Creativity, Imagination, & Hope

Yesterday I had the honour of meeting grade seven students who were creating scarecrows of hope. They were doing this to kick off their study to understand how intentionally using hope enhances quality of life. They were also making the 'hope' scarecrows for the Hope Foundation's annual Harvest of Hope Affair on September 26. The students were working in groups to create thematic scarecrows of hope that represent their hopes for the future. For example, one of the scarecrows was a graduation scarecrow.

As I reflect back on my visit and the conversations that I had with the students and their teacher, Ms. Holt, I could not help but think about the relationship between hope, creativity and imagination. "Creativity is most often defined as a process of construction of the new, while imagineation is a form of thought in whihc the new is brought to awareness"(Gallas, 2001, p. 460).

As these students create their scarecrows and then imagine (in the reflections they will be doing) how "their scarecrow" represents what they hope for in the future and what they will have to do to get to the images that surface as they imagine what is possible.

I believe this tells us that creativity and imagination have a special role to play in learning to hope. Furthermore, for those who feel that hope is about goal achievement, it would appear that it is equally important to pay attention to the role of creativity and imagination.

Reference:
Gallas, K. (2001). "Look, Karen, I'm running like jell-o": Imagination as a question, a topic, a tool for literacy research and learning. Research in the Teaching of English. 35, 457 - 492.

Nurturing Hopeful Souls Workshop

Nurturing Hopeful Souls:
Hopeful Practices and Activities
for
Children and Youth
Workshop

For individuals who would like to know more about specific hope-focused practices and strategies and how to implement them with children and youth so they are able to:
- visualize and work toward a positive and meaningful future
- work toward goals
- build resilience
- become more engaged in their school studies

Friday, November 28, 2008
at
The Hope Foundation of Alberta
11032-89 Avenue
Edmonton, AB
9:00 am – 4:00 pm
$250.00

In addition to learning more about making hope visible and accessible, you will receive a copy of Nurturing Hopeful Souls resource with easy ten easy to implement strategies to help get you started!!

Register by calling (780) 492-1222 before November 21, 2008

Hope Wonders

I thought you might be interested in seeing the 128 questions grade five students generated about hope when they participated in the Hope-Focused Service-Learning program last year. They each chose three questions from this list to write their hope essays. I will share some of their findings in future postings.

Does hope matter?
What does hope mean?
Where does hope come from?
Where is hope all the time?
What is hope?
Why is it called hope?
How can you make hope?
Does everyone have hope?
Where can you find hope?
How does hope work?
Where do we keep hope?
Whey do we need hope?
What does hope sound like?
Why do we have hope?
When does hope come into action?
What is the history of hope?
Can you give hope to one another?
How old is hope?
Is hope contagious?
Where does hope live in people?
Can someone take your hope away?
How many times has hope been said in the world?
Can hope make a difference in your life?
Who is hope?
Can hope give you help?
Where can you find hope?
What does hope mean to other people?
Who has hope?
What does hope look like?
Where can you get hope?
Are there different types of hope?
Why do we have hope?
Who made hope?
Is hope useful?
Can people see hope in different ways?
When do you need hope?
When can hope come to you?
Is hope useful?
Does hope communicate?
Why do we need hope?
Can you touch hope?
What s the point of hope?
Does hope affect people?
Do aliens have hope?
Does hope bring peace?
Does everyone in the world have hope?
What can see hope?
Do animals have hope?
Can hope take the form of a person?
How big can hope get?
How is hope connected to love?
Are people hope?
Does hope have hope?
Does hope connect the world?
Can hope morph?
Is hope connected to people?
What makes hope special?
How small can hope get?
What does hope bring?
Do all living things have hope?
Does hope hide?
Is hope alive?
Does hope have a voice?
Is hope endangered sometimes?
Is hope here?
Does hope involve science?
Does hope connect with the universe?
What does hope eat?
Why is hope everywhere?
Does hope bring you luck?
Does hope make our lives better?
Do you need hope?
Does hope involve someone?
Where is hope in our life?
Can people destroy hope?
Should there be a “hope day”?
Has there been a “hope day”?
How smart is hope?
How can you feed your hope?
How does hope help us?
Does hope bring us humour?
Is there a relationship between hope and humour?
Is hope love?
Are people hope?
Does hope die?
How does hope move?
What does hope help us with?
What does hope feel like?
Does hope involve countries?
What is hope made of?
Can people make hope?
How much hope is there in the world?
Are there places that give us hope?
Is hope a dream?
Is hope loud?
Is hope soundless?
How strong is hope?
How does hope survive?
Does hope have feelings?
Is there hope in heaven?
Is there hope in our classroom?
Who gave us hope?
Can God give us hope?
Is hope above us?
Do hope and peace connect?
Is hope in the mountains?
Is hope in friends?
Do trees have hope?
Is hope connected to kindness, friendship, and peace?
Where does hope come from?
Does hope communicate?