Imagery in Teaching and Learning: An Autobiography of Research in Four World Views

About the Book

As Jerome S. Allender began to study how elementary school children can use mental imagery to facilitate learning arithmetic, spelling, and vocabulary, it became apparent that imagery techniques were also highly effective tools in the adult learning process, the improvement of teaching skills, and the enhancement of the human learning experience in general. These findings, accompanied by supporting data and then given practical application, form the core of this volume, explaining how imagery activities access learning potential.

Four unique world views form the framework for the study as each examination of mental imagery procedures is guided by quantitative research, action research, qualitative research, or humanistic research principles. This comparative approach broadens the scope of the work to include not only relevance in the classroom, but also exploration of the role imagery plays in the interaction of fantasy and reality. Researchers will be intrigued by the scientific methodology Allender employs in his study, and teachers will appreciate the practical applications as he investigates a topic whose implications are as limitless as the imagination itself.

Table of Contents:

Foreword by Lee Shulman
Preface
Introduction
Imagery
Four Methodological World Views
366 Experience Experiments
Four Studies
Study 1: A Search for Truth
Study 2: A Search for Change
Study 3: A Search for Meaning (Part 1)
Study 3: A Search for Meaning (Part 2)
Study 4: A Search for Connection
Comparisons and Conclusions
Imagery in Four Methodological World Views
How Methods Construct Reality
Images of Education
References
Author Index
Subject Index

About the Author :
JEROME S. ALLENDER is Professor and Coordinator of Psychoeducational Processes in the College of Education at Temple University. He is the editor of several books dealing with educational research and the psychology of learning. He has written numerous articles for journals such as Journal of Medical Education, the Review of Educational Research, the Journal of Higher Education, the Journal of Humanistic Education, and the Journal of Humanistic Psychology.

Review :
"[Allender's] considerable effort not to lose touch with scholarly sensibilities and ordinary life experience' is much more than an underlying, implied promise of the text.' It is what makes the text so provocative."- Loren Sosniak Washington University "An enormous project....[A] masterwork that will stand as a lifetime marking and beyond. Imagery should have widespread influence and value in teacher education and in classroom learning."-Clark Moustakas Center for Humanistic Studies "Clearly this is a significant book. It is a direct expression of the transformation taking place in our civilization and in our world view. This book exhibits the dawning, jolting, even painful recognition that social science is now dangling between its positivist past and an uncertain future....Future researchers will see this as a valuable account of how researchers confront changing paradigms in social science."- Ron Miller, Editor Holistic Education Review "I began reading Imagery hoping to find a recipe--something new to do Monday morning. That is not what I found. It is a book to dabble in, to walk away from, come back to and chew on some more. Some ideas took days to percolate. Some ideas resonated immediately with my own experiences and those of my students. This is not a quick fix. It is a companion on the journey."- Becky Crossfield Philadelphia Teacher "If I had my way, every teacher would be exposed to [Allender's] imagery activities in the teaching of the basics and the empowerment philosophy of education underlying them."- Thomas Hawkes Temple University ?The reader who enjoys a trip through the maze of educational research and epistemology will likely find that Allender is a fascinating and provocative guide.?-Educational Studies "The reader who enjoys a trip through the maze of educational research and epistemology will likely find that Allender is a fascinating and provocative guide."-Educational Studies