Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Fantasy and Imagination
Note: The majority of this was written by Sharon Cauldwell of the Montessori Foundation. It was part of a larger post on fantasy and imagination on the Montessori_online yahoo group. There were a few key ideas that I wanted to pull out and add small notes of my own.
Distinguish between fantasy and imagination
"Maria Montessori believed that the creative imagination of art and science is based upon truth. In the context of Montessori education, the imagination is seen as the mind's power to form images based on what has previously been learnt through the senses. The imagination enables us to know and understand something which we cannot see and touch. This means that if we are to truly be able to use our potential for imaginative thought, we need a firm foundation of factual knowledge. Fantasy, on the other hand, is something untrue, an "illusory imagination, based upon credulity". By carefully observing children, Maria Montessori noticed that children in her schools derived a deep satisfaction from working within a realistic environment tailored to their needs.
Because she began with the Aristotelian belief that "nothing is in the intellect that was not first in the senses," the challenge for her was to understand how such basic sense impressions became the loftiest of human knowledge, knowledge which could issue in the great artistic, scientific and social achievements of humankind. She came to see imagination as the link between these lower and higher forms of knowledge.[1]
To fully grasp the importance of this, it is necessary to understand the extreme respect that the Montessori approach has for the developing child.She saw fantasy essentially, as lies concocted by the adult. At best these fabrications entertain and distract the child, but more often than not they
deliberately mislead the child, who trusts the adult implicitly.
Hence the difference between true imagination based on true images or ideas derived from reality and false imagination based on fancies and fantasies without any bearing on reality. True imagination forms an important part of human intelligence; but false imagination consists of disorderly movements
of the mind.[2]
Put very simply, imagination is an activity of the mind which is concerned with real things – both what is, and what could be. Fantasy is unreal and can never be real. It is a flight into worlds which could never be, populated by beings, not of a child's imagination, but of an adult's creation."
I've long reflected on this subject. Adults love imagination and telling stories. In fact, stories are part of every culture. Yet very young children often can not distinguish between reality and fiction. In these days of constant media and entertainment the younger children are often convinced in the reality of characters that they can not see. I believe that their brains are different and that they process thought differently. It's truly necessary to accept them where they are. Yet, I've often had young children tell me that "it was just pretend." I think the dividing line between imagination created by the child and that created by the adult as a way to enjoy time with the child is small. I think that even very young children know the difference between dishes that they eat from and those that they feed their doll. It is different type of activity than an adult imposed fiction that the child can not escape from.
Fantasy and behavior
"In essence, Montessori came to realize that "normal" children did not seek refuge in fantasy and pretend play. That when given the opportunity to use real objects, in real contexts, they wanted to do they same tasks they saw adults performing, and that when given the information they needed, they applied their active imaginations to exploring the limitless wonders of reality.
Observation shows that children reared on a diet of fantasy, and starved of reality, tend to turn inward. The inability to develop an orderly activity and consequent disorderly movement produce a disorderly mind or a confused mind. The confused mind may be vivacious; but it is a vivacity without a purpose or aim.[3] "
I no longer find this true when I observe children. Children of all ages, but particularly young children do engage in fantasy, pretend and role play.. How much is it the child's home life, the role of media, or the fact that children have changed over time.
[1] John Snyder, "Imagination: The child's key to the universe".
[2] Maria Montessori, *What You Should Know About Your Child*, p. 58.
[3] Maria Montessori, *What You Should Know About Your Child*, p. 58
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4 comments:
I have also struggled with what Montessori wrote and said on this subject over the years.
A child deprived of fantasy, whether stories or play would seem to me to be a child who is not being allowed to experience the whole of life's richness.
I do draw the line at stories that adults tell children that seem to me to be a type of manipulation or a pointless lie. An example of a pointless lie is Santa. 200 years ago the santa figure was more of a pagan left over from European past religions and traditions and had become mixed with more current beliefs. When coca-cola got involved with what the victorians, with their mania for childhood, had evolved it into, it took on a new and seriously warped life, to do with getting "things" and commercialism but also to do with the strange idea that the victorians had about children. I don't tell my children that santa (or father christmas in the UK) is going to visit them. I do their stockings and they have a rich understanding about the history and significance of that figure.
A more sinister version of the adult lie is the Elf on the Shelf. I think that is just a hideous manipulation of children and totaly disrespectful and damaging to relationships in families.
Fabtasy, on the child's terms, is how a child experiments, works out emotions and actions he wouldn't really do but needs to explore, allows him to try out scary or unfamiliar situations and work on things he needs to get familiar with - playing school etc. Playing at super heros looks to me like a child trying to take control of a life that is dominated by adults and trying out the in charge role.
I'll stop now but thank you for such a thought provoking post!
Thanks Annicles.
I'm glad that you found this thought provoking. I was somewhat short on time so I didn't write as much as I initially intended.
I was thinking of a few key facts later, and it generated an interesting conversation as well.
There is a huge difference between adult imposed imagination/fantasy and a child's fantasy which may or may not stem from an understanding of the reality of the world.
There is also a strong influence of imaginary media that did not exist in the days of Maria Montessori, except in the form of stories and books. It would be interesting to see research on this subject. Especially now that we are moving to more 3D movies.
I agree it would be very interesting to see what influence our media has on children. I think we will have to wait another generation to really see the influence.
I find it sad that role-play is rarely a part of Montessori classrooms. We have to have them in the UK as part of the EYFS. We have worked hard to incorporate role-play into our classroom in a way that does not detract from the Montessori work going on.
For instance, we would not set up a role-play area of a situation that 3-6 year olds would be unfamiliar with. We keep very much to familiar situations and get as much practical life in there as possible.
I'd love to read more about how you integrate role play into a Montessori environment.
My daughter's kindergarten (private- non-Montessori) would set up a "loft area monthly with themed role play in which they were exploring many different concepts.
I just had a vision of setting up "themed" areas that incorporated real practical life activities. I have no idea how it would work in practice though and it sounds like a tremendous amount of work.
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