Embodied Education: A Pathway Towards More Integrated Learning

Abstract

This study seeks to argue that the embodied approach to cognition provides a comprehensive theoretical framework to revise some of our educational practices. Any educational activity presupposes some underlying assumption about human nature. Current dominant mainstream educational set-up is based upon disembodied accounts of the human mind, which creates a rift between learners and their environment. It results in exam-oriented and achievement-based learning which is not conducive for the development of critical thinking and exploratory mindset among children. On the other hand, an embodied approach stresses the role of the full body and the rest of the environment in the learning process, and this is of immense relevance to devise better pedagogical practices. In this study, we shall try to explain how embodiment can help reduce the psychological gap between the learner and the environment, thereby making education more integrated and inherently meaningful.