Embodied Learning in Physical Activity: Developing Skills and Attunement to Interaction

Abstract

This article focuses on embodied learning and how it develops through the practice of a physical activity. It aims to clarify fundamental theoretical aspects of the development that takes place when practitioners enhance their way of participating in the activity. Pursuing this aim, I draw on the phenomenological description of embodiment processes and argue, that despite differences in the inherent logic and motivation for engaging in different kinds of physical activities, a phenomenologically based understanding of skills constructively helps describe the development acquired through practicing a physical activity. I thereby argue that descriptions of how skills are incorporated and exercised are relevant to analyses of embodied learning processes taking place in sporting as well as non-sporting activities, including recreational mountain-biking, expressive and creative dance activities, and improvisational practices. In continuation of this argument, I also suggest that practitioners' capability to attune to the interactions of the activity contribute yet another theoretical aspect we should consider, when aiming at describing the embodied learning that takes place in different kinds of physical activities. This suggestion finds support in recent work on action and interaction.

Exploring Movement in Creative Dance: Introducing ‘Dancemblage’ in Physical Education Teacher Education

“…In this section, we will present a background of movement exploration as a part of creative dance in PE and PETE. Movement exploration is a common part of creative dance and signals the use of pedagogies whereby students are given opportunities for embodied exploration so they can expand their movement possibilities and gain new movement experiences (Frisk & Karlsson, 2022;Ørbaek, 2018;Ravn, 2022). Several studies emphasise the significance of movement exploration for learners, following a human-centred view seen repeatedly in educational research.…”

Smart Environments for Diverse Cognitive Styles: the Case of Autism

“…This aspect of interaction with the environment and the opportunities it offers us is nicely captured in work on Skilled Intentionality, by Bruineberg and colleagues (2021), emphasising how an environment normatively presents to an agent. More precisely, as we engage with an environment, we have an affective sense of how that engagement is going, whether we're coping well in maintaining a grip on our objectives, or whether we're disattuned, and failing to keep a proper grip on the environment (see also, Bruineberg and Rietveld 2014;Bruineberg, Chemero & Rietveld 2019;Ravn, 2022). This means that embodied interactions with the environment are not solely based on our sensory experiences, but also our emotional experiences and our bodily movements and sensations (Fuchs, 2012; Phenomenologists posit that embodied attunement is a fundamental aspect of our experience of the world, as it allows us to navigate and interact with our surroundings in a meaningful way (Fuchs, 2002;Gallagher, 2008).…”