The dominant view of education, at least for the last century or so, has had a strong emphasis on disciplining the mind. Increasingly, research is indicating that a holistic, “embodied” learning experience may be more beneficial for students who truly want to learn. Enter the emerging phrase “embodied education”.

About Embodied Education

An embodied education involves learning with more than just a mind – it involves a kinesthetic, body-learning, too. Psychology Today writes that “thought processes… can be constricted in a constricted body”¹. Toward counteracting constricted thoughts, embodied learning aims to incorporate movement, or, intentional motions that will solidify learning concepts.

Implementing Embodied Education

Educators are finding ways to apply embodiment to more traditionally cerebral disciplines, like math or reading. But researchers are also finding that engaging in fully-body learning as an extra-curricular activity can dramatically help develop broader skills that students need in the classroom.

For example, let’s say a student gets involved in acting classes as an extracurricular activity. Drama has amazing benefits for developing a kind of cognitive flexibility that’s essential for learning all kinds of subjects. One researcher writes that “drama as a learning medium…[allows] young children [to] actively gain skills in dialogue, collaboration, and creative problem solving by collectively pretending…”². By developing these skills that allow students to connect with their instructor or the material, they are more likely to retain the information.

Similarly, dance classes can accomplish many levels of learning at once. Attila³ theorizes that dance as embodied education achieves the following things (beyond learning actual dance):

• negotiation
• decision-making
• opinion-stating
• demonstrating own ideas
• performing difference
• appreciating diversity

Overall, students have much to gain by implementing embodied activities to supplement learning. If you are interested in enrolling your child at one of our Olathe, KS locations, let us know! We are offering some exciting acting classes and dance camps for our 2019 summer term – learn more here.

Sources:

¹https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/body-sense/200910/embodied-education

²https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10632913.2016.1244780

³https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3s7118mr#main