Scholars over the past few years have drawn attention to the enormous potential role historical stories can play in promoting student understanding of issues associated with the nature of science (NOS). Such stories, often referred to as "historical narratives," are thought to do so by providing a rich historical context within which…

In 2021, more than 80 million people worldwide will have been forced to flee their homes. Upon arrival in their new country, families may endure numerous hardships, yet succumbing to these challenges is not their single story. To understand how migrant-background and refugee-background children imagine more liveable futures beyond social and…

The purpose of this qualitative action research study was to examine a published language arts curriculum, determine how Anna Craft's possibility thinking framework could be integrated into the curriculum, and then observe how students responded to the implementation of lessons integrating the elements of possibility thinking. The findings…

Children's creative imagination is tested through tasks involving narrative and drawing abilities for participants between the age of 8 and 12 years. The test determines the relative importance of 'narrative' against 'graphic' imagination in interpretive, problem-solving strategies, and also considers how such distinctive functions of the creative…

This paper engages with the medically established view that individuals with autism are not capable of play or being imaginative. This paper resists this idea by reflecting on psychobiographical research conducted on the life of Temple Grandin. By re-witnessing creative experiences in her life, dialogue surrounding the imaginative capacities of…

The study consisted of three articles. Article one aimed to determine if there were any significant difference in science graduate students' (SGSs') conceptions of the "consensus tenets" of the nature of science (NOS) with respect to demographic factors -- the SGSs' academic and research characteristics. The participants were SGSs from…

Between 2005 and 2017 yielded fertile ground for research studies and articles about transformative learning and the arts within the field of adult education. The main questions this article seeks to answer are: What art forms are being used for transformative learning, how are they being used, and with what effect? The article begins by…

This humanscript is an attempt to extend the limits of our qualitative research, theorizing and praxis alongside youth engaged in social justice projects. Research must bend, shift, and transform to the needs and will of communities--especially youth--whose voices in research are often maligned or misrepresented, if heard at all. Imagination and…

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 proposes a theoretical framework for interpreting the content found in mathematics curriculum in order to offer teachers and other mathematics educators comprehensive conceptual tools with which to make curricular decisions. More specifically, it describes a metaphor of "mathematics curriculum as story" and defines and…

This study explores children's narratives of their curiosity and imagination through innovative use of an information technology app--Our Story. Novel use of the app allowed children to express and record their opinions they considered significant to them. The research captured children's approaches to everyday situations through their play.…

Drawing on assets-oriented, sociocultural theories of imagination and learning, the authors argue that the improvisational qualities and expanded resources of dramatic approaches to teaching make a positive difference in the quality of and persistence in students' story writing. The authors describe findings from a controlled quasi-experimental…

In the face of transmission-oriented national curricula, this study explores possibilities for claiming space for imagination, as 'the most powerful and energetic of learning tools' (Egan 1986), in early childhood education in mainstream Kenyan schools. Drawing from Egan's work on imagination and Cummins' Nested Pedagogical Orientations framework,…

For many centuries and in many cultures, jesters recited tales of heroic exploits, but they did more than simply recount past events--they amused, cajoled, and spun tales that transported listeners to the edge of mysterious, unmapped territories. Through the transformative power of play and the imagination, they reworked what was already…

This paper introduces StoryTech, a smart storytelling toy that features a virtual space, which includes computer-based graphics and characters, and a real space, which includes plush toys, background cards, and a communication interface. When children put real objects on the receiver panel, the computer program shows related backgrounds and…