Each year, thousands of enthusiastic and hope-filled candidates enter various Teacher Education and Professional Development Programs across the country. If they are anything like my own younger and admittedly saltier self, they arrive with idealistic and sometimes even radical notions about becoming a more engaging, caring and generally ‘better’ kind of teacher than they perceive […]
Category: Imaginative Historical Education & Inquiry (IHI): Activities & Insights
Posts exploring the intersection of imagination, Imaginative Education, Historical Education/Humanities, and inquiry. Philosophic discussion & practical ideas across the social sciences.
Understanding Inquiry as the Practice of Freedom
In an attempt to more adequately understand the nature of inquiry, one eventually – and quite necessarily – runs into questions of philosophic purpose. Fortunately enough for us, educational theory isn’t terribly shy in this regard. Economic utility, building a peaceful and pluralistic society, and honouring students’ nascent potential all have staked their claim to […]
Of Frogs and Fishes – Understanding Inquiry as a Pedagogical Method
By Rebecca Roman (with contributing edits by Dr. Tim Waddington) I’m seven years old, playing in a shallow stream at the park. I’m about up to my knees and trying to catch frogs. I finally catch one, looking at its legs, touching its skin and hearing its plaintive cry. Rrrriiibit! My mom tells me to […]
Dodging the Fall of Constantinople – Connecting Physical Education and Social Studies
Authors: Leah Tesan and Dr. Tim Waddington By now, Imaginative Education has well established this simple truism: at the core of any great lesson is an abundance of student engagement. An inquiry-based curriculum, such as those found in British Columbia, Ontario and a growing number of other educational contexts, provides teachers with the opportunity to […]
Terror on the Doomed Franklin Expedition – Using Authentic Assessment to Build Imaginative Historical Inquiry
By Sarah Allin and Les Miller (Contributing edits by: Dr. Tim Waddington) One of the great challenges in teaching social studies is to develop assessments that are both meaningful and engaging, rich in subject content while also imaginatively stimulating. As teachers in a Middle Years Program, we are always striving to do this well. Applying […]
