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These are artefacts I collect from the path I take every day to go to school, go to work, go for a walk, etc. I really had no sense of what it was like to walk this path every day until session two of this unit, after watching the sharing of Pauline Oliveros and R. Murray Schafer. I realized that I was not really listening but simply hearing. After receiving this assessment, I took advantage of the opportunity available to me that I need to go in and out the house each day on that path to practice being fully present with sound, space, and emotion, which is the 'deep listening' that Oliveros emphasized. At the same time, this also help me realize the importance of soundscapes and soundwalking that Schafer mentioned when I slow down and listen more deeply to my surroundings , and to myself. As a future educator I truly believe these natural sounds can become the learning opportunities for my students in the future.

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While listening deeply to my surroundings, I was extremely fortunate to witness a royal parade!

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While listening deeply to my surroundings, I was extremely fortunate to witness a royal parade!

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In my story about imaginary game of going to see a royal parade, I saw a new world from the familiar space of my way home. This royal parade was not only initiated by imagination but also nurtured through the combination of natural sounds, movements and drama. Through my artefacts and imaginary game videos, I recreated the journey from recording my sensory detail to communicating with the imaginary world by looking back at the everyday world with the eyes of art and childish curiosity.

When I filmed the artefact, I was lucky to capture the shimmering light on the sidewalk, I also can feel the light scent of the grass and trees, the sound of the traffic like a chaotic symphony, and the sound of the wind that day like it was opening a rock concert. In my imaginary game video, the truck became a “tired dragon”, the trees happily danced, waved and asked for a friendly handshake, the birds were calling each other to join in the fun, and the sound of the wind was like the background music for the parade. These experiences not only awakened my senses, but they also gave me the feeling of returning to my curious childhood.

The combination of movement, sound between real environmental sounds, plus my drama created a powerful combination. I believe that when you watch the video, you will not only see but also feel the invisible world happening around you. This is the power of sounds, movements, and drama together to create a comprehensive experience. According to Ruth Wilson, “Play in natural environments promotes the holistic development of children as it fosters growth in all of the developmental domains (adaptive, aesthetic, cognitive, communication, sensorimotor, and socioemotional).” (Wilson, 2007, p.6). My experience illustrates this vividly: I developed my deep listening skills, my narrative language, my emotions, and my creativity through a familiar street viewed through an imaginative lens. I now believe children need such a natural space to interact and create. The royal parade I witnessed is an example, without high technology, just deep listening and imagination can turn an everyday street into a magical stage.

This experience brings a sense of joy and freedom, and reminds me of my childhood, when each drop of water was a kingdom, each leaf was a letter from a green tree to me. The important thing is imagination does not need guidance, just space and improvisation. Based on this experience, in my future teaching, I want to create time for my students to listen to nature, listen to themselves and encourage them to describe space through narration, action or role-playing to stimulate their imagination and creativity. For example, I will create opportunities for them to recount their experience of going to school at the beginning of the school day, I will stimulate their imagination by asking: Did the wind say anything to you? Were the cars on the road happy? and so on.

The royal parade I witnessed showed me in every step, every daily sound, there is a hidden story if we know how to stop, listen and imagine. The combination of movement, sound and drama helped me not only see, but also “feel” the world around me. And I believe in early childhood education, nurturing imagination can simply start with the smallest things like a route to school, and an imagination without limits.

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David New. (2009). Listen [Video]. NFB. https://www.nfb.ca/film/listen/

TEDx Talk. (2015, November 13). The difference between hearing and listening | Pauline Oliveros | TEDxIndianapolis  [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/_QHfOuRrJB8?si=I3I0583mKIBZjwpJ

Wilson, R. (2007). Nature and Young Children: Encouraging Creative Play and Learning in Natural Environments. Routledge. https://vu.ereserve.vu.edu.au/app/manage/resources/access?item_id=193726&session_public_key=a335109d1abb4dd387b0110267931f26