Embodied Learning, Conscious Bodies, and Critical Embodiment

• In Event: Exploring Multiple Languages in Emancipatory Praxis

Abstract

Late 20th century scholars have researched and advocated for the body as a learning site. Labeled as embodied knowledge, body cognition, experiential learning, psychomotor, kinesthetic, tacit, or somatic knowing, they revolve around the “understanding that learning involves the physical body” (Merriam & Baumgartner, 2020, p.236). I wondered if knowledge production is corporeally and emotionally embedded (Michelson, 2015), what role can learning from our bodies and emotions play in emancipatory pathways? Can we locate a conscious body in Freire's (1980) definition of conscientization? When approaching the mind and body as a dialectic unit (Michelson, 2015), is there any theorizing done to conceive critical embodiment as a foreseeable process, method, or framework? In this article, I explored how embodied learning is studied, applied, discussed or extended in the field of adult education, using Penn State’s LionSearch, ERIC (ProQuest) and the journal of New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education. The keywords embodied learning, adult education and Freire led me to 11 peer-reviewed articles, two conference proceedings, six books, and three books sections, among the fields of art, adult education, and critical theory. This article is a starting point for a broader research about the learning theories involved in the use and creation of board games to foster what I called critical embodiment. I found that the relationship between the body and emotions has been studied from as an emancipatory pathway in the adult education field and that there is a role for the body to play in Freire’s conscientization. Both findings worked as a starting point towards critical embodiment.

Author

• Kamil M. Geronimo-Lopez, Pennsylvania State University