| Abstract [eng] |
Imagination is a child’s way of understanding and accepting the patterns of the world and discovering their unique place in it. It is most evident in early childhood, when personal experiences are still very limited compared to the maturity of an adult, when the rules of life are absorbed gradually, when creating their own meanings and concepts through play, which may seem inappropriate or wrong to an adult, yet which correspond to a child’s thinking and worldview. The impact of media and social environment on a child is minimal, the child is not yet confined to the constraints of society to behave according to predetermined patterns, boldly questioning the modals of human behaviour, attempting to transcend beyond the universally agreed and invisible boundaries of the world. As an adult, the boundaries are observed more closely and one must learn to cross them again in order to solve problems, see alternatives, a chance in a rapidly changing worldview. However, even if the benefits and its relevance to the overall development of the humanity are understood, the term does not have a strict definition, and it is interpreted quite differently among scholars and society, so the imagination education is not a one-way process either. The question is whether imagination education is of any relevance in today’s educational context and how are teachers prepared to teach it, what limits them? The study revealed teachers’ attitudes towards the issue of imagination education in today’s early childhood education settings. The aspects that limit children’s imagination education were identified: excessive use of smart technologies and a child’s passivity in the context of presented imagery, limits imposed by the social environment in determining how children should think and behave, the failure to utilize the potential of playfulness principles, and the lack of adequate conditions in the educational institutions. Nevertheless, teachers make a sincere effort to acknowledge and develop a young person’s imagination in the early childhood education, as it helps them become a self-confident, creative and initiative erson who will use their abilities to help change and improve the world. |
