Copyright © 2011 by William Allan Kritsonis/All Rights Reserved

Copyright © 2011 by William Allan Kritsonis/All Rights Reserved

28

THE APPEAL
TO IMAGINATION

INSIGHTS
1. Materials for instruction should always be selected so as to
appeal to the imagination of the students.
2. Good teaching is imaginative in quality.
3. The effective teacher chooses materials that kindle the imagi-
nation of the learner.
4. Using imagination in teaching is important for learning.
5. Teaching avails little unless the student wants to learn.
6. No matter how high the quality of curriculum materials may
be, if the student has no interest in them, he will not readily
make them his own.
7. The best clues to the motives of man are found in his distinctive
human capacities.
8. The highest powers of man provide the key to understanding the
lower levels of motivation rather than the converse.
9. The thesis of this book is that the fundamental human motiva-
tion is the search for meaning.
10. A human being is a creature whose distinctive life consists in
having meanings and whose basic aim is to fulfill them.
11. The distinctively human qualities of mind and spirit are the clue
to human motivation.
12. Imagination belongs to the active inner life of a person.
13. Imagination is the conscious center of psychic existence.
14. Imagination is the power that renders experience vitally mean-
ingful.
15. Imagination has remarkable power in fulfilling a person’s exis-
tence.
16. Through imagination one is captivated by the vision of new and
wider possibilities.
17. Imagination is a form of ecstasy.
119

120 PART THREE:
THE CURRICULUM FOR GENERAL EDUCATION

18. Imagination is a manifestation of human freedom.
19. The life of imagination belongs to everybody as an essential
mark of his humanness.
20. There is no person for whom the growth of the inner life of
meaning is not the real goal of all his striving.
21. All human beings are aiming at the higher things of life, and
ultimately at realization of the highest meanings.
22. Students learn best what they most profoundly want to know.
23. The students learning efficiency is in direct relation to their
motivation.
24. The materials of instruction should be selected in the light of
students’ real interests.
25. Curriculum content must be chosen so as to maximize meanings.
26. What students really care for, even if for one reason or an-
other they may not acknowledge it, is the awakening of the in-
ner life through the nurture of imagination.
27. Students will respond to and learn readily materials that re-
lease them from their ordinary concerns and lift them onto a
new plane of meaning.
28. The principle of appeal to imagination calls for the selection
of materials that are drawn from the extraordinary rather
than from the experience of everyday life.
29. Through his studies the student should find himself in a different
world from the commonplace one of practical life.
30. The student should see more deeply, feel more intensely, and
comprehend more fully than he does in his usual experiences.
31. Effective teaching requires extraordinary insight into the pro-
found depths of the human mind and a level of understanding
far different from the judgments of practical life.
32. Moral teaching, like instruction in personal relations, is
plagued by unimaginative practicality and obviousness.
33. Authentic moral meanings are reestablished only when the ex-
traordinary mystery of unconditional obligation is recognized.
34. In every realm of understanding the principle holds that mate-
rial for instruction should be selected for its power of stimu-
lating imagination.
35. The appeal to imagination has everything to do with finding ma-
terials that have unusual power to speak to persons in the
depth of their being by giving them a vision of a new order of
life in which they can participate.
36. This cultivation of the life of imagination is the distinctive pur-
pose and ultimate aim of general education.
37. Success in solving the problems of life is best achieved by those
whose imaginations are kindled.
38. Power to act is not a prize to be directly grasped, but a conse-
quence of deep understanding.
39. Through concern for the life of imagination persons may be as-
sured a meaningful existence, that will yield rich fruits in prac-
tical affairs.
40. Imaginative teaching is suitable for everyone and it is even
more essential in the poor school and for the less able child
than in the best school and for the gifted child.
41. The means by which imagination may be kindled differ according
to the person, his level of maturity, and his cultural context.
42. The teacher must exemplify an imaginative quality of mind.

THE APPEAL TO IMAGINATION 121

43. A condition for successful imaginative teaching is an uncondi-
tional faith in the possibility of realizing meaning through
awakened imagination in any and every student.
44. The teacher must have a working conviction about the essential
nature of persons and of the highest human good by which per-
sons are ultimately constrained, namely, the fulfillment of
meaning.
____________________

122 PART THREE:

The first three principles for the selection of materials for instruc-
tion relate efficiency in learning to the logical patterns of the orga-
nized disciplines. They show how a radical reduction may be effected in
the quantity of what needs to be learned, by capitalizing on the fact
that authentic knowledge does not consist of isolated bits of experi-
ence, but belongs to organized fields with characteristic designs that
provide important guides to teaching and learning. The fourth and fi-
nal principle of selection relates to the quality of the inner life of
the teacher and learner rather than to the logic of the fields. It is
consequently different in kind and in point of reference from the first
three.
MATERIALS FOR INSTRUCTION SHOULD ALWAYS BE SELECTED THAT APPEAL TO
THE IMAGINATION OF THE STUDENTS
The fourth principle is that materials for instruction should al-
ways be selected so as to appeal to the imagination of the students.
Good teaching is imaginative in quality, and the effective teacher
chooses materials that kindle the imagination of the learner. The aim
of the present chapter is to explain what is meant by imagination in
teaching and why it is so important for learning.
IF A STUDENT HAS NO INTEREST IN THE CURRICULUM
HE WILL NOT WANT TO LEARN
The central problem to which imagination speaks is that of mo-
tivation. Teaching avails little unless the student wants to learn. No
matter how high the quality of curriculum materials may be, if the
student has no interest in them, he will not readily make them his own.

It is important
for an educator to realize
that everyone dreams, including the
teacher. In order for students to have
genuine interest in a subject, it must
appeal to their imaginations, not to the


teacher’s. How does a teacher find out
what the students are really interested
in and how is that incorporated
into the curriculum?

124 PART THREE:

Picture


SOME SOURCES OF MOTIVATION
Now what are the sources of motivation? Some are found in bio-
logical needs. When people are hungry or thirsty, cold or in pain,
they are moved to action that will fulfill their wants. Other sources
are social. People are dependent on one another for protection and
for the satisfaction of desires that cannot be attained in isolation,
and so they are moved to meet their demands by suitable forms of so-
cial behavior. Other sources are intellectual curiosity, love of beau-
ty, ethical concern, and hunger for the divine.
Many investigators of human behavior regard the basic biologi-
cal and social needs as the fundamental sources of motivation and
all other alleged higher sources, such as intellectual, esthetic,
moral, and religious interests, as secondary and derivative. Investi-
gators consider man’s continuity with the lower animals as the most
significant clue to his motivation, and they see his distinctiveness in the
ways in which he uses the special capacities of intelligence to secure
biosocial demands. From this standpoint, the motives of a person are
derived from his animal origins, and his higher powers are instruments
for the efficient satisfaction of basic organic needs.
THE HIGHEST POWERS OF MAN PROVIDE THE KEY TO
UNDERSTANDING THE LOWER LEVELS OF MOTIVATION
But is the foregoing account of motives satisfactory? Do the
functions usually designated as “higher” really exist primarily to
serve the basic organic needs? There is much evidence for the con-
trary view, to the effect that the best clues to the motives of man
are found in his distinctive human capacities and not in that part of
his nature that he shares with the lower animals. In fact, some au-
thorities in the biological sciences affirm that biological drives them-
selves can best be understood in the light of the psychic life of man.
For example, the biologist Edmund W. Sinnott in Cell and Psyche1
argues that organic hungers are identical with conscious purposes,
the organic being the outside appearance of what is known inwardly
to consciousness. Along similar lines the paleontologist Pierre Teil-
hard de Chardin in The Phenomenon of Man2 shows that the evolu-
tion of the cosmos, from the very first organizations of energy to
form atoms and molecules, on through the various stages of plant
and animal emergence, to its culmination in man and society, requires
the postulation of omnipresent powers of a kind that we understand
directly in our mental and spiritual life. Again, the highest powers of
man provide the key to understanding the lower levels of motivation
rather than the converse.
The contrast between the two views of human motivation is
well illuminated in Hanna Arendt’s study already referred to in
Chapter 3.3 She says the contemporary condition of man is determined
in large part by the necessities of biological and social needs, his
higher functions being harnessed to the service of survival and repro-
ductive demands. This condition sharply contrasts with the classical
Greek view that the highest good is the life of contemplation within a
1
Harper & Row, Publishers, Incorporated, New York, 1961.
2
Harper & Row, Publishers, Incorporated, New York, 1961.
3
The Human Condition, Doubleday & Company, Inc., Garden City, NY, 1959.

126 PART THREE:

community of free, equal, and responsible persons in continuous dia-
logue, having a sense of meaningful relationship with ancestors and
posterity in a historic tradition, an engaging in the creation of a cul-
tural treasure of enduring worth. Implicit in Arendt’s analysis is the
conviction that the present desperate situation of humankind can be
traced to the inversion of values evident in the contemporary subordi-
nation of the higher human functions to the lower ones.
DISTINCTIVE HUMAN QUALITIES OF MIND AND
SPIRIT ARE THE CLUE TO HUMAN MOTIVATION
The thesis of this book is that the fundamental human motiva-
tion is the search for meaning. A human being is a creature whose dis-
tinctive life consists in having meanings and whose basic aim is to ful-
fill them. He can never rest content simply with biological satisfac-
tions. He is forever disturbed by wants that are alien to animal exis-
tence. His real longing is for meaning, and whether he recognizes it or
not, all his striving, whatever its apparent object, is directed toward
the enlargement and deepening of meaning. On this basis we affirm the
view that the distinctively human qualities of mind and spirit are the
clue to human motivation, in contrast to the position that the basic
biosocial needs govern human behavior.
IMAGINATION BELONGS TO THE ACTIVE
INNER LIFE OF A PERSON
The above view of motivation is directly relevant to the under-
standing of imagination. Imagination belongs to the active inner life
of a person. It is the conscious center of his psychic existence. It is the
power that renders his experience vitally meaningful. By contrast,
unimaginative aspects of experience are routine, dull, and unexciting.
They do not grasp one at the core of his personal being. They are es-
sentially meaningless.
IMAGINATION HAS REMARKABLE POWER IN
FULFILLING A PERSON’S EXISTENCE
Imagination has remarkable power in fulfilling a person’s exis-
tence. It centers in the depths of his personal being, yet at the same
time it releases him from self-preoccupation. Through imagination one
is captivated by the vision of new and wider possibilities. Imagination is
a form of ecstasy (meaning literally, “standing outside of”), in which
one is lifted out of himself and transported to a higher level of exis-
tence. Imagination is a manifestation of human freedom, in which one is
not constrained by the necessities of the natural and social environ-
ment or of his own biological drives, but is able to participate in a
world of meanings that the human spirit discovers are its native home.


THE FUNDAMENTAL GOAL OF HUMAN EXISTENCE IS THE
FULFILLMENT OF MEANING—ALL HUMAN BEINGS ARE
AIMING AT THE HIGHER THINGS OF LIFE, AND ULTIMATELY
AT REALIZATION OF THE HIGHEST MEANINGS
It may be thought that this life of imagination belongs to a
certain small class of unusual persons, including intellectuals,
artists, and mystics, but not to ordinary people, and surely not to
those who are less able than the average. Many human beings and
many human experiences are unimaginative. But it need not be granted
that nothing better is possible for most people, most or all of the
time. If the fundamental goal of human existence is the fulfillment of
meaning, then the life of imagination belongs to everybody as an es-
sential mark of his humanness. Accordingly, there is no person for
whom the growth of the inner life of meaning is not the real goal of
all his striving, whether or not he is conscious of it as such. It is a
fundamental error to regard most people as more or less intelligent
beasts among whom live a few unusual souls who happen to enjoy the
“higher things of life.” All human beings—and perhaps all lower be-
ings too, in an unconscious way—are aiming at the higher things of
life, and ultimately at realization of the highest meanings.
STUDENTS LEARN BEST WHAT THEY MOST PROFOUNDLY
WANT TO KNOW—THEIR LEARNING EFFICIENCY IS IN
DIRECT RELATION TO THEIR MOTIVATION
These considerations are directly relevant to the problems of
education. Students learn best what they most profoundly want to
know. Their learning efficiency is in direct relation to their motiva-
tion. The materials of instruction should be selected in the light of
students’ real interests. If the biosocial concept of motivation is ac-
cepted, instructional materials will be selected so as to help the stu-
dent satisfy his basic organismic wants. If, on the other hand, motiva-
tion is believed to spring from the higher human functions, curriculum
content will be chosen so as to maximize meanings.

Remember,
students do not
fantasize about what they
already have. The successful

128 PART THREE:

teacher will take them
where they have
not been.


Picture

130 PART THREE:

TRADITIONAL ACADEMIC CURRICULUM IS DEFICIENT IN
MEANING—FUNCTIONAL CURRICULUM IS DEFICIENT
THAT EMPHASIZES THE PRACTICAL CONCERNS OF
THE LEARNER
Modern educational practice has been largely governed by the
ideal that studies should be meaningful. The traditional academic cur-
riculum was found deficient in meaning for the great majority of stu-
dents, and in its place a more “functional” curriculum was developed,
guided by the principle that the greatest interest (and the most mean-
ing) would be attached to studies contributing to the practical con-
cerns of the learner. It is presupposed by the proponents of the func-
tional curriculum that what students are for above all is the suc-
cessful satisfaction of their desires, the elimination of their frustra-
tions, and the full opportunity to discharge their impulses, and that
the aim of education is to maximize these goals as far as possible for
as many as possible
THE AWAKENING OF THE INNER LIFE THROUGH THE
NURTURE OF IMAGINATION
Suppose now that the concept of meaning presupposed by the
functionalists is mistaken and that what students really care for,
even if for one reason or another they may not acknowledge it, is the
awakening of the inner life through the nurture of imagination. Then
studies directed toward the satisfaction of organic and social demands
will not enlist enthusiasm or induce effective learning. Students will
respond to and learn readily materials that release them from their
ordinary concerns and lift them onto a new plane of meaning.
THE APPEAL TO THE IMAGINATION CALLS FOR THE SELECTION
OF MATERIALS THAT ARE DRAWN FROM THE EXTRAORDINARY
RATHER THAN THE EXPERIENCE OF EVERYDAY LIFE
The principle of appeal to imagination calls for the selection
of materials that are drawn from the extraordinary rather than
from the experience of everyday life. They should be such as to trans-
form ordinary perspectives rather than to confirm them. Through his
studies the student should find himself in a different world from the
commonplace one of practical life. He should see more deeply, feel
more intensely, and comprehend more fully than he does in his usual
experiences.
In Symbolics
The principle may be illustrated in all types of studies. Imagi-
natively conceived, language may be understood as a game with vari-
ous possible sets of rules. One can play with roots and affixes, exper-
iment with various combinations of sound and meaning elements, and
arrange words into sequences according to various actual and possi-
ble syntactical patterns. Language so treated becomes a new and
fascinating activity transcending the ordinary practices of talking
and writing to meet the demands of social exigency. By considering its
extraordinary aspects—those realities that lie hidden beneath the
mass of common assumptions about human discourse—the inner meaning


of language is disclosed. If, instead, language is taught simply as a
means of social interaction and adjustment, the student’s imagination
will not be kindled. He will miss the vision of what language really
means, in the deep mystery of symbols as channels for the revelation
of the intelligibility of things.
Mathematics imaginatively taught transcends such common-
place problem solving as learning how to make change at grocery
stores and how to calculate the heights of buildings. Mathematics is a
field of wonder and excitement, with strange symbols and endless pos-
sibilities for experiments in thought. A drastic shift has occurred in
many of the most thoughtfully conceived mathematics curricula. The
newer materials are designed to produce real mathematical insight
rather than merely computational skill for practical application.
The recasting of elementary mathematics in the light of the ideal of
true mathematical understanding is a signal contemporary example
of giving precedence to imagination over biosocial adjustment in the
selection of the materials of instruction.
In Empirics
An imaginative teacher of science does not treat his field sim-
ply as refined common sense. He is not mainly concerned to teach stu-
dents to think scientifically in the affairs of everyday life, in the
manner of those who believe that thinking is simply problem solving
and the educated person is one who meets his problems successfully by
the application of scientific method. Science is in reality a highly
imaginative human enterprise, involving a complete transformation of
commonsense ways of thinking. The teacher who wants his students to
understand science introduces them to the extraordinary perspectives
on things which are afforded by scientific modes of thought. The fasci-
nation (and value) of science consists in its transfigured vision of na-
ture and man, transcending the superficial perceptions and unexamined
judgments of everyday life.
In Esthetics
In the esthetic realm the functional curriculum makes use of the
arts as means of self-expression, affording psychological release
and better integration of vital energies. The arts are also seen as
one solution to the social problems of leisure time in an advanced in-
dustrial society. In the imaginative approach to art education, all
such considerations of psychological and social utility are rejected
and art is presented as an avenue to the exaltation of life through
objectifying the mysterious depths of man’s creative life. This trans-
forming power of art can be imparted by bringing students into the
presence of works that do not at once disclose their meaning and by
showing them how to perceive these works sensitively and expectant-
ly.
In Synnoetics
The contrast between imaginative and unimaginative instruction
is particularly vivid in the case of personal knowledge. Depth analy-
sis of the human psyche shows that the world of self and others is far
different in reality from what appears to common sight. That is why
common sense approaches to the improvement of human relationships
and to self-understanding are so unexciting and uninstructive. Effec-
tive teaching in this domain requires extraordinary insight into the
profound depths of the human mind and a level of understanding far

132 PART THREE:

different from the judgments of practical life. The psychotherapist’s
use of dreams and the use of projective tests by the skilled counselor
are illustrations of what is meant by imaginative materials of in-
struction in the field of personal knowledge. The extraordinary con-
siderations of the perceptive counselor are more powerful in teaching
than are commonsense observations, because they bring the learner
closer to the real inner meaning of his personal existence than do the
obvious but fundamentally untrue everyday platitudes.
In Ethics
Moral teaching, like instruction in personal relations, is
plagued by unimaginative practicality and obviousness. This condition
has been accentuated by the wide acceptance of the theory that
moral principles are simply rules for promoting social harmony. Au-
thentic moral meanings are reestablished only when the extraordi-
nary mystery of unconditional obligation is recognized and when the
secret inward claim of conscience is reinforced by the consideration of
moral dilemmas where the easy justifications of prudence and custom
do not suffice.
In Synoptics
History has been robbed of its proper interest and meaning
when, in the name of meaning, it has been pressed into the service of
everyday living, being justified on the grounds that one can live more
successfully now if he knows what has happened in the past. The es-
sential meaning of history consists in the absolutely unique and com-
pletely extraordinary quality of singular events. To understand his-
tory is to engage in an imaginative recreation of the past, the success
of which is measured by one’s ability to transcend the preoccupations
and presuppositions of the practical present. The capacity for such
imaginative transcendence of the present is a fair measure of spiritu-
al maturity.
Although religion in its very essence denies subservience to the
ordinary, much of what is called religion is in fact interpreted in utili-
tarian fashion. In religious instruction God is often represented as the
all-powerful ruler to whom the faithful resort for benefits that
cannot be secured through natural channels. Such cosmic practical-
ism is likely to appear to students both as untrue and uninteresting.
On the other hand, imaginative religious teaching emphasizes the pro-
found mystery of the divine. Authentic religious meanings are perhaps
best learned by participation in the life of the worshipping community,
by meditation on the unfathomable depths of existence, and by the
reverent contemplation of sacred symbols, in which the finite and the
infinite are wonderfully interfused.
Finally, everyday ideas are not likely to contribute much to
philosophic understanding. The essence of philosophy is deep question-
ing. Its function is to force thought beyond the obvious to the meanings
that lie hidden beneath the surface of experience. The appeal of phi-
losophy consists precisely in its imaginative detachment from ordinary
practice for the sake of a truer vision of things.
MATERIALS SHOULD BE SELECTED FOR THEIR POWER
OF STIMULATING IMAGINATION
In every realm of understanding the principle holds that mate-
rial for instruction should be selected for its power of stimulating
imagination. This does not mean that materials should be bizarre, or


esoteric, or sensational. Some teachers depend on the appeal of the
unusual, no matter what it is, to maintain interest. The appeal to
imagination has nothing to do with such romaticism and showmanship.
It has everything to do with finding materials that have unusual pow-
er to speak to persons in the depth of their being by giving them a vi-
sion of a new order of life in which they can participate and by which
their ordinary existence can be transfigured.

134 PART THREE:

THE CULTIVATION OF THE LIFE OF IMAGINATION IS THE
ULTIMATE AIM OF GENERAL EDUCATION
This cultivation of the life of imagination is the distinctive pur-
pose and ultimate aim of general education. In fulfilling this aim the
fundamental disciplines are particularly relevant, for they are the
consequence of the direct pursuit of meanings, without subordination
to the necessities of practical life. Although the applied disciplines
can also be taught imaginatively, they are perhaps more readily cor-
rupted than are the fundamental fields by a subhuman utilitarian
concept of meaning.

SUCCESS IN SOLVING THE PROBLEMS OF LIFE IS BEST ACHIEVED BY THOSE WHOSE
IMAGINATIONS
ARE KINDLED
In respect to practicality, it turns out that the pursuit of the
apparently impractical fundamental studies using ostensibly imprac-
tical imaginative materials proves in the long run to yield the richest
harvest of practical fruits. Profound understanding is the source of
effective practice, and success in solving the problems of life is best
achieved by those whose imaginations are kindled. As in so many af-
fairs of human life, it turns out that in the field of practice the best
results are obtained by indirect rather than by direct attack. Power
to act is not a prize to be directly grasped, but a consequence of deep
understanding. Thus, what the educational functionalists struggle to
attain deliberately, they may lose because they do not understand
human nature well enough. Contrariwise, through concern for the life
of imagination persons may be assured a meaningful existence, that
will yield rich fruits in practical affairs.
IMAGINATION TEACHING IS SUITABLE FOR EVERYONE
A final critical question about the principle of imagination
needs to be considered. Is the imaginative type of general education
advocated above really possible for everyone? Is it as applicable to
an under-average child in a slum school as to a bright child in a high-
ly favored suburban school? The answer is that imaginative teaching
is suitable for everyone and that it is even more essential in the poor
school and for the less able child than in the best school and for the
gifted child. To hold this as an active working principle requires faith
by the teacher in the potentiality for real human fulfillment in every
person. It is the consistent witness of those who have labored in such
a faith that their confidence was not in vain.
For the fruits of imaginative instruction to appear, three condi-
tions must be fulfilled. First, it needs to be recognized that the means
by which imagination may be kindled differ according to the person, his
level of maturity, and his cultural context. The teacher has to
choose materials to take account of these factors. What will kindle
the imagination of a manually oriented child is not the same as for a
conceptually oriented child. Imaginative materials for a country
child may be different from those for a city child. They will ordinarily
be different for adults than for children. There are no standard ma-
terials that can be labeled “imaginative” for everyone everywhere
always.


The second condition is the teacher himself exemplifies an imag-
inative quality of mind. Part of his imaginativeness is manifest in his
ability to transcend his own subjectivity and to enter so sympatheti-
cally into the lives of his students that he is able to create or select
materials that will speak to their inner being. His own imagination
must also be alive in respect to his own existence. If it is, he communi-
cates a quality of authentic life—of having been grasped at the core
of his personality by the power of meaning—and the students appre-
hend this quality of reality even if they do not share in the particular
meanings the teacher experiences.
The third condition for successful imaginative teaching is an
unconditional faith in the possibility of realizing meaning through
awakened imagination in any and every student, no matter what ap-
pearances may indicate to the contrary. This faith is not to be con-
fused with a blind optimism in the goodness and indefinite perfectibility
of every person. It is rather a working conviction about the essential
nature of persons and of the highest human good by which persons are
ultimately constrained, namely, the fulfillment of meaning.
WAYS OF KNOWING
1. Why should materials for instruction always be selected so as
to appeal to the imagination of the students?
2. Why is good teaching imaginative in quality?
3. Why should the effective teacher select materials that kindle
the imagination of the learner?
4. Why does teaching have little success unless the student wants
to learn?
5. What are the sources of motivation?
6. Do the highest powers of man provide the key to understanding
the lower levels of motivation?
7. Why are distinctive human qualities of mind and spirit the clue
to human motivation?
8. How is it that imagination belongs to the active inner life of
the person?
9. How is imagination the power that renders experience vitally
meaningful?
10. Why is unimaginative aspects of experience routine, dull, and
unexciting?
11. Why are unimaginative aspects of experience essentially mean-
ingless?
12. How does imagination have remarkable power in fulfilling a
person’s existence?
13. Why is the fundamental goal of human existence the fulfillment
of meaning?
14. Why do most human beings aim at the higher things of life?
15. Why do most human beings aim ultimately at realization of the
highest meanings?
16. Why do students learn best what they most profoundly want to
know?
17. Why is learning efficiency in direct relation to personal moti-
vation?
18. Why should materials of instruction be selected in the light of
students’ real interests?
19. Why should curriculum content be chosen that will maximize
meanings?

136 PART THREE:

20. Why is the traditional academic curriculum deficient in meaning
for the great majority of students?
21. Why is the more “functional” curriculum deficient that was de-
veloped by the principle that the greatest interest would be at-
tached to studies contributing to the practical concerns of the
learner?
22. Why should studies be specifically directed toward the awaken-
ing of the inner life of the learner through the nurture of imag-
ination?
23. In appealing to the imagination, why should curriculum materi-
als be selected that draw from the extraordinary rather than
the experience of everyday life?
24. How are the hidden meanings of language disclosed by consider-
ing extraordinary aspects of language?
25. How can the field of mathematics be filled with wonder and ex-
citement with strange symbols and endless possibilities for ex-
periments in thought?
26. How is science in reality a highly imaginative human enterprise,
including a complete transformation of commonsense ways of
thinking?
27. How does the teacher who wants his students to understand sci-
ence introduce them to the extraordinary perspectives on things
which are afforded by scientific modes of thought?
28. Why does the fascination (and value) of science consist in its
transfigured vision of nature and man, transcending the super-
ficial perception and unexamined judgments of everyday life?
29. In appealing to the imagination, why should art be presented as
an avenue to the exaltation of life through objectifying the
mysterious depths of humankind’s creative life?
30. How can the transforming power of art be imparted by bringing
students into the presence of works that do not at once disclose
their meaning?
31. How can the transforming power of art be imparted to students
by showing them how to perceive works sensitively and expec-
tantly?
32. In depth analysis of the human psyche, why is the world of self
and others far different in reality from what appears to com-
mon sight?
33. Why are commonsense approaches to the improvement of human
relationships and to self-understanding so unexciting and unin-
structive?
34. Why does effective teaching in the domain of personal knowl-
edge require extraordinary insight into the profound depths of
the human mind and a level of understanding far different from
the judgments of practical life?
35. Why does effective teaching in the area of personal knowledge
require a level of understanding far different from the judg-
ments of practical life?
36. Why are the extraordinary considerations of the perceptive
counselor more powerful in teaching than are commonsense ob-
servations?
37. Why is moral teaching plagued by unimaginative practicality
and obviousness?
38. Why is there acceptance of the theory that moral principles
are simply rules for promoting social harmony?


39. How can authentic moral meanings be reestablished that bring
about an attitude of unconditional obligation to do what is
right?
40. Why does the essential meaning of history consist in the abso-
lutely unique and completely extraordinary quality of singular
events?
41. In trying to understand history, why is it important to engage
in an imaginative recreation of the past?
42. In trying to understand history, why should success be measured
by one’s ability to transcend the preoccupations and presuppo-
sitions of the practical event?
43. In religion, why should imaginative religious teaching emphasize
the profound mystery of the divine?
44. Why are authentic religious meanings perhaps best learned by
participation in the life of the worshipping community?
45. How can authentic religious meanings be learned by meditation?
46. How can authentic religious meanings be learned by reverent
contemplation of sacred symbols?
47. How can authentic religious meanings be learned by contempla-
tion in which the finite and the infinite are wonderfully inter-
fused?
48. Why are everyday ideas not likely to contribute much to philo-
sophic understanding?
49. Why is the essence of philosophy deep questioning?
50. Why is the function of philosophy to force thought?
51. How does philosophy force thought beyond the obvious meanings
that lie hidden beneath the surface of experience?
52. Why should material for instruction be selected for its power
of stimulating imagination?
53. Why is it important to find materials that have the unusual
power to appeal to the imagination of the learner?
54. Why is the cultivation of the life of imagination the ultimate
aim for general education?
55. Why is success in solving the problems of life best achieved by
those whose imaginations are kindled?
56. Why is it that in the field of practice the best results are ob-
tained by indirect rather than by direct attack?
57. Why is power to act not a prize to be directly grasped, but a
consequence of deep understanding?
58. Why is it true that through concern of the life of imagination
persons may be assured a meaningful existence, that will yield
rich fruits in practical affairs?
59. Why is imaginative teaching suitable for everyone?
60. Why is it important for the teacher to have faith in the poten-
tiality for real human fulfillment in every person?
61. Why is it important for the teacher to recognize that the
means by which imagination may be kindled differ according to
the person, his level of maturity, and his cultural context?
62. Why is it important for the teacher to exemplify imaginative
quality of mind?
63. How does the teacher transcend his own subjectivity and enter
so sympathetically into the lives of his students so that he is
able to create or select materials that will speak to the
learner’s inner being?

138 PART THREE:

64. Why is successful imaginative teaching helped by the teacher’s
unconditional faith in the possibility of realizing meaning
through awakened imagination in every student, no matter
what appearances may indicate to the contrary?
65. Why is it the essential nature of human beings to seek the ful-
fillment of meaning?

Copyright © 2011 by William Allan Kritsonis/All Rights Reserved

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