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An essay on imagination
Essays on imagination
Essays on imagination
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Imagination is the ability to draw a picture, a story or an idea in the mind. It is the ability to feel and believe of something that is not real, this term is widespread through the literature. When children use their imagination they could be anything they want and they could travel through time and space. There are different ways children’s can use to develop and express their imagination. For example, drawing, reading stories and role playing by pretending to be someone or something else, these ways allow children to express their imagination through thinking, creating and involving emotions. Imagination gives the children the opportunity to explore the world around them. Play has an important effect on children’s imaginative development, it is a common activity between children but it is not just a free time that child enjoy. For instance, imaginative play or role play encourages the children imaginative skills and this includes fantasy, pretend and symbolic play. Imaginative play also known as fantasy, symbolic, pretend and role play. This paper will focus on the imagination process and the theory of mind, children understanding of others mind and mental representations. Pretend play will be an example of showing how children use their imagination through this type of play.
Imagination this term raises a concern about if we are we born with this ability or we gain this ability through learning. It is argued that children learn to imagine and pretend, Rogers and Evans (2008) stated that we are not born with this ability only we have the potential for it. According to Vygotsky (1978) at the preschool age there are many unrealizable tendencies and desires emerge. He believes that if these needs are not realized immediately and...
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...Fein, G. G. 1981. Pretend play in childhood: An integrative review. Child development, pp. 1095--1118.
Harris, P. L. 2000. The work of the imagination. Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishers.
Leslie, A. M. 1987. Pretense and representation: The origins of" theory of mind.” Psychological review, 94 (4), p. 412
Piaget, J. 1962. Play, dreams and imitation in childhood. New York: Norton White, J., 2002. The child's mind. London: Routledge/Falmer.
Rogers, S. and Evans, J. 2008. Inside role-play in early childhood education. London: Routledge.
Rogers, S. and Evans, J. 2006. Playing the game? Exploring role play from children's perspectives. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 14 (1), pp. 43--55.
Vygotsky, L. S. and Cole, M. 1978. Mind in society. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Wood, E. 2013. Play, learning and the early childhood curriculum. London: SAGE.
Early Childhood is marked by a time in children’s lives when they develop “a confident self-image, more effective control over their emotions, new social skills, the foundations of morality, and a clear sense of themselves as boy or girl” (Berk, Kauffman & Landrum, 2011, pg. 45). According to Erik Erikson, early childhood is a period of “vigorous unfolding,” one where children have a sense of autonomy and a new sense of purposefulness or initiative (Berk, Kauffman & Landrum, 2011, pg. 45). Play is a means for children to learn about themselves and they begin to adopt the moral and gender-role standards of the society in which they live (Berk, Kauffman & Landrum, 2011). A negative outcome of early childhood is the guilt children feel as a result of excessive punishment and criticism by the adults in their lives (Berk, Kauffman & Landrum, 2011)....
Nielsen, M., & Dissanayake, C. (2004). Pretend play, mirror self-recognition and imitation: A longitudinal investigation through the second year. Infant Behavior & Development, 27(3), 342-365. doi:10.1016/j.infbeh.2003.12.006
Many theorists have tried to define play as a concept, however, no two agree on a set definition. Their backgrounds and induvial lifestyles influence the way they see the importance of play. Reed and Brown also believe that there isn’t an agreed definition of play because is something that is felt rather than done (Reed & Brown, 2000 cited in Brock, Dodd’s, Jarvis & Olusoga, 2009). In spite of this, it is clear that most theorists uphold the ethos that play is imperative to a child’s learning and development. There is a wide range of different studies and theories which helps us develop our own perception of what play is. In my personal experience I have found play to be a way of expressive our emotions, exploring and learning new things, thus
Scientists have proven that knowledge and imagination go hand in hand and without imagination, pretend, and fantasy there would be no science or opportunity for change. In the text, Gopnik explains how even babies are capable of With the ability to pretend society can transform the world into endless possibilities and solve real world problems using counterfactual thinking, casual knowledge, and cognitive maps. Counterfactual thinking is part of everyday life because people are always thinking of past and future possibilities that may have happened or might happen. When people imagine the different possibilities it can cause them to feel upset or to have hope, which can motivate them to do or not to do something. Gopnik expresses that although counterfactuals are not reality it still affects all humans, when she states, “counterfactual thinking is pervasive in our everyday life and deeply affects our judgments, our decisions and our emotions” (Gopnik 164).
Siegler, R., & Alibali, M. (2005). Children’s Thinking Fourth Edition. Prentice Hall Inc. Upper Saddle River NJ.
Due to the fact that, when she was eating the rice sitting on the dining table, but she suddenly got up from the table, started walking towards the living room, grabed her barbie dolls and started feeding them. Moreover, not only she was pretending to drink from the toy cup while playing with the kitchen set, but, also was pretending to talk on the toy phone as she saw her mother talking to someone on her cell phone. These are the example of make-believe play because according to book “Make-believe play increases in sophistication during the preschool years. Children pretend with less realistic toys [such as] in early pretending, toddlers use … toy telephone to talk into or a cup to drink from. Their earliest pretend acts usually imitate adualt 's actions” (Berk, 227). The theory that perfectly relates to these examples is Piaget 's theory because Berk in the book infer that “Make-believe play is … excellent example of the development of representation in early childhood. Piaget believed that through pretending, young children practice and strengthen newly acquired representational schemes” (Berk,
Interestingly it was through this process of sharing our professional experiences that we established the central idea of our exhibition. We had determined that the importance of play in the Early Years was a theme that was often debated by parents, colleagues and policy makers. By choosing this as our topic we hoped to have an enhanced understanding of the historical implications of play in Early Years Education, resulting in professional competence and the ability to guide and mentor others on the significance of play. Rodd (1996) endorses this importance of Early Years Professionals having the skills to build, establish and maintain credibility in the fast-changing sector of Early Years.
The concept of ‘theory of mind’ is a complex one with various considerations. It can basically be defined as, ‘The ability to understand or ‘read’ the mind of another individual; the ability to ‘put oneself in the place of another’,’ (Smith and Stevens 2002). Essentially, ‘theory of mind’ is concerned with the ideal that a person can comprehend what another person in the same situation may be thinking, or the way in which they may be feeling, without the necessity for direct contact and communication to establish that information. The paramount dilemma for psychologists researching this area of evolutionary psychology, is the difficulty in ensuring that it genuinely is the mind of another individual that a person is responding to, rather than their overt behaviour, bearing in mind the impossibility of looking directly into another’s mind.
Dr. Alison Gopnik’s drew the following truth that “children are intellectually more skilled and far more sophisticated in their thinking then we ever imagined”(Gopnik2009). Gopnik also stated preschoolers are extremely well designed for learning. They are naturally curious. They learn through exploring and playing. “The value of play” was also presented in Gopnik’s research. He clarified that when children engage in pretend play, they will have imaginary characters and explore other world. They are learning peoples’ nature, how people think, do, and work. This helps them understand themselves and other people, to improve their social traits or in balancing school, and to increase their social competences in life. Gopnik demonstrated the idea
Piaget stated that children function in a concrete world and therefore are unable to use language in an abstract way until about eleven years old. Consequently language does not afford young children the structure for appropriate self-expression. Piaget believed that children design symbols to communicate their wishes, ideas and emotions. This system of symbols characterises symbolic play (Piaget & Inhelder,
Children have a natural inclination to play, alongside a natural instinct to learn and to be curious and inventive, which are characteristics of the human race in general. This quote taken from Janet Moyles is a good starting point for this essay. It is well known that children love to play. If a child were to be left to his/her own devices they would happily play and create new worlds anywhere they were left. It has been well documented and researched that children learn excellently through play. However they are not always given the opportunity to do so, instead being told to, ‘finish your work and then you can go play’. Obviously this is not always the case, but the fact that it is a common practice shows that we do not all fully appreciate the importance of play to children’s learning. This essay will attempt to show how children learn through play, making reference to current theory and practice. I will also give examples from my own first-hand experience of how children learn and develop as people through play.
What is play? Play is defined as engaging in activates for enjoyment & recreation rather than a serious practical purpose. Playing is a disorganized voluntary spontaneous activity, which may include objects, one’s body, symbol usage, and relationships. Play is flexible, individualize, grouped, motivating, self-directed, open-ended, or self-directed. (Smith, 2013) (Saskatchewan Ministry of Education, 2010)
..., J., & Garzoli, E. (2007, November 11). The Effectiveness of a Play-Based Curriculum in Early Childhood Education. Retrieved from http://teachplaybasedlearning.com/8.html
Cognitive development in retrospect is the building of thought processing, decision making, problem solving, and critical thinking skills (Merriam-Webster). By engaging in imaginative play, children are forced to imagine make-believe scenarios and maintain a single roll captivating that roles thoughts and actions. Such situations make children express both positive and negative feelings as well as work through problem solving scenarios where they may be led to critically think their actions and what each outcome could lead to. As children are forced to integrate emotion with cognition, the mental growth occurs at the hands of the child (Jent, Niec, & Baker, 2011; Seja, & Russ, 1999; Slade and Wolf, 1999). The building of cognitive skills at an earlier age will encourage children to explore the world around them making the world their eternal classroom leading them to
As a child, the imagination opens up the brain to new experiences and fantasies that most children