Minding Bodies: How Physical Space, Sensation, and Movement Affect Learning

Teaching and Learning in Higher Education

by Susan Hrach

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.

Genres: Teaching, Academia, Nonfiction

224 pages, Paperback

Published May 1, 2021

Reviews

[Kim Schellin-Rog · Rating 1 out of 5]

I know I’m in a minority here but as much as I want to try the ideas in this book they seem unrealistic as well. Sure it would be great if you could take classes outside if your campus has that opportunity but what about those that don’t? Also love the idea of movement but does that take away from the content. Yes your students might be engaged for that but then you may lose them again when you get it the content.


I was hoping for so much more in this book but it felt so basic. Maybe it’s the discipline income from so I have already studied components of this book.

Also I felt that the writing was very rudimentary I felt I was reading the authors blog/personal thoughts more than a text.

[Monica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really appreciate the integration of research and practical application here. While I know how much movement helps my own learning, I haven’t been able to figure out how to integrate it into teaching, given classroom logistics and the reality of some students mobility issues. Reading this has me thinking about “movement” in a lot of ways now. Certainly, the library scavenger hunts I used to do are movement-based. Balling up paper and throwing them across the classroom is, too (what an interesting approach to collaborative brainstorming!). I’m now thinking of other ways to think about “movement” and teaching.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm getting really excited by all of the excellent work being done to consider students less as brains on sticks and more as embodied creatures. I love thinking about the ways that we can use our bodies to help us learn and the ways that we should be attentive to our haptic responses whilst doing so. Hrach's book is a wonderful example of this work, full of insights as well as really clear ideas for how we might incorporate them into our classrooms.

[Liz Norell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hrach's book is a timely, engaging, urgent volume in the WVU Teaching in Higher Ed series. She makes clear the need to engage the *whole* student (with our *whole* faculty selves) -- not just their "sticks on brains." This book may make you feel uncomfortable, but it does so in only the best ways. Highly recommended to all higher ed faculty. (And all educators, period.)

[Lorraine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very cool book. It's all about the science behind the intersection of cognition and movement and the way in which that should shape pedagogy. Lots of really great ideas here for incorporating movement into teaching, some of which are more doable than others depending on discipline, institution, and resources.

[Neregauzak]

2021/05/25