Teaching for 3 Cs: centering imagination in teacher education

In view of globalization, bureaucratization, marketization and commercialization, the context of education has changed. In response, the critical capacities of student teachers need to be developed so that they better understand and empathize with one-another and are able to see the complexities of the world through multiple perspectives. This, in turn, necessarily requires nurturing of imagination, which we consider in relation to the 3Cs: Care, Critique and Creativity. We commence with an overview of current developments affecting education and review existing practices in teacher education. We then provide the context of a practicebased enquiry that used metaphors and objects to explore student teachers’ understanding of personal experiences. We conclude with connecting the reflective process of the enquiry to the nurturing of imagination and the 3Cs.