Transformative learning through movement: a pedagogical exploration

By: Sarah McQueston

Keywords: movement and dance education; arts education; kinesthetic awareness; embodied knowledge; meditation and mindfulness; transformative learning.

As a teacher and movement researcher, I am interested in exploring the transformative value of dance/movement and mindfulness practices, such that it is inclusive of all bodies and aesthetic sensibilities, and implemented by members of the school community at a variety of levels of education systems. Over the past decade, as an educator in the fields of dance and science, and professional contemporary dancer, I have explored different ways of introducing movement, dance, and meditation into many people’s lives. In doing so, I have witnessed first-hand the transformative value of movement, with my clients, students and colleagues. Observing the experiences of others, and the transformational progression over time, I have noted an increased awareness of personal health, greater attunement to bodily intuitions, expanded capacity for empathy, and increased senses of self-identity, self-esteem and empowerment, observations that echo claims in the literature (e.g. Houston, 2005; Ehrich, 2010).I strongly believe that the education system could greatly benefit from a wider integration of these practices.

The culmination of my professional and personal experiences up until now have shaped and confirmed my aspiration to explore how artistic- and emotionally-based movement education can transform lives. It is at this point in my career that I desire to deepen my study of how movement, infused with dance and meditation and driven by physical impulses, can improve and inform the educational experience for all people..

My educational philosophy is based on the value of praxis, stemming from feminist and critical pedagogical theory. I explore ways to create educational spaces that encourage and nurture the ability to imagine different ways of feeling and being in the world. I am interested in exploring and developing a pedagogical practice that addresses the whole self – drawing upon the body and movement in order to provide ways of understanding ourselves, our communities and the world. Educational philosophers such as John Dewey and Paulo Freire have advocated for an active and constructive participation in the life of the community in order to develop that community’s capacity. As such, I am interested in a curriculum that integrates emotional and creative ideals that foster understanding, inclusion and transformation. For example the movements that arise from emotions evoked in celebrations, such as victory celebrations in sporting events, often have participants physicalize their ecstatic feelings. I believe that the interchange between the emotions evoked from external circumstances, and the physicalization of these emotions is reciprocal (see Morgan, Brandth, & Kvande, 2005). Through kinaesthetic empathy, we can feel excitement and empowerment – and by physicalizing such movements, we can cultivate these positive feelings in our own bodies. From a dance perspective, music can also be a great catalyst for evoking positive emotions and their resulting movements. I believe that movement can be a powerful vehicle for the cultivation, initiation and deepening of ideas, ways of seeing and understanding. Currently there is limited value placed on praxis in the Canadian education system.The aim of my research is to give students the opportunities and tools to listen to the knowledge held within their bodies, to express it, reflect on it and to share it. This is done through mindfulness methods designed to increase physical, sensorial, emotional and intellectual awarenesses, in order to receive, process and share embodied knowledge, to deepen one’s self understanding, and to build a compassionate community.  

I am specifically interested in studying the effects of a daily movement/dance and mindfulness practice on the school community as a whole. It is important to acknowledge the incredible capacity our bodies have to express and receive information, and to affect our environment and community. In order to effectively cultivate this embodied way of processing and understanding, it is important to be empathetic, compassionate and to have a ‘big picture’ awareness (Kretchmar, 2013).  One needs to view wholeness not just from an individual perspective, but from the eyes of community, society and from a global perspective. I have had, and have witnessed, the most impactful understandings when I or others are moving through ideas with this ‘big picture’ awareness in mind. Dancers  work to increase their understanding of their own bodies and the bodies of others in the community, and thus practice acquiring knowledge by tacit means, and processing that knowledge through their entire being (Borghi & Cimatti, 2010). The mindfulness component challenges the mind to be open to receiving new ways of seeing and perceiving, while also aiming to open doors to new understandings, clarify, and deepen one’s own knowledge (Burke, 2009).

My career goals are rooted in my desire to advocate for the value of dance and physical activity in education. As such, I am working to improve positive health and wellbeing, holistic understandings of the self and its relationship to the community, and critical thinking. Through dance, the overarching aim of this work is  to build compassionate and creative communities and enable transformation of the lives of all involved.

References

Borghi, A. & Cimatti, F. (2010). Embodied cognition and beyond: acting and sensing the body. Neuropsychologia,(48), 763-773.

Brandth, B. Kvande, E. & Morgan, D. (2005). Gender, Bodies and Work. Hampshire: Ashgate.

Burke, C. A. (2009). Mindfulness-based approaches with children and adolescents: a preliminary review of current research in an emergent field. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 19(2), 133-144.

Houston, S. (2005). Participation in community dance: a road to empowerment and transformation? New Theatre Quarterly, 21(2), 166-177.

Kretchmar, S. (2013). Mind-body holism, paradigm shifts, and education. Fair Play, 1(1), 28-43.