The paper presents education as a process of human development toward becoming our authentic Selves and posits the Tarot hermeneutic as one of the means of holistic, spiritual education. As a system of images and symbols, Tarot encompasses the three I's represented by intuition, insight and imagination in contrast to the three R's of traditional…

This article presents the authors' comments on Crisp and Turner's (May-June 2009) research on "imagined intergroup contact" (p. 231). Its goals of reducing prejudice are laudable, especially with a motivation to "prepare people to engage outgroups with an open mind" (p. 231). The method is relatively simple, easy, and…

This article critically explores how educational leadership is becoming increasingly affective in order to cultivate pupil potential and thereby meet the challenge of creating the best schools in the world. It critically analyses policy and handbook approaches to affective educational leadership technologies by showing the difficulty in keeping…

The U.S. economy took a historic nosedive in 2007-2010. It was the worst downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s. However, evidence is emerging which suggests the country is in the midst of an economic recovery. In February 2010, the U.S. Commerce Department reported that GDP rose at a 5.9 percent annual rate in October through December…

Vivian Gussin Paley is a teacher, writer, lecturer, and advocate for the importance of play for young children. Author of a dozen books about children learning through play, she has received numerous honors and awards including an Erickson Institute Award for Service to Children, a MacArthur Foundation Fellows award, and a John Dewey Society's…

The profoundly thoughtful--not to mention extensive--character of the scholarship historically applied to the nature of the difference between Plato and Aristotle on the issue of the tragic emotions raises the obvious question: What new is there left to say? In this article, the author seeks to hold together two separate issues that have occupied…

Real play--play that is initiated and directed by children and that bubbles up from within the child rather than being imposed by adults--has largely disappeared from the landscape of childhood in the United States. There are many reasons for this, such as the long hours spent in front of screens each day or in activities organized by adults. In…

Michelle Roberts has written of the "joy of the human imagination, without which we would be unable to understand one another, and would thus wither and perish." This is the baseline for the author's discursive analysis of imagination and beauty in art as it relates to the work of Kant and Kandinsky. While both accepted the forward movement of…

The author began writing this essay the day after waves of euphoria swept over what appeared to be a profoundly altered public space. Americans had seen the most diverse gathering of people coming freely together to affirm a common purpose no one could quite yet define. No one had instructed them to come out in the cold of that inauguration…

This article presents an excerpt from a speech delivered by Dana Gioia, poet, critic, and chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, at the Stanford University commencement on June 17, 2007. In this speech, Gioia communicates his concerns about the diminished role of the arts in contemporary North American culture and the failure of school…

Liberation of self and society is the point of democracy. What does one need in teacher education and teaching to fulfill this democratic vision? For John Dewey, teacher educators need to practice associated living in the classroom. Talking about it will not fulfill the charge. They need to enable experiences of deliberation, thoughtful planning,…

In this technological age, where mind and body are increasingly disconnected in the classroom, object-based learning--along with strong museum-school partnerships--provide many benefits for student learning. In this article, the author first outlines some of the special mind-body connections that object-based learning in museums affords learners…

The significance of utopian thought for education can be made evident through reconceptualizing utopia and approaching it alongside the notion of dystopia. Awareness of dystopian elements of reality radicalizes the kind of critique that assists utopian thought and makes engagement with it more pressing. Awareness of the lurking danger of future…

Theatre is a dangerous witness, challenged with multiple responsibilities of integrity, imagination, inspiration and craft. I explore the relationship between failure, witnessing, and displacement in a class grappling with their own backgrounds, migrations and interrogations of the idea of place and home. We approach performing testimony as an…

In this article, the author reflects on Statement Three of the Australian Association for the Teaching of English (AATE) "Statements of Belief". The third statement begins: "We value the power of the imagination and literary expression to provide pleasure and enrich life." Statement 3 has two parts. It identifies what the study of literature…