What is an Imagination Classroom?
June 15 2023
Rhian Miller, AIME
This is when you can trust … and this is when your imaginings can be realised, because you’re supported by everything – by Nature, by yourself, by the people you work with, by Country, by the whole collective.
Today, we visited St John’s Anglican College at Forest Lake. Yolande kicked off the workshop by doing an Acknowledgement of Country that involved movement and visualisation. This got the students thinking about connection points, the different elements of earth, air and water, how we move, why we move and the importance of story in the transmission of knowledge and in bringing us together.
Led by the students ideas, we explored what an imagination classroom could be. Living off Country, the students were drawn to thoughts about the love they have for their homes, the Land and their families. They talked about learning within nature and from nature, about the importance of being guided by Elders and family and about connecting with and caring for the land. They imagined classrooms connected to their kinship lines – and through this kinship (where people are in relation with all beings – all people, plants and beings, as in line with First Nations systems thinking), they would be brought into relation with Country and all its elements … being and learning together, sharing energy and being freed by the safety and trust that comes with the security of knowing you belong.
This is when you can trust … and this is when your imaginings can be realised, because you’re supported by everything – by Nature, by yourself, by the people you work with, by Country, by the whole collective.
Together, we developed their thoughts into poetry.
On Country
The floor is sand
The water is flowing
We can feel the breeze
And how it stokes the fire
The smells of
fresh air,
bush
and smoke
Good for the spirit
We connect,
We respect
We grow
We learn . . .
and
Together
We imagine
One of the students had a leg injury, so she worked with Will, recording the poem as a spoken word piece which was then woven through a music score. The music selected to accompany the poem was a piece written for Bangarra Dance Theatre’s production ID (2011), called Free and was composed by the late David Page. (Please note that this music has been used for educational purposes only)
While this was happening, Yolande worked with the other four students to create movement motifs, generating choreography to accompany the poem. Expressing the essence of the poetry through music and dance, they physically depicted the flow of the story. Moments in the dance all beautifully aligned with the audio track.
And when we finished creating the dance, the students were so excited and proud of what they had built, they said they wanted to perform this dance for their NAIDOC week assembly next term, which happens in the first week as school resumes.
It was quite incredible, really, what we all brought into being, from just an hour and 20 minutes of exploring, of imagining and creating!
Yolande Brown, AIME
Yolande Brown, Rhian Miller and Will Wensley from AIME, at St Johns Anglican College
