<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> A (Western) school is, among other things, a building with its own spatial formations and boundaries. In educational settings, the place for learning, as well as the human body in the place, is significant. In this paper, we explore the theory of the lived body as it was formulated by Maurice Merleau-Ponty and argue why we think this theory can be used fruitfully in educational research, and specifically in a study of learning places such as classrooms. We also discuss what a classroom is and can be drawing upon the work of Otto Friedrich Bollnow. As humans, we access the world through our bodies and the knowledge we develop is always embodied. The body and the world are two aspects of a reversibility, which Merleau-Ponty terms flesh. He also stresses that the body inhabits the world, and our corporeality can therefore be tied to the room-we are affected by and affect the room in a mutual interplay. In this paper, we develop this further and argue that teachers and students inhabit the classroom. Corporeality is therefore closely connected to spatiality and is understood as a prerequisite for being involved in relationships. We argue for the importance of exploring the notion of embodiment in educational settings with a special focus on the embodied classroom using the phenomenology of the life-world</abstract>

A (Western) school is, among other things, a building with its own spatial formations and boundaries. In educational settings, the place for learning, as well as the human body in the place, is significant. In this paper, we explore the theory of the lived body as it was formulated by Maurice Merleau-Ponty and argue why we think this theory can be used fruitfully in educational research, and specifically in a study of learning places such as classrooms. We also discuss what a classroom is and can be drawing upon the work of Otto Friedrich Bollnow. As humans, we access the world through our bodies and the knowledge we develop is always embodied. The body and the world are two aspects of a reversibility, which Merleau-Ponty terms flesh. He also stresses that the body inhabits the world, and our corporeality can therefore be tied to the room-we are affected by and affect the room in a mutual interplay. In this paper, we develop this further and argue that teachers and students inhabit the classroom. Corporeality is therefore closely connected to spatiality and is understood as a prerequisite for being involved in relationships. We argue for the importance of exploring the notion of embodiment in educational settings with a special focus on the embodied classroom using the phenomenology of the life-world

The embodied classroom - A phenomenological discussion of the body and the room

Professor Luleå University of Technology Department of Art, Communication and Education Campus Luleå 971 87 Luleå Sweden

Ph.D. Student Luleå University of Technology Department of Art, Communication and Education Campus Luleå 971 87 Luleå Sweden

Senior Lecturer Luleå University of Technology Department of Art, Communication and Education Campus Luleå 971 87 Luleå Sweden

Journal of Pedagogy

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

{"article-title":"The embodied classroom - A phenomenological discussion of the body and the room"}

A (Western) school is, among other things, a building with its own spatial formations and boundaries. In educational settings, the place for learning, as well...

The embodied classroom - A phenomenological discussion of the body and the room

Published Online: Jul 10, 2014

Page range: 11 - 23

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jped-2014-0001

Keywords
lived body, embodiment, spatiality, classroom, life-world phenomenology, Merleau-Ponty, Bollnow

© by Eva Alerby

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

The embodied classroom - A phenomenological discussion of the body and the room

Published Online: Jul 10, 2014

Page range: 11 - 23

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jped-2014-0001

Keywordslived body, embodiment, spatiality, classroom, life-world phenomenology, Merleau-Ponty, Bollnow

© by Eva Alerby

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Keywords
lived body, embodiment, spatiality, classroom, life-world phenomenology, Merleau-Ponty, Bollnow