Dictionary of embodied cognition: We know it works, but we lack the language

Role-playing as cell parts, rotating as celestial bodies or gesturing to argue a point are all ways of using the body to understand the world. These are techniques that many teachers already use intuitively, but which can be difficult to put into precise words.

"One of the challenges with embodied cognition is that it originates from research in cognitive science, and it can be quite abstract," says Magdalena Kersting, assistant professor at the Department of Science Education.

The network group SENSES, which consists of teachers and researchers in science education, has begun a process to find the right words for what the body can offer in learning situations.

"Among other things, we aim to compile a dictionary of concepts – not as a simple translation from cognitive science, but in collaboration with teachers to find a common language," says Magdalena Kersting.

"Embodied learning is a new learning theory that provides a more holistic way of understanding learning, which is also in line with our latest knowledge about the interaction between the brain and the body. Our hope is that a dictionary can help spread the understanding of what it means for learning and teaching to include the body in the equation."

SENSES (Science Education Network for Supporting Embodied Sense-Making) is part of the research programme for teaching science and mathematics in upper secondary schools.

No revolution 

Although embodied learning can be understood as a new paradigm for what it means to learn and teach, it in no way pulls the rug out from under existing practice, Magdalena Kersting emphasizes.

"We know that many teachers already use embodied approaches in their teaching. Maybe because they have good experience with movements, role-playing or bodily metaphors. Maybe because it intuitively makes sense to them."

The goal of SENSES is therefore not to revolutionize teaching, but to make it easier to notice when the body can be involved advantageously and how.

"It's about making embodiment explicit, so that you as a teacher can see why embodiment works well in an activity or when it may not help," says Magdalena Kersting.

Embodiment is not a holy grail.

"For example, we all have a very bodily experience of gravity, as something that holds us down. But this understanding does not necessarily help us understand gravity as the effect of curved spacetime, as the general theory of relativity describes it," says Magdalena Kersting.

"That's why we need to make embodiment a tool that we can use when it makes sense."

Design principles

At the latest workshop in the SENSES network, teachers and researchers have brainstormed together about which particular scientific concepts are difficult to get students to understand - as well as which activities the teachers used to teach them.

"Together, we identified many of the parts of the activities that used embodied principles. In this way, it is very much a co-creation between teachers and researchers, where we try to reflect together on our practice and how we can do it better," says Magdalena Kersting.

"Our approach is significantly different from holding a personal development course for teachers. We trust the process and believe that something good will come out of a group of professionals with different backgrounds working together for a common goal."

In the long term, the joint work will result in some design principles for the use of embodied approaches – e.g. that the embodied element must have something to do with what you are going to learn.

"It's probably perfectly fine to solve an equation and then make a jumping jack. But so far, it seems that embodiment can really help learning when there is congruence - that is, a close link between the material and the movement."

The SENSES network will continue its work in the new year. If you are interested in what the group has found so far, you can hear about it at the INDsigt seminar on December 4th. You can find the complete dictionary on embodied learning here.