Imagination and image are the product of the value that has been going on with the beginning of mankind. Image has been deprecated as a domain of subjective value in the perception of people with imagination even though its birth precedes the language of the characters. Continued changes in the times and the development of science have resulted in the development of the media, and today we are living in the flood of images so called the age of images. At this time, we need to be aware of the concept of imagination and image, and imaginative education should focus on the infantile period in which the imagination is most active in human life.
Among the various philosophers who presented the relationship between imagination and image, Bachelard, who achieved the Copernicus revolution of imagination, presented a new concept and direction from imagination and image. For him, imagination is not the formation or reproduction of existing images but the union, transformation and creation of images. This imagination is classified into morphological imagination(l''imagination formelle), material imagination(l''imagination materielle), and dynamic imagination(l''imagination dynamique). He regards material imagination and dynamic imagination as important in terms of mental activity based on material images and dynamic images. It is the dynamic imagination and the final imagination of Bachelard that the value of the subject is added to the image by the will of the subject.
Bachelard emphasizes the childhood in studying these imaginations and images. In his book 『L''eau et les reves』, 『La poetique de la reverie』, it shows why imaginative education is needed in infancy. In his book 『L''eau et les reves』, he emphasizes the imagination of early childhood which is the period before socialization with a cultural complex and school education, and suggests the importance of early childhood. In his book 『La poetique de la reverie』, he emphasizes infant imagination as a true prototype, a prototype of happiness and a prototype of communication as a foundation of existence.
Bachelard says that the state of being with the power to move through the imaginative act is the imagination. For him, dreams can be presented through literary images. Today, however, the society has developed a medium and a visual image has become important. It is a time when we can not ignore and exclude visual images anymore. Literature is also a difficult subject for infants with poor language development. Therefore, it is needed to apply the materialistic imagination and dynamic imagination emphasized by Bachelard to the children according to the properties of today.
Today, imagery and images are representative of visual images. There are genres well applied with visual images such as visual films, picture fairy tale, art works, etc. These exposures provide a more flexible way of thinking before the image is fixed by social culture, and provide the basis for imagination. It is not mean to expose infants to various visual images indiscriminately. It is necessary to extend the width and depth of imagination of infants by limiting images that is supplied abundantly in material imagination and dynamic imagination. Instead of showing visual images related to the physical imagination and dynamic imagination presented by Bachelard to infants, we need to apply it to infants through practical methods such as art, ceramics, and making. In other words, it does not mean an education for the simple and standardized morphological imagination of the concept of the things that is carried out in the current educational institution. It means an education that allows the infant to touch sufficiently and feel sensibly the property of the substance. Emotional education with enough material imagination and dynamic imagination should be given to infants by transforming and recreating materials freely.