Dreaming at School:A Qualitative Depth Psychological Research Project on Sharing Dreams in a British Infant School

Carl Jung’s 1936-1940 seminars and Post-Jungian studies provide a compelling insight into the significance of children’s dreams and the child archetype in the development of the unconscious. An extensive analytical literature review of existing research into children’s dreams and the analysis of the phenomenological view of dreaming and sharing dreams within a British school context indicated that children’s dream experiences are underutilised in primary education. This qualitative research project aimed to analyse the children’s perceptions and experiences of sharing dreams within an epistemological, psychosocial, and Jungian perspective. This phenomenological perspective on the oneiric dreams of children living in the 21st Century augments discourse concerning the relevance of Jung in contemporary pedagogy. Within the existing British curriculum subject of Personal, Social, Health and Emotional Education (PSHE) and ‘Circle Time’, 22 six-year-old children and their teacher in an Infant school experienced a unique ‘Dream Time’ project. The children shared their dreams in six adapted social dream matrices and creative activities hosted by this researcher and followed up with individual interviews. The matrices were analysed with a focus on psychoanalytical and educational perspectives. Of the 22 interviews, a sample of eight was analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Findings from the children’s perceptions of the project concluded that sharing good and scary dreams in school time was a positive experience and they wished it could continue. The subjective views of the children, teacher, and the researcher concluded that there is social, emotional, and personal value in sharing dreams collectively using a social dream matrix approach within a school setting. Findings indicated potential barriers exist in the unconscious being integrated into the existing pedagogical context. This research from the children’s view added new knowledge to the current discourses on therapeutic education and the mental health of children in Britain. Further research on Jungian holistic pedagogy and dream sharing is needed to expand mainstream educational teacher training in Britain.