approach to "learning in depth" (LiD) that seems…

Argues that it is both possible and desirable to teach history to children in the elementary grades and that it would be educationally beneficial to substitute a history curriculum for the present elementary social studies curriculum. Contends that those who infer curricula from psychologists' findings are confusing concept and content. (Author/WD)

Prevailing conceptions of young children's mental life represent children's thinking as confused and lacking western rationality. Instead, we should consider their mental life as a positive oral culture, and evolve a new science of early childhood education based on understanding of peoples in oral cultures. (MSE)

Suggests that educators will increase learning if they base curriculum on children's thinking patterns. Discusses prominent characteristics of young children's thinking and selection of content appropriate to these thinking patterns. (DB)

Argues that the arts are basic to educational development, as they provide the tools and skills that are central to early language development including story, metaphor, rhyme and rhythm, binary structuring and mediation, image formation from words, affective abstraction, and others that underlie more complex learning. (Author)

Suggests reasons why education is difficult and contentious, arguing that educational thinking draws on only three fundamental ideas (socializing the young, shaping the minds by a disciplined academic curriculum, and facilitating the development of students' potential) and that the problems in education are due to these ideas, which are fatally…

In this article, Kieran Egan contests the scientific foundations of Piaget's developmental theories and the scientific basis of much educational research. In so doing, he pushes researchers and practitioners alike to rethink the centrality of Piaget's tenets to teaching and learning. Egan traces the history of the developmental literature that…

The author traces oral forms of expression used in nonliterate societies and states that children, before they become literate, also depend on the spoken word for learning and communication. The author suggests that a better understanding of orality helps educators gain a fuller sense of the cognitive tasks that children undertake. (Author/CH)

Outlines a theory of cognitive development designed to be useful in defining an ideal education and discusses the practical steps for achieving educational goals. Three stages of cognitive development are proposed and their implications for curriculum content and teaching strategies are discussed. (AM)

Connects the imagination with one's affective states as related to 8- to 15-year-old students' engagement in a story or narrative. Discusses particular characteristics of narratives that engage students' imagination during these years and characteristics that are imaginatively engaging but in which the narrative component is less prominent. (BB)

Traces the richness of oral forms of expression used in nonliterate societies from ancient times to the present. Discusses the implications of research on orality for the early childhood curriculum and for methods of teaching young children. (BC)

Preservice teachers are usually taught to organize lessons by stating objectives, organizing content and methods to teach objectives, and planning evaluation. Suggests an alternative technique that encourages teachers to think of the lesson as a good story to be told rather than as a set of objectives to be achieved. (RM)

With specific attention to appropriate teaching strategies, the author defines a developmental stage theory of children's interest in and psychological uses for knowledge. The four stages are: mythic (up to approximately age 9/10); romantic (ages 9/10 to 15/16); philosophic (ages 14/15 to 20/21); and ironic (adult). (SJL)

Discusses four types of historical understanding and argues for a developmental sequence in historical understanding. Suggests two frameworks: (1) the story-form framework (ages up to 8) and; (2) a romantic framework (ages 8-15), sketching a curriculum based on each. Argues that these forms are necessary for acquiring more sophisticated levels of…