Adventures in Imagination
by Amy Pridgen
Have you ever considered how a person’s imagination develops? Why can some students “picture” what is going on in a story without looking at a picture, while others cannot? Why does it seem to bother some students that the picture in the storybook doesn’t show every action, character or the dog, cat, etc. that was briefly mentioned in the text? Are we, as professionals, helping to develop the imagination capabilities of our students? How do we begin this process?
I recently discovered the book Ted written by Tony DiTerlizzi. While sharing this wonderful tale of a young boy and his imaginary friend with a variety of classes, I began to unlock the mystery of imagination. I discovered kids have very interesting stories to tell about their own imaginary friends. At first, I thought I had found a pattern to this phenomenon. Most students were around three or four years old when they had an imaginary friend. They remembered the name of their friend and gave wild accounts of the fun activities they shared with their friend. Many were the oldest or only child in their family. Many adventures resulted in a messy room, broken rules or other mischief. However, some students had multiple imaginary friends, were a middle child, etc. which didn’t work with the pattern I thought I was seeing. I thought perhaps a child “creates” a friend out of loneliness or a desire to subconsciously stretch his or her boundaries in the home environment. Yet, maybe there is something more to imagination and imaginary friends than any psychological principle could explain.
Students today are constantly bombarded by entertainment: television, movies, game boy, internet surfing, etc. Images are force-fed to students at an alarming rate. We have become a “visual society.” See it and believe it. Reality rules … or does it? In the introduction of his book
The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales, Bruno Bettelheim writes:
“..for a story truly to hold the child’s attention, it must entertain him
and arouse his curiosity. But to enrich his life, it must stimulate his
imagination; help him to develop his intellect, and clarify his emotions; be attuned to his anxieties and aspirations; give full recognition to his difficulties, while at the same time suggesting solutions to the problems
that perturb him.”
If this is true, then what sorts of books accomplish this intellectual mission for kids? How do we move students from entertainment books into books that foster their imagination? I believe one way to promote imagination is by introducing quality literature to students and their teachers. Perhaps you could model the way you think as you read a story. I sometimes “think out loud” to my students, saying things like, “I wonder why he did that,” “That makes me think of …,” “Maybe that would look like …,” etc. Also, I deliberately read from older fairy tale books that do not have pictures. At the conclusion of the story, I ask students to draw pictures of a main character or favorite scene. As we compare and share our pictures, students learn that it is OK for everyone to have a different idea of what a character may look like.
I am always amazed by the vast possibilities of images into which the words of stories can translate. Words can transform minds. Minds can create images. Images are placed into mind storage to be used later during problem solving and creative processes. I believe creative writing is one of the best avenues through which one can experience the fullest expression of imagination, its process and resulting products. Connect writing with interesting books and you will have a super combination!
Each spring I like to focus a series of lessons on poetry for various grade levels. Poetry is especially well-suited for building imagination. Words are carefully chosen in poems. The poets’ words are charged with creating distinct images in the minds of readers. It is amazing how one poem can elicit so many different reactions from a group of students. The drawings students have produced of the same animal or item described in the same poem, are unique to each student’s imagination. I ask my students to close their eyes as I read some poems. It helps them to focus on the words and “paint the picture” on the canvas of their minds.
Part of the magic of imagination, which I believe science will never explain, lies in the individual student’s reaction to the whole experience. Bettelheim suggests in his introduction “explaining to a child why a fairytale is so captivating to him destroys, moreover, the story’s enchantment, which depends to a considerable degree on the child’s not quite knowing why he is delighted by it.” If a student is truly engaged in a story, he is caught up in its magic. I do not believe there is a single formula for creating imagination. However, I feel as a media specialist I am charged, like the carefully chosen words of a poem, to help create and promote imagination growth and expression opportunities for students. May this be a challenge to you! Take a break from the fast paced cyberworld and share in the adventure of imagination with your students!
References
Bettelheim, Bruno. The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy
Tales. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1991.
DiTerlizzi, Tony. Ted. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2001.
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