Full Description
How to nurture creativity in tomorrow's innovators—today's college students
When asked what they want colleges to emphasize most, employers didn't put science, computing, math, or business management first. According to AAC&U's 2013 employer survey, 95% of employers give hiring preference to college graduates with skills that will enable them to contribute to innovation in the workplace. In Engaging Imagination: Helping Students Become Creative and Reflective Thinkers, two leading educators help college instructors across disciplines engage students in nurturing creativity and innovation for success beyond the classroom. Alison James, an expert in creative arts education, and Stephen D. Brookfield, bestselling author, outline how creative exploration can extend students' reflective capabilities in a purposeful way, help them understand their own potential and learning more clearly, and imbue students with the freedom to generate and explore new questions.
This book:
shows why building creative skills pays dividends in the classroom and in students' professional lives long after graduation;
offers research-based, classroom-tested approaches to cultivating creativity and innovation in the college setting;
provides practical tools for incorporating "play" into the college curriculum;
draws on recent advances in the corporate sector where creative approaches have been adopted to reinvigorate thinking and problem-solving processes; and
includes examples from a variety of disciplines and settings.
Engaging Imagination is for college and university faculty who need to prepare students for the real challenges of tomorrow's workplace.
Contents
List of Figures ix
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xxi
About the Authors xxiii
Part 1 Understanding the Role of Imagination in Learning 1
1. How Engaging the Imagination Fosters Reflective Thinking 3
2. Introducing Reflective Thinking to Students 25
3. Connecting Creativity, Imagination, and Play 47
Part 2 Engaging Imagination Tools and Techniques 67
4. Using Visual Methods of Teaching and Learning 69
5. How Story and Metaphor Provoke Reflective Thinking 93
6. Playing Seriously: Legos and Labyrinths 115
7. Playing with Space: Pods and Patchwork 139
8. Asking Powerful Questions 163
9. Building Reflective Communities: Maps and Mazes 185
Part 3 Negotiating the Emotional Realities of Engaging Imagination 207
10. Keeping Energy and Morale High 209
11. Engaging Our Own Imaginations as Authors 233
References 251
Index 261
