the imagine nation



Over the past two years a number of studies indicate that current educational approaches stifle both students and educators by focusing on a definition of "the basics" that ignores the competencies demanded by the complexities and opportunities of modern life, the skills required to sustain our role as the world leader in innovation, and the values that are the basis of our pluralistic and democratic society. Fortunately, there is now strong evidence that the American public has awakened to these challenges and is demanding that schools act to once again ignite and develop the imagination of young people as the essential capacity for envisioning and attaining these competencies, skills, and values. There is an "imagine nation" at the heart of this public understanding that realizes that building capacities of the imagination rests primarily with an education in and through the arts and that the arts are essential to invigorating the teaching of other fundamental school subjects.

What is the imagine nation?
A growing group of Americans has come to believe that schools’ current focus on the “basic skills” is stifling students’ creativity and their potential to perform beyond average. They believe that integrating the development of the imagination across the curriculum is critical to meeting the new demands of the 21st century. That group is the imagine nation.

To visit the imagine nation home page, please click here.

Imagination as Key to Innovation
There is a dialogue in America indicating that public schools are failing to teach the skills required for success in the 21st century workforce. In an era of insurmountable progress and discovery, a static foundation of facts and modest skills no longer suffices. Industries around the world are hungry for innovation, but an education in the basics does not sufficiently prepare our students to meet those demands. The imagine nation has come to recognize that, in order to foster innovation in the marketplace, we must cultivate the imagination in schools.

Polling from many sources demonstrate that a large majority of Americans feel we must start with the imagination, the capacity to visualize new possibilities – a capacity available to all human beings. Though innate, imagination must be nurtured and channeled by discipline and hard work to enable it to make the advances in human knowledge and behavior we envision. Competency for building capacities of the imagination rests primarily with an education in and through the arts, but incorporating imagination across the curriculum produces the strongest results.

Taking Action
Therefore, this grass roots network of self-identified members of the imagine nation has come to collaborate with a growing coalition of supporters -- including the Arts Education Partnership, the National Education Association, the National Association of Manufacturers, the George Gund Foundation, and NAMM, the International Music Projects Association -- to mobilize public support for a new vision of education that will put imagination at the core of learning in all subjects taught in schools.

To see recommendations and strategies for helping students become more imaginative and innovative, please click here.

Supporting Data
On January 24th, Lake Research Partners will release a national poll about the size and influence of the imagine nation.

The imagine nation also highlights three successful models for building capacities of the imagination that lead to innovation through an education in and through the arts. Each of the initiatives is successfully engaging all levels of leadership and mobilizing public support for a new vision of education that will put imagination at the core of learning in all subjects taught in the schools.The Dallas Arts Learning Initiative, the Ohio Department of Education initiatives to strengthen innovation along with STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) through imaginative learning, and Oklahoma Creativity Project are successfully engaging all levels of leadership and mobilizing public support for integrating the imagination in public schools nationwide.