Releasing the Imagination: Essays on Education, the Arts, and Social Change (Jossey-Bass Education) (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"This remarkable set of essays defines the role of imagination in general education, arts education, aesthetics, literature, and the social and multicultural context.... The author argues for schools to be restructured as places where students reach out for meanings and where the previously silenced or unheard may have a voice. She invites readers to develop processes to enhance and cultivate their own visions through the application of imagination and the arts. Releasing the Imagination should be required reading for all educators, particularly those in teacher education, and for general and academic readers." (Choice)

"Maxine Greene, with her customary eloquence, makes an impassioned argument for using the arts as a tool for opening minds and for breaking down the barriers to imagining the realities of worlds other than our own familiar cultures.... There is a strong rhythm to the thoughts, the arguments, and the entire sequence of essays presented here." (American Journal of Education)

"Maxine Greene, one of the greatest education philosophers of the last half century, constantly reminds teachers that the arts and the social imagination are central to humane and caring learning.... Her work is a constant reminder that teaching is a moral profession and that children's imaginations are a treasure we can neglect only at the peril of our future." (Review in Teacher by Herbert Kohl, senior fellow, Open Society Institute, New York City)

"Releasing the Imagination gives us a vivid portrait of the possibilities of human experience and education's role in its realization. It is a welcome corrective to current pressures for educational conformity." (Elliot W. Eisner, professor of education and art, Stanford University)

"Releasing the Imagination challenges all the cant and cliche littering the field of education today. It breaks through the routine, the frozen, the numbing, the unexamined; it shocks the reader into new awareness." (William Ayers, associate professor, College of Education, University of Illinois, Chicago)

Product Description

Now in Paperback

"This remarkable set of essays defines the role of imagination in general education, arts education, aesthetics, literature, and the social and multicultural context.... The author argues for schools to be restructured as places where students reach out for meanings and where the previously silenced or unheard may have a voice. She invites readers to develop processes to enhance and cultivate their own visions through the application of imagination and the arts. Releasing the Imagination should be required reading for all educators, particularly those in teacher education, and for general and academic readers."

--Choice

"Maxine Greene, with her customary eloquence, makes an impassioned argument for using the arts as a tool for opening minds and for breaking down the barriers to imagining the realities of worlds other than our own familiar cultures.... There is a strong rhythm to the thoughts, the arguments, and the entire sequence of essays presented here."

--American Journal of Education

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 1 edition (February 2, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0787952915
• ISBN-13: 978-0787952914
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #400,772 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pedagogically provoking but also repetitive, August 23, 2007

By	S. Eberhard "perpetual student" (New York, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This was a required text for a literacy studies graduate class. The context was pedagogically provoking along the threads of progressive modern education standards that are taught to budding teachers. Some repetition was present as it is a lengthy text with a primary focus and one author. My classmates and I were a bit disappointed with the lack of example and proposals for the curriculum/pedagogy changes being presented. This is a text to be read for establishing perspective not for quick tips or golden ticket ideas.

12 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the most important books I've ever read, January 8, 2004

By	Argus Human Rights "sagacityfilms" (Denver, CO United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Maxine Greene defends the role of the arts as social medicine and advancement. She brilliantly argues for maintaining art in curriculum. Art often requires of us to imagine things which do not exist in reality. This excercise is vital in creating social change. In order to create a new and better world, we must first imagine it. We must encourage our children (and adults for that matter) to imagine. That's the first step and I feel society becoming less imaginative and more homogenized. PLEASE READ THIS BOOK!!! AND BUY A COPY FOR A TEACHER.

4.0 out of 5 stars More classic Greene, October 12, 2009

By	kilgore trout (NJ) - See all my reviews

The Dialectic of Freedom was the first book of Dr. Greene's that I read. I read Releasing the Imagination next, and referenced it in writing my educational portfolio for a master's degree. I plan to continue reading Dr. Greene's work since she focuses on imaginative literature when making many of her arguments. This provided some solid support for my thesis, which included among other suggestions, that the imagination must have attention paid to it.