The Learning in Depth project

About Us

The Learning in Depth (LiD) project was begun in 2008, and became formally organized—if organized it can claim to be—in 2009. Within a very short time LiD stimulated interest in many countries, and implementation programs began almost immediately. Our aim is to prepare resources that can help teachers, administrators, schools, and parents better implement the program, and also to give workshops and talks about the values and principles of LiD and practical methods for best implementing it. Talks and workshops can be given “live” by having members of the LiD team visit particular sites, or we can introduce the program via video links if that is more suitable, or we can send our Resource pack to those wanting to give LiD a chance.

People currently involved with the LiD project include:

	Sean Blenkinsop: Philosophy of education; imagination in teaching and learning; ecology; relational epistemologies; theories of place; existentialism; continental philosophy; educational theory and practice; experiential and outdoor education; care; gender theory; social/ecological justice; international issues; science education; drama education.
	Tannis Calder is a practicing teacher and a dedicated advocate of Imaginative Education, the ideas behind which she seeks to implement through her teaching and her curriculum development work. She was born and raised in Port Alberni, British Columbia where she claims to have had an unusually imaginative education thanks to a group of talented teachers. She set out to follow in the footsteps of the teachers who had inspired her as a youth and became a teacher in 2002. She has sat awake many a night trying to think of ways to help her students learn something beyond just a surface level. Tannis currently lives and teaches in Prince Rupert British Columbia.
	Kieran Egan is a professor of Education at Simon Fraser University, B.C. Canada. He has been interested in how to engage students’ imaginations in learning about the world, which is somehow made difficult of access through the curriculum. The LiD program seems to be a potentially useful tool to make what is wonderful more accessible.
	Peta Heywood has 30 years of teaching experience including teacher education and professional development. Her ongoing interest is in the area of teaching and learning and how this can be made more effective for both students and teachers. As a lifelong learner herself, the challenge to engage individuals in their own continuous learning experience in a world of rapid change is of particular concern. She completed her doctorate, an investigation into transformative learning and adolescents titled Breaking the mind-forg’d manacles: a study of adolescent transformational learning
	Dale Hubert has been a classroom teacher for 30 years in London, Ontario. He began as a special education teacher where he invented an adaptive computer keyboard for special needs users that worked first on the Commodore PET, then the Commodore 64 and then on personal computers. In 1995 Dale created the Flat Stanley Project, http://www.flatstanley.com, an international literacy activity that has involved millions of children around the world. In many ways the Flat Stanley Project was a pioneer in social networking allowing teachers to share ideas on the bulletin board and the picture gallery. In 2001 Dale received the Prime Minister’s Award for Teaching Excellence. Dale is currently team-teaching with Zillah Moss where their 44 grade 3 and 4 students are finding ways of meshing Learning in Depth with the regular curriculum.
	Viv Ellis is University Lecturer in Educational Studies at the University of Oxford and co-convenor of the Oxford Centre for Sociocultural and Activity Theory (OSAT). In his research, he maintains a focus on learning, subject English and the education of teachers from a Vygotskian perspective. He teaches across pre-service (professional), masters and doctoral programmes and maintains close links with the schools in which he has taught. As one of his former students noted recently, visually, he has turned into a window frame.
	Dr. Ciprian Fartuşnic is currently a senior researcher within the Institute of Education Sciences, Romania. As member of an interdisciplinary team within the Education Policy Department, he has an extensive research experience, coordinating and being involved in more than 30 research and policy analysis projects in the area of inclusive education, access to education of disadvantaged groups and decentralization. In recent years Dr. Fartuşnic also explored the impact of imaginative education strategies on students with Special Educational Needs enrolled in mainstream classrooms, focusing on the issue of motivation and school performance. Currently he is preparing the piloting of LiD activities in schools from two counties in Romania (Neamţ and Călăraşi).
	Di Fleming President Australia Africa Business Council (Vic), Director, Accelerated Knowledge Technologies Pty Ltd, Board Member of the Victorian Government’s Growth Areas Authority and international education and learning technology consultant. Former associate professor at RMIT and The University of Melbourne in education and digital design respectively. Telstra Business Woman of the Year Award (Vic) 1999 for her leadership in digital schooling and strategic partnership between schools and the corporate world.
	Andrea Gallant graduated from the University of Tasmania with a Bachelor Degree in Education with Honours (Educational Psychology). She has been Humanities secondary school teacher in all girls’ independent school, Zionist and alternative schools, in Tasmanian and Victoria. One of her roles in school was as a coordinator of middle school (years 9 and 10) and convenor of curriculum. Andrea has been involved in a NGO education programme working with some of the most economically disadvantaged secondary school children in Victoria. Presently Andrea is a lecturer at Deakin University in the Faculty of Arts and Education. At Deakin she works with pre-service teachers to develop their readiness to teach. Andrea also works with experienced classroom teachers as a critical friend to help improve learning engagement and outcomes.
	David Futter is a teacher in Victoria, BC. He currently teaches at Rockheights Middle School where he has taught grades six, seven and eight. Having obtained degrees in Sociology and Education, he completed his Masters degree in Imaginative Education at SFU under the tutelage of Kieran Egan. David believes Imaginative Education is the future of education and offers educators the chance to make a significant impact in their teaching and the learning of their students. The Learning in Depth program is used as part of his teaching program. It is a excellent way of getting students emotionally connected to learning.
	Linda Holmes: A Multi-Age Primary Teacher in Langley, British Columbia. Presently working part-time as a Research Assistant for Learning in Depth, LiD. Former Kindergarten, Enrichment, Learning Assistance and Intermediate teacher. Holds a Masters of Education in Imaginative Education, and a Bachelor of General Studies from Simon Fraser University and a Counseling Diploma from the University of British Columbia.
	Gillian Judson is currently working with the Imaginative Education Research Group as a Post-Doctoral Fellow. She is the editor of the book Teaching 360: Effective learning through the imagination (Rotterdam: Sense Publishing, 2008.) Her research interests include teacher education, professional development, literacy education, and social studies education. She is particularly interested in sustainability and how an ecologically sensitive approach to education can both increase students’ engagement with, and understanding of, the usual content of the curriculum but can show it in a light that can lead to a sophisticated ecological consciousness.
	Dr. Tricia McCann: Tricia trained as a secondary school teacher and has taught in Primary and Secondary schools in the areas of Drama, English and Australian Studies. She is a Lecturer in Education at the Bundoora campus of La Trobe University. She also teaches ‘Studies of Society and Environment’ within the Graduate Diploma in Education. She has researched and written in the areas of drama in education and adolescent consciousness. Her particular interests are processes of meaning-making, studies of consciousness, and philosophies and psychological theories of learning.
	Allan MacKinnon: Allan MacKinnon is an Associate Professor in science education at SFU. He is interested in teachers’ initial education and continuing professional development, specifically in terms of Donald Schön’s ideas of reflective practice. Allan has worked extensively on post-secondary education projects in developing countries, including Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos, where he has become increasing interested in ‘life long learning’ and continuing education. He is specifically interested in how LiD will help young people to develop confidence, expertise and identity.
	Stacey Makortoff is a PhD student currently enrolled in the Curriculum Theory and Implementation: Doctorate of Philosophy Program within the Faculty of Education at Simon Fraser University. She is also working as a Research Assistant within the organization. Stacey completed her MA in Peace and Conflict Studies from the European University Centre for Peace Studies in Austria, where she wrote her thesis, “Why the Path to Peace is Often Paved in Conflict: A Historical Examination of the Doukhobors of British Columbia.” After completing her degrees in Home Economics and Education at the University of British Columbia, she taught at a secondary-school level locally for one year before moving to Bangkok Thailand, where she taught Kindergarten and Grade One classes in a Reggio-Emilia–oriented international school for four years. Stacey is interested in exploring the role that imagination plays in fostering pro-social attitudes, behaviours, and skills within a classroom environment along with curricula that would help teachers guide their students on this journey.
	Dr Bernie Neville is Associate Professor of Education at La Trobe University. He originally trained as a primary teacher, but most of his school teaching career was spent in secondary schools in Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne as a teacher of English, LOTE and Drama. He holds an MA in Classics from Adelaide University and a PhD in Education from La Trobe.Dr Neville has been involved in the pre-service and inservice education of teachers since 1972. He has researched and written extensively on the interpersonal aspects of teaching and learning and the application of counselling theory to the teaching-learning process. His particular interests in the area of classroom processes are reflected in the title of his book: Educating Psyche: Emotion, Imagination and the Unconscious in Learning.
	Phil Riley Phil has had a long career in schools. He has taught every year level from 2 to12, and spent the last 4 years of his school career as Deputy Principal and acting Principal. Beyond the school setting, Phil spent 2½ years at La Trobe University teaching Mathematics, Educational Philosophy, Person-Centred Teaching and Counselling skills, Holistic Education and Psychology. Phil joined the Faculty of Education at Monash University in 2006 teaching in the Master in School Leadership and the Master in Organisational Leadership award courses and various leadership development programs for the Department of Education. Phil is an accredited school reviewer and registered psychologist.
	Roland Schulz is a Faculty Associate and sessional instructor in teacher education in the Faculty of Education at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver. As a former secondary teacher he has taught physics in Istanbul, Turkey, and senior level physics and chemistry for many years in Canada. He holds undergraduate degrees in physics and in physical science education. As a doctoral student in Curriculum Theory his main area of research is science education reform, searching for ways to move beyond the restricted “academic rationalism” of contemporary schooling. His publications on science education have appeared in international journals, including Science & Education and Educational Philosophy and Theory. He currently serves as the elected Graduate Student representative on the Executive Council of the International History, Philosophy and Science Teaching Group (IHPST), an international scholarly community with ties to over 30 countries. His other passions include travel, theatre, playing soccer and chess, and being involved in imaginative games with his two young sons.
	Melanie Young is a Ph.D. candidate and is working as a Research Assistant on the Learning in Depth project. She also works as an instructor in the Faculty of Education at SFU and Douglas College.
	Kym Stewart: Kym Stewart is a PhD candidate with a background in media studies and curriculum development. Between 1997 and 2004 she was a researcher at the SFU Media Analysis Laboratory and for the past five years she has coordinated and developed media education programs for elementary schools. These media education consultation experiences in Northern BC and the Lower Mainland have provided the basis for her current thesis research which focuses on the exploration of Imaginative Education as a foundation for media education. Specifically how IE can create a classroom experiences which focus on social and emotional engagement and how this process can re-awaken the importance of imagination in the lives of teachers and students.