Expanding Embodied Curriculum Study With Insights of Classical Chinese Body Thought

• In Event: The Influence and Relevance of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism for Education, Self, and Research

Abstract

The “body” has recently become a site of intense inquiry in various fields including curriculum, which is exemplified as embodied curriculum study. Out of a critical review of well-established researches, it is brought to the fore that current prevalent embodied curriculum discourses are primarily based on western understanding of body, where classical Chinese body thought seems to have little voice. This paper carefully assesses the possibilities of expanding embodied curriculum with insights of classical Chinese body thought. Through examining the significance of Chinese body thought to embodied curriculum study, identifying its peculiar meanings of “body”, and articulating the rich implications, light is shed on an alternative understanding of body in curriculum, as well as embodied curriculum theory and practice.

Author

• Xuyang Qian, Hangzhou Normal University