We’ll meet again next summer.
“The presence of a single bird can change everything about a moment.”
Julie Zickefoose
It was a chilly afternoon, and we were spending time in the backyard when Haseli sat beside me and said, “I have a question to ask you!”
“Of course!” I replied.
“Are pirates real?” she asked with curiosity.
“Well, what do you think?” I responded.
“My sister said they are real!” she said confidently.
“I believe they’re real too, and some pirates are even good,” I added.
“No way!” she exclaimed, happy and surprised by my answer.
Just then, a group of birds flew across the sky above us.
“Wow! Birds!” Haseli cried out, pointing at them.
“Yes! I wonder where they’re going,” I said.
“I don’t know! Where are they going?” she asked, intrigued.
“Maybe they’re flying south because Canada is too cold,” I suggested.
“But winter just started!” Haseli pointed out.
“Ha, you’re right! Winter has just begun,” I agreed with a smile.
“That’s why they’re leaving! They are having an adventure because it will snow here in winter! I love snow!” she said excitedly.
“I wonder if they’ll come back,” I mused.
“I think they will, in the summer, when it’s hot!” she answered confidently.
“Maybe. I hope to see them again.” I said.
“Why don’t they take airplanes?” she suddenly asked.
“Birds don’t need airplanes to travel because they have wings. They can fly anywhere they want!” I explained.
Haseli thought for a moment, then smiled and said, “I wish I could fly like them, too! So I can fly back to Sri Lanka!”
I laughed softly. “That would be amazing, wouldn’t it? You could go anywhere, just like the birds.”
Reflects
Haseli’s questions about pirates and birds showed her interest in learning about the world. Her excitement about flying like the birds and her interesting but thoughtful question about why birds don’t use airplanes showed not only her imagination but also reflected the world she had come to know. It represents how children’s worlds are deeply connected with non-human species, reflecting what Taylor and Giugni (2012) describe as “common worlds.” in their article. It displays the unseparated relationship between humans and the environment in her world.
These conversations also demonstrate that children learn by weaving their observations and curiosity into “creative” expressions, which I think only adults feel “creative,” but in their common world, this inquiry is innate and entirely natural to them. It is similar to Vintimilla and Pacini-Ketchabaw’s (2020) notion of weaving pedagogy as a responsive and generative practice.
By nurturing this kind of interaction, we not only foster their understanding of the surroundings but also enhance their common world framework and encourage ethical and collaborative relationships with both human and more-than-human others, as mentioned in the Early Learning Framework (Atkinson, 2019, p.101), as well as relates to my pedagogy, exploring the world around them and the world they have grown to understand.
References
- Atkinson, K. (2019). British Columbia Early Learning Framework.
- Taylor, A., & Giugni, M. (2012). Common Worlds: Reconceptualising inclusion in early childhood communities. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 13(2), 108–119. https://doi.org/10.2304/ciec.2012.13.2.108
- Vintimilla, C. D., & Pacini-Ketchabaw, V. (2020). Weaving pedagogy in early childhood education: on openings and their foreclosure. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 28(5), 628–641. https://doi.org/10.1080/1350293x.2020.1817235