the child’s imagination as a work-in-process

Abstract

This work proposes to engage adult readers in a dialogue about the richness of children’s imagination. This richness is often denied and impoverished by pedagogical practices based on what the author refers to as adults’ “strictly defined realism.” Early-childhood educators tend to associate education with preconceived forms and shapes brought into existence by the “experienced adult,” with the aim of indoctrinating children “to confront the reality of life.” Such educators seem to have forgotten how important playing and telling stories is for people of all ages. This work opens doors and windows for the adult educator’s capacity for fantasy and invention, inviting him or her to make the acquaintance of some of the nocturnal poetic oeuvre of Gaston Bachelard, as well as the early-childhood principles developed by Maurice Merleau-Ponty.