Moving to Change
A year long teacher training project on facilitating embodied spaces in classrooms for socio-emotional ethical learning and content that I led for 10 different teachers impacting 15 classrooms and approximately 150-200 students.
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The course explored the scope and depth of embodied pedagogies in a classroom and eventually saw the contextualisation of it in different classrooms and different forms of understanding: socio-emotional learning, math, science, social studies and english. It included Masterclasses, Lesson Planning and practical facilitation with support.
The workshop let the participants delve into their own socio-emotional and ethical learning via embodied practices such that they build awareness and humility that democratises classrooms in their learning.
The project was impacted by the challenges that the global pandemic brought with it. It coloured the relationships that were built, it stoked the burnout for the facilitator and the participant and the development of the body-mind.
However the project was successful in creating a resource bank for other teachers. It led to shifts in perspectives, practices and brought people closer to and back into their bodies at a time when distance was being encouraged in more ways than one.
Insights received
"Feel kind of robbed of the opportunity to have been able to try out these activities in person with the kids. This year has sucked! But I feel like I've up-skilled myself and now have something better to add to my classroom apart from my already existing knowledge base. Thank you for that!!! I think I have a long way to go with respect to my relationship with my body and being kind to it and loving it but I think I'm on the right track now :)"
"It added a different perspective to pedagogy and class room learning methods to me. Using the awareness of the body to depart knowledge is simple and beautiful connection which makes a class even more engaging"
"This Workshop opened perspectives to me that I never explored. Embodied pedagogies especially in content rewrote the concept of learning and teaching for me. The workshop was a process for me where first it was about I being comfortable and expressive with my body, later coming to a stage where I am comfortable hoisting the same for my kids."
"The realisation that the dialogue you have with your body is ongoing was liberating. This workshop helped me address things that I have always been intimidated and uncomfortable even thinking about. I now also know how important it is to create safe spaces for kids to feel comfortable in and has helped me think about ways in which I can go about doing this in my own classroom."
