Sarah Maxine Greene (née Meyer; December 23, 1917 – May 29, 2014) was an American educational philosopher, author, social activist, and teacher.

Describing her family as one who "discouraged intellectual adventure and risk",[5] she disregarded that approach and from the age of 7 regularly attended concerts and plays as a means of escape.

[3] For that reason, She enrolled in courses at New York University's School of Education taught by Adolphe Meyer, Theodore Bramheld and George Axtelle.

[10] Greene broke traditional convention with her narrative and literary form as well as through her philosophical approach, transitioning from analytic to existential schools of thought,[14] that shaped the field moving forward.

[24] A prolific writer, her works signal an intellectual heritage with existential philosophers: Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Albert Camus, Soren Kierkegaard, and Maurice Merleau-Ponty.

[30] For Greene, transformations are possible when educators and students, inspired by works of literature and art, enter into dialog in public spaces.

[17] The book is organized into four thematic sections: Emancipatory education, Social issues, Artistic and aesthetic considerations, and Predicaments of women.

The book, whose title is borrowed from Wordsworth's poem "The Prelude",[34] primarily concentrates on Greene's concept of wide-awakeness that challenges teachers and learners to be fully aware of both the internal and external landscapes that influence schools.

[35] In Releasing the Imagination (1995), through narrative essays, Greene urges educators to be aware of inequities, complacency, and exclusions in everyday life and in schools.

[36] The text reiterates Greene's belief that, through the cultivation of dialog in public spaces, change for education and for broader social impact are possible.

[39] The title is based on Wallace Stevens' poem, Man with the Blue Guitar, in which arguably the poet converses with Picasso's painting the Old Guitarist.

[15] Greene insisted that education move away from the habitual and routine practices in order to create classrooms that engage with immediate and relevant social circumstances, an approach that builds on John Dewey's notions of aesthetic experiences.

[42] Arguing against a generic and abstracted approach to teaching, Greene emphasized a focus on the uniqueness of the teachers and learners occupying a specific learning space.

[17] Janet Miller, Professor of English Education at Columbia University, wrote of Greene, "Maxine's attention to the visual, written and performing arts as one means of opening vistas into what might be, and to conceptions of social imagination that might help move persons to take action against deficit versions of school and society, continue to inspire all those involved in the varied arenas of education.

"[44] Wide-awakeness is a concept that Greene drew from phenomenologist Alfred Schutz and poet Henry David Thoreau, which describes a degree of consciousness necessary for actors to critically and deliberately make choices and have impact on the world.

[45] Wide-awakeness assumes that an individual who actively perceives as they experience the world would be equipped to pose meaningful questions and potentially to enact change.

[40] Notably her public engagement led to participation in a number of organizations and centers that advanced aesthetic education and social imagination.

The center hosts annual summer institutes where practicing teachers attend a series of lectures and performances, as well as interacting with artists through hands on activities.

[19] Greene recalls this as one of her most significant career experiences because it afforded the opportunity to work with practicing teachers and to potentially broaden the number of schools bringing arts into learning.

[16] Greene credits collaborations with Bill Ayers, Michelle Fine, Naomi Barber, and Carole Saltz as essential to making the foundation possible.

[53] Similarly, a 2017 issue of the journal Review of Education, Pedagogy, and Cultural Studies celebrated the centennial year of Greene's birth.

The authors include: Henry Giroux, John Baldacchino, Susan Jean Mayer, Hannah Spector, Robert Lake, Tricia Kress, Rebecca Luce-Kapler, Sabrina Ross, and Christopher Emdin.

[12] Robert Lake edited a collection of 75 letters written in the first-person by admirers and scholars influenced by Maxine Greene, including: Gloria Ladson-Billings, Herb Kohl, Mike Rose, Deborah Meier, Nel Noddings, and William Ayers.

[54] The letters are organized into four sections: The school and society; In a tune beyond us and yet ourselves; Strangers, others, and friends: Expanding the conversation; and Blue guitar lessons: The Arts and keeping wide-awake in the world.

[54] A Light in Dark Times: Maxine Greene and the Unfinished Conversation, edited by William Ayers and Janet Miller, collects considerations of Greene's influence on contemporary educational projects written by William Ayers, Nel Noddings, Peter McLaren, Jean Anyon, Louise Berman, Deborah P. Britzman, Linda Darling-Hammond among others.