Keep your imagination alive. Make it your lifelong friend.

One of the delightful things about working with children is the quality of imagination they can bring to learning and understanding. I used to say to children in classes, particularly those in the upper primary area, that they had three eyes: Their left eye, right eye, and their “I” For “imagination”) eye. Their “I” eye was in the middle of their foreheads but not visible. Their “I” eye was hidden from view but could work hard and see a lot beneath the surface. Their imagination enabled them to visualise things not necessarily there at the moment. For instance, the ability to conjure up pictures of what was going on in stories, their understanding of historical facts, and their engagement with music, drama, and core subjects, including Literacy and Mathematics.

Imagination can make learning a living and vibrant experience because it facilitates engagement. Too often, people feel disassociated from what they are doing. They don’t bring imagination into play as they tackle tasks.

As a teacher and in later years as a person who used to work with children in music, storytelling, and drama, I used to encourage them to use imagination—making things real through their engagement with what we were doing helped develop learning outcomes.

Imagination can also be used to help tackle problems and find solutions. Often adults find it hard to overcome challenges they face because they don’t bring creativity into play. Inhibitions come to the fore and make overcoming challenges hard. Those same obstacles or barriers do not confront children. It’s for that reason that children often find solutions to problems much easier to reach than adults. They don’t have the same hangups and worries about their environment as may be the case for grown-ups.

It is a concern that video games and technological entertainment can diminish children’s imagination. Rather than relying upon their imagination and thought processes to reach endpoints, that’s all done for them by games. They are ‘rewarded’ for no more or less than following the sequence of activities and events by letting their fingers walk around keyboards. While games are part of life, they should never be allowed to take over the natural ability of children to immerse themselves in situations and solve problems without assistance.

Imagination is to be encouraged, particularly in story writing and creation. I believe we as teachers need to work hard to grow our children. Neither does it end with primary school students but extends into the middle and upper school domains.

I believe the teachers who work with children to grow their imaginations also develop their own. Being aware of creativity and its qualities to enrich educational experiences is essential. The invention should not become stunted as people from childhood into adult realms. It is critically important as a teaching development tool