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Welcome IRNIE!
The International Research Network in Imagination and Education (IRNIE) is developed on the initiatives of the Imaginative Education Research Group at Simon Fraser University and extends the international recognition and impact of educational research in a field where Canada has become a global leader in recent years. IRNIE brings together established and new researchers from across Canada and the world who have come to see imagination as central in some way to their research. Many of these researchers first became aware of each other’s work through International Conferences on Imagination and Education, organized in Vancouver in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006 by IERG. Many have also been attracted to the field by the books and articles of IERG director Kieran Egan, who has pursued a distinctive line of inquiry into the role of imagination in teaching and learning for some 30 years.
IRNIE
Common to all is the following question: Can a deeper understanding of the role of imagination in teaching, learning, culture and identity help to improve the educational experiences and outcomes of all students? Egan’s theory of imaginative development, elaborated most fully in The Educated Mind (1997), offers a set of concepts and a language for describing how the imagination expands, contracts, and changes direction as children mature into adults in particular cultural contexts. Although the IRNIE will remain conceptually and methodologically diverse, Egan’s theory will continue to play a vital role in enabling researchers to communicate and compare their findings across cultural and educational contexts.
The International Research Network in Imagination and Education includes partner institutions and collaborators in Australia, South America and Mexico, Europe, and the USA. IERG, as the “hub” of the network, is involved in research in three major areas that emerged at the first planning meeting.
IRNIE’s Aims and Goals:
1. The international interface of IERG, IRNIE is able to disseminate and promote Imaginative Education in a larger cultural area. It allows IERG members to apply and test imaginative education in various cultures, educational systems and contexts.
2. IRNIE can bring information and insights from practical educational projects to IERG members. This information is tested and enriched through various initiatives in education under the IRNIE umbrella.
3. As an international network, IRNIE is able to extend and build a significant international portfolio for IERG members, resulting in increased prestige and influence in the international educational arena.
Membership in IRNIE:
- can initiate new ideas for research in IE;
- facilitates contact and cooperation with and between international scholars in the field of education;
- facilitates the exchange of professional experiences and promotes new initiatives for projects and research on Imaginative Education;
- provides a framework for information exchanges, professional partnerships, initiatives and “best practices” materials.
Please email us at ierg-network-support@sfu.ca if you are interested in joining IRNIE, or if you would like more information.