ABSTRACT
Throughout her career, Maxine Greene has been concerned with the possible. She consistently encourages us to imagine our lives and culture as they could be. She frequently cites literature and the other arts in her effort to portray the way life is and the way that it could otherwise be. She (1995) cites Sartre’s declaration that, ‘It is on the day that we can conceive of a different state of affairs that a new light falls on our troubles and our suffering’ (pp. 434-5). Greene’s work represents a passion for the possible. This chapter will focus on her continual commitment to think of education as one of the many essential ways in which we can transform our culture into a more compelling democratic community. First, we explore Greene’s images of democratic community. Next, her notions of ‘wide-awakeness’ and ‘freedom’ are discussed not only as illustrations of this community, but also as the means through which this community can evolve. Finally, we discuss her call to imagine a form of public schooling as perhaps the most important institution in bringing to life this renewed sense of a democratic community.
