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JANUARY 2003

Artists, Innovators, and Teachers Hold “Imagination Conversation” at Lincoln Center Institute
by Marie Holmes

Do schools suffer a lack of imagination?

The audience full of teachers and other education professionals in attendance at a panel discussion entitled “Imagination Conversation,” held recently by the Lincoln Center Institute, likely rely upon their own imaginative powers every day.

Yet at the end of a lengthy discussion about the elusive nature of the human imagination and its various applications, the illustrious panelists—Natalie Angier, Shelly Lazarus, Reynold Levy, Winston Lord, Anna Deavere Smith and moderator Robert MacNeil—were in agreement that one sector of society seriously lacking in imagination is education, specifically, the policy side of education.

The “Conversation,” one of numerous discussions taking place throughout the country in the past few months, was designed to bring together thinkers, artists, scientists, scholars, businesspeople and educators to talk about their conceptions of the imagination, how their imaginations have influenced their lives and career paths, and how schools might do a better job of fostering the imaginative capacities of their students. Maxine Greene, Professor Emeritus at Columbia Teacher’s College and the Institute’s “philosopher-in-residence,” responded to the panelists’ comments.

MacNeil, of PBS’ MacNeil-Lehrer NewsHour, posited the nature versus nurture question, positioning himself squarely on the side of genetic determinism. Natalie Angier, award-winning science writer and author of Woman: An Intimate Geography, responded that she disagreed, to a certain point, saying, “I think that there are ways to teach people to think creatively and I think we should do more of that.” Angier noted that even more traditional teaching methods that rely on memorization and paradigms, such as English grammar or the scientific method, can foster student creativity. “If you . . . have this algorithm it really liberates you,” she explained.

Winston Lord, Ambassador and Co-Chair of the International Rescue Committee, said he did not believe that the Foreign Service rewarded imaginative thinking in its employees. Some of the most celebrated, as well as the most regrettable, chapters in this history of international relations, Lord noted, could be characterized as acts of imagination, from the efforts to rebuild Europe after World War II to the Domino theory of Communist takeover in Asia that supplied a justification for the war in Vietnam.

The playwright Anna Deavere Smith suggested that when people talk about the imagination, they sometimes appear to be talking about a rare gift, even though “it’s clear that everyone has an imagination—It’d be interesting to meet someone who didn’t have one.” A challenge for educators, Deavere Smith and other panelists concurred, is to impart students with an understanding of the rigor that all creative efforts command. “Any imaginative energy has to be accompanied by rigor,” said Deavere Smith. “I don’t think I’d say that some people have more imagination than others. I think it’s more about what you can make with your imagination.”

Shelly Lazarus, Chairman and CEO of Ogilvy and Mather Worldwide, elicited agreeing nods from panelists and audience members alike when she said, “if we ever needed imaginative problem-solving it might be now.” Such intensive, imaginative efforts present our best hope of remedy for failing schools and school systems, Lazarus suggested. Her own daughter, she said, had recently left her Teach for America classroom assignment out of frustration with high-stakes testing, Lazarus reported.

Maxine Greene offered her thoughts on the subject of the imagination, offering hope by assuring those present that they were not the first generation to reckon with tough questions in times of turmoil.

Teachers that spoke following the panel discussion appeared to share the speakers’ concern for their students’ academic and creative futures. One teacher commented that it was comforting to hear the panelists reinforce the idea of multiple intelligences, albeit in different language, over the course of their discussion.#

 

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