Improvised Soundscapes for Curriculum in a New Movement: Toward Resonant Literacy and Happiness

• In Event: Charting Alternative Lived Curriculum Pathways

Abstract

On the front of some symphonic gongs, the symbols Tai Loi are inscribed; translated from Cantonese or Mandarin - ‘safety, peacefulness or tranquility have arrived.’ This paper explores the curation of improvised gong sounds and curriculum and is presented in three movements, or parts as in a Sonata form of musical composition. In the first movement, Exposition, I share performative and autoethnographic insights of being a gong player. The second movement, Development, is a performative sound remix including excerpts of participants’ thoughts from a sonic ethnographic study conducted from 2019-2020. In the final movement, Recapitulation, I summarize a new sonic addition for curriculum – a conception of resonant literacy, which includes awareness of vibratory interconnectivity with self and other sentient beings.

Author

• Stacey Bliss, University of Regina