Lesson summary
“With imagination, you can create new worlds.”
~ Jack Manning Bancroft, Founder, AIME
In this lesson, students will explore the concept of imagination from philosophical, scientific and artistic perspectives. They will understand the theory of imagination, exploring the importance of growth mindset for improving the imagination. They will reflect on how imagination is used to redefine the future and have the opportunity to imagine their own possibilities.
Learning intentions:
Students will...
- learn about various beliefs, definitions and theories of imagination
- learn about ‘growth mindset’
- learn how to improve your imagination.
Success criteria:
Students can...
- describe the difference between imagination and similar terms
- write an online article about imagination
- imagine a positive future.
Lesson guides and printables
Curriculum links
Select your curriculum from the options below.
Lesson details
Curriculum mapping
Choose by subject for Secondary year level mapping:
Year 7 English:
- Use comprehension strategies to interpret, analyse and synthesise ideas and information, critiquing ideas and issues from a variety of textual sources (ACELY1723).
- Plan, draft and publish imaginative, informative and persuasive texts, selecting aspects of subject matter and particular language, visual, and audio features to convey information and ideas (ACELY1725).
Year 8 English:
- Use comprehension strategies to interpret and evaluate texts by reflecting on the validity of content and the credibility of sources, including finding evidence in the text for the author’s point of view (ACELY1734).
- Create imaginative, informative and persuasive texts that raise issues, report events and advance opinions, using deliberate language and textual choices, and including digital elements as appropriate (ACELY1736).
Year 9 English:
- Use comprehension strategies to interpret and analyse texts, comparing and evaluating representations of an event, issue, situation or character in different texts (ACELY1744).
- Create imaginative, informative and persuasive texts that present a point of view and advance or illustrate arguments, including texts that integrate visual, print and/or audio features (ACELY1746).
Year 10 English:
- Use comprehension strategies to compare and contrast information within and between texts, identifying and analysing embedded perspectives, and evaluating supporting evidence (ACELY1754).
- Create sustained texts, including texts that combine specific digital or media content, for imaginative, informative, or persuasive purposes that reflect upon challenging and complex issues (ACELY1756).
Year 9 Work Skills:
- Investigate a wide range of occupations, and the skills and personal qualities required in these fields (ACWSCL006).
Year 10 Work Skills:
- Explain the range of skills and attributes necessary to work effectively in the 21st century (ACWSCL025).
Years 7 & 8 Drama:
- Combine the elements of drama in devised and scripted drama to explore and develop issues, ideas and themes (ACADRM040)
Years 9 & 10 Drama:
- Improvise with the elements of drama and narrative structure to develop ideas, and explore subtext to shape devised and scripted drama (ACADRM047).
Media Arts
Years 7 & 8 Media Arts:
- Experiment with the organisation of ideas to structure stories through media conventions and genres to create points of view in images, sounds and text (ACAMAM066).
Years 9 & 10 Media Arts:
- Experiment with ideas and stories that manipulate media conventions and genres to construct new and alternative points of view through images, sounds and text (ACAMAM073).
Years 9 & 10 Music:
- Plan and organise compositions with an understanding of style and convention, including drawing upon Australian music by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists (ACAMUM102).
Years 7 & 8 Visual Arts:
- Experiment with visual arts conventions and techniques, including exploration of techniques used by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists, to represent a theme, concept or idea in their artwork (ACAVAM118).
Years 9 & 10 Visual Arts:
Conceptualise and develop representations of themes, concepts or subject matter to experiment with their developing personal style, reflecting on the styles of artists, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists (ACAVAM125).
This lesson is part of a wider program: IMAGI-NATION{TV}
Level of teacher scaffolding: Low – students can be self-directed.
Syllabus outcomes: EN4-2A, EN4-2A, EN4-4B, EN5-1A, EN5-2A, MUS5.4, MUS5.5, MUS5.6, VAS4.1, VAS4.3, VAS4.4, VAS5.1, VAS5.3, VAS5.4
General capabilities: Literacy, Critical and Creative Thinking, Personal and Social Capability
Cross-curriculum priority (optional): Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures (OI.9), Sustainability (OI.5, OI.7)
Time required: 70+ minutes.
Tips for teachers and carers: This lesson is designed to be flexible for use with various year levels and across the curriculum. It can easily be tailored or expanded to focus more deeply on the skills that students are exploring in their classroom context. For example, an English teacher might choose to place more focus on vocabulary and writing tasks, an arts teacher might choose to focus on developing imaginative techniques and artworks, and a pastoral care teacher might choose to focus on the philosophy behind imagination and the positive benefits of a growth mindset.
Resources required
- Art supplies or equipment (optional)
- Device with internet connection
- Pen and paper (optional)
Additional Info
This lesson has been developed in partnership with AIME. AIME is an Imagination Factory that since 2005, has been creating pop-up Imagination Factories on university campuses around the world to unlock the internal narrative of marginalised kids, taking them from a world that tells them they can’t to a world that tells them they can. Kids who experience the Imagination Factory have gone on to achieve educational parity, rise up as entrepreneurs, and take on a whole new mindset that prepares them for success.
AIME created IMAGI-NATION{TV} & the IMAGI-NATION{CLASSROOM} experience to put a mentor in the home every day during the tough times of COVID-19 and beyond. It’s a daily TV show broadcast live on the internet, and it’s a gift for teachers, parents and kids to help make sense of today and imagine tomorrow.
The pursuit is to elevate knowledge; every guest we bring on knows something and has wisdom to share. This show is not just about entertainment to pass the time. We want to remake the mould for the modern hero – from beauty to brains, from selfies to self-knowledge, from hashtags to hope. IMAGI-NATION{TV} is seeking to unlock the best in every single one of us; to inspire a generation of heroes in the form of mentors who fight for a fairer world.
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