After setting the context for imagination in the classroom, the authors of
Part II set out to address the myths surrounding imagination, and then offer
glimpses of imaginative education in the classroom. This section’s chapters
address the value and application of imagination in all areas of the curriculum,
including math, literature, science, and fi ne arts. The authors also address
how imagination relates to at-risk youth and multicultural education.
The energy of the editors is evident in all chapters, with few dead spots in
the chapters due to a consistent format of introducing the topic, presenting
the research, applying concepts to the classroom, and wrapping up with concluding
thoughts that highlight the responsibilities of the teacher. A concisely
written and easily digestible example is Peter Liljedahl’s chapter entitled
“Affect and Cognition Reunited in the Mathematics Classroom: The Role of
the Imagination.” Liljedahl acknowledges the lack of imagination that often
characterizes math lessons and classrooms, briefl y presents a few conceptual
distinctions, and then explains how through the teacher’s structured “problem
posing” the student’s imagination kicks in gear to go beyond the immediate
example to see “how things can be ‘otherwise’” (p. 67). The teacher, claims
Liljedahl, must structure questioning to engage the imagination and allow for