Cultivating Imagination in Leadership

This comprehensive book provides a theoretical understanding of how imagination contributes to effective leadership, as well as practical tools all educational leaders can employ to cultivate their imaginations and the imaginations of others in their communities. To support these goals, book chapters offer multiple perspectives on what imagination is, why it is essential for educational leaders, and how it can be developed. Contributions by leadership scholars and school-based leaders are organized around three themes: exploring possibilities, poetics of memory, and imagination’s role in social justice and equity. Each section opens with a leadership story that shows how a school leader developed and used imagination to create solutions to real problems. Contributors to this volume were invited to read each other’s work and share their questions and thoughts. This work can now be used by individuals or within formal or informal learning communities to expand, deepen, and apply concepts. Expanding on Kieran Egan’s theory of Imaginative Education, this book will help current and future leaders employ imagination to make sense of and address the day-to-day challenges they encounter.

Book Features:

• Brings together empirical and conceptual research on imagination’s varied roles in educational leadership.
• Provides practical strategies and implementable techniques for cultivating leadership imagination.
• Demonstrates what cognitive tools all leaders can use to deepen their understanding of issues, to emotionally and imaginatively engage their school communities, and to support equity, diversity, and inclusion.
• Offers easy-to-use activities and guidelines for applying imagination to key leadership processes and practices.
• Includes “Cultivating Curiosity, Conversation, and Imagination” sections at the end of chapters to stimulate individual reflection and collaborative discussion.

Gillian Judson is an assistant professor in the Faculty of Education at Simon Fraser University. She teaches in Educational Leadership and Curriculum and Instruction programs. Her scholarship looks at imagination’s role in leadership and learning (K-post-secondary). Meaghan Dougherty is faculty at Douglas College in the Department of Child and Youth Care. Her research interests include educational leadership, the complex relationship between education and the labor market, relational practice, and teaching and learning encounters.

“District leaders and their teams will find Cultivating Imagination in Leadership a refreshing alternative to the conventional leadership thinking and problem solving that contributes to being 'stuck.' I recommend this book for district leaders who are interested in cultivating and employing the power of imagination within their communities. It is an excellent resource that provides both a theoretical understanding and the practical tools to assist leaders in envisioning and communicating what is possible.”

—AASA School Administrator

“To paraphrase John Dewey: The goal of education, of aesthetic literacy, is to enable students to live aesthetic lives rather than anesthetic ones. To awaken rather than numb. Educational leaders must harness the power of imagination to achieve this goal.”
—From the Foreword by Scott Brandon, co-founder, Litróf Consulting LLC

“This book will be highly useful for practitioners and professors interested in connecting imagination, curiosity, and leadership. The design of the book allows the reader to enter into this arena from a wide variety of valuable perspectives—a great contribution to the field.”
—Linda Kaser, Transformative Educational Leadership Program, University of British Columbia

“The road to school improvement will not be paved with traditional mindsets, materials, nor power structures. True, lasting, equitable reform necessitates reimagining leadership approaches. Judson and Dougherty provide a framework for the leadership that our schools need. The chapters provide vivid accounts of what this type of leadership looks like for the schools our children and communities deserve.”
—Matthew Militello, Wells Fargo Distinguished Professor in Educational Leadership, East Carolina University

Contents

List of Tables ix
Foreword: Imagination and Educational Leadership Scott Brandon xi
Preface Gillian Judson and Meaghan Dougherty xiii
Introduction 1
Gillian Judson and Meaghan Dougherty

Part I: Exploring Possibilities

Imagination in Action: A Leadership Story 15
Lori Driussi

1. Exploring the Possible in Leadership: Inviting Stories of Imagination 19
Gillian Judson, Craig Mah, Rose Pillay, Courtney Robertson, and Jonathan Sclater
Cultivating Curiosity, Conversation, and Imagination 33

2. Exploring Possibilities: How School Leaders Employ Imagination to Build Thriving School Communities 37
Tara Preston
Cultivating Curiosity, Conversation, and Imagination 48

3. A Leadership Journey Toward Innovation Through Wide-Awakeness, Curiosity, and Imagination 51
Karen Steffensen
Cultivating Curiosity, Conversation, and Imagination 61

Part II: Poetics of Memory

Imagination in Action: A Leadership Story 65
Craig Mah

4. A Bridge Across Our Fears: Poetic Imagination as a Catalyst for School Change 67
Sarah Pazur
Cultivating Curiosity, Conversation, and Imagination 83

5. Education Policy: Imagination, Creation, and Innovation 86
Dan Laitsch and Gillian Judson
Cultivating Curiosity, Conversation, and Imagination 100

6. Embodying Imagination: Creative Leadership in Compassionate Action 102
Lynn Fels
Cultivating Curiosity, Conversation, and Imagination 113

Part III: Imagination’s Role in Social Justice and Equity

Imagination in Action: A Leadership Story 119
Moraima Machado

7. Troubling Educational Leadership: Exploring Influences of Imaginative Practices on Equity and Social Justice 123
Zachary Thomas and James W. Koschoreck
Cultivating Curiosity, Conversation, and Imagination 132

8. Rewilding Imagination: Reorienting Eco-Leadership in Education 135
Mark Fettes and Sean Blenkinsop
Cultivating Curiosity, Conversation, and Imagination 149

9. Disrupting Deficit Through Radical Reimaginings of Urban Student Subjectivities and Knowledges 152
Kathryn Strom, Kara Viesca, and Jessica Masterson
Cultivating Curiosity, Conversation, and Imagination 167

Postscript and Possibilities 171
Laurie Anderson

Appendix. Cultivate Leadership Imagination With Cognitive Tools 179
Endnotes 185
Index 187
About the Editors and Authors 195