Minding Bodies

How Physical Space, Sensation, and Movement Affect Learning

Susan Hrach

• Publisher: West Virginia University Press
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9781949199994, 9781949199987
• eBook ISBN: 9781952271007
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

What happens to teaching when you consider the whole body (and not just "brains on sticks")?

Starting from new research on the body—aptly summarized as "sitting is the new smoking"—Minding Bodies aims to help instructors improve their students' knowledge and skills through physical movement, attention to the spatial environment, and sensitivity to humans as more than "brains on sticks." It shifts the focus of adult learning from an exclusively mental effort toward an embodied, sensory-rich experience, offering new strategies to maximize the effectiveness of time spent learning together on campus as well as remotely.

Minding Bodies draws from a wide range of body/mind research in cognitive psychology, kinesiology, and phenomenology to bring a holistic perspective to teaching and learning. The embodied learning approaches described by Susan Hrach are inclusive, low-tech, low-cost strategies that deepen the development of disciplinary knowledge and skills. Campus change-makers will also find recommendations for supporting a transformational mission through an attention to students' embodied learning experiences.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Preface: No More Brains on Sticks
• Introduction: How Bodies Affect the Learning Process
• Part One. Awaken the Senses
• Part Two. Leverage the Body for Learning
• Part Three. Break through Boundaries
• Acknowledgments
• References
• Index