Embodied Reflexivity Through the Arts: An Introduction

Abstract

Emerging from a global health crisis that shone the light on the effects of alienation, isolation, and physical and spiritual vulnerability, we wondered what we might offer to re/center humanness and remind us of individual and collective possibilities to create positive change. With this call in our hearts and bodies, our special issue began to take shape. We are three scholars at different stages of our careers and with intersecting areas of expertise, but who are all grounded in reflexive ways of being, embodied ways of knowing, and artful ways of engaging. We acknowledge the scholars(hip) in each of these distinct areas and are grateful for the foundation on which we build. Thus, with our collective yearnings to centre an integrated way of at/tending to an emergent process of re/making and re/imagining knowledge, we offer this special issue with three intentions: to advance arts-based educational research in developing critical, social, and relational consciousness; to evoke/provoke embodied pedagogical practices that transform teaching/learning; and to contribute to re/humanizing education (Lyle, 2022) and social justice reform.