Simon Fraser University
Simon Fraser University provided the institutional home for the entire arc of Egan's intellectual project. From his arrival in 1972 until his death in 2022, Egan developed his framework at SFU's Faculty of Education, collaborated with colleagues who became his closest intellectual partners, and co-founded the Imaginative Education Research Group that continues to develop his framework and train educators in its application. The university remains the primary institutional center of imaginative education research globally, maintaining Learning in Depth programs, publishing research on cognitive tools, and hosting international conferences that bring together educators and researchers engaged with Egan's framework.
In the AI Story
The Imaginative Education Research Group, founded in 2001, provides graduate training, develops curriculum materials, conducts research, and serves as the primary institutional vehicle through which Egan's framework reaches practicing educators. The group has trained hundreds of doctoral students, many of whom have become leading educational researchers in their own right.
The university has maintained its institutional commitment to Egan's framework after his death, with Gillian Judson and other colleagues continuing to develop the theoretical framework and expand its practical applications. Recent work has focused specifically on the implications of AI for imaginative education, extending Egan's framework into the specific pedagogical challenges the AI transition presents.
SFU's Learning in Depth program remains the largest institutional implementation of Egan's most radical practical proposal, serving as both a research site and a model for schools internationally adopting the framework.
Origin
Simon Fraser University was founded in 1965 in Burnaby, British Columbia. Its Faculty of Education became, through Egan's presence and the Imaginative Education Research Group's work, a leading international center for alternative approaches to education.
The Imaginative Education Research Group was co-founded by Egan with colleagues in 2001.
Key Ideas
Egan's institutional home. The single university where his entire career unfolded and where his framework was developed.
Imaginative Education Research Group. The primary institutional vehicle for developing and disseminating Egan's framework.
Learning in Depth program. Institutional implementation of Egan's most radical practical innovation.
Continuing mission. Post-2022, the institution continues to extend Egan's framework into contemporary challenges including AI.
Global influence. SFU-trained researchers have carried Egan's framework to educational institutions worldwide.
Appears in the Orange Pill Cycle
Further reading
- Imaginative Education Research Group, Simon Fraser University (ierg.ca)
- Learning in Depth project materials, Simon Fraser University
- Kieran Egan memorial and tribute materials, SFU Faculty of Education