The purpose of this study lies in investigating the embodied learning of applied aesthetics in our sense of balance in the educational space and how it can contribute to change one of a present major public health related problem, the problem of sedentary behaviour in school and society. The investigation is not an effect study, but aims to question our sensorial cultural practice of applied aesthetics, by looking at how we use our ability to balance in the educational space.  Introducing and including elements from the field of art, the aesthetics field of knowledge and life science, the question of acknowledging embodied learning is explored mainly in the sensorial cultural praxis of our ability to balance. Embodied praxis is represented by the Alexander Technique and Elsa Gindler’s concept, with relation to modern neuromechanics. An educational view of knowledge that unilaterally enhances and rewards abstraction as well as theoretical thinking, by validating matrices and merit points, creates unbalance. Treating this unbalance solely with physical exercises enhances the conflict of how to use learning time in school and seems not to lead to a solution. By seeing the educational space as a space of embodied practice the investigation is built around participants’ sense of balance in embodied learning during a school day. The established sensorial cultural practice of how we are using our sense of balance in movement responses is observed during a school day and in a complementary inquiry explored and discussed with the children. Also the time of sitting is measured. The qualitative analysis or reading in this research of embodied learning is done by analysing directions or pointing in poise in momentum for finding inclusive or exclusive corresponsive sensorial tendencies in relation to sensorial cultural practice, including individual, social and regulative aspects. The minor quantitative part in this investigation is looking at the time spent sitting during the school day in the given conditions for defining the pupils’ sedimentary behaviour. The found embodied learning was not noticably acknowledged and not commented by the teacher.  The learning sessions were varying in space, form and in their content. In spite of the attempt of the teacher to create moveability, the children were sitting 54%  or more of the day in school. Inclusive dynamic responsiveness gave ability to balance and promoted embodied learning. Isolated or excluded responsiveness did not noticably engage the sense of balance and did not promote embodied learning. It resulted into pointing or directing downwards and leaning forward, backward or inwards into supportive furniture in accordance with gravitation. The study finds that inclusive responsiveness increases aligned balancing in poise in momentum. In its conclusion the study recognizes the value and effect of physical activity, but argues that moving to be healthy is not effectively changing sedentary behaviour. It argues instead for embodied health sufficient moving on a general sensorial level.  To be able to use our sense of balance as function of intelligence, we still need to increase acknowledgment of our evolutionary inherited skill further. / Studiens syfte ligger i att undersöka möjligheten, att med embodied learning, lärandet genom estetisk sensorisk kommunikation och förtrogen inlärning, finna möjligheter att påverka ett av de stora folkhälsoproblemen, stillasittande beteende i skolan och i samhället. Arbetet utgör ingen effektstudie, utan syftar till att ifrågasätta vår sensoriska kulturella praxis och estetik, genom att undersöka hur vi använder oss av vårt balanssinne i skolan.  En pedagogisk syn på kunskap som ensidigt främjar och belönar abstraktion liksom teoretisk konception, genom meritpoäng och bedömningsmatriser, skapar obalans. Att genom enbart fysisk aktivitet försöka lösa denna obalans, förstärker konflikten om hur tiden i skolan ska fördelas och verkar inte leda till en tillfredsställande lösning av problemet.  Studien har en tvärvetenskaplig karaktär, där utbildningsvetenskapliga aspekter, konstnärlig forskning och naturvetenskap först presenteras och sedan inkluderas i frågan om hur embodied learning i relation till vår färdighet att balansera är igenkänd i skolans sensoriska kulturella praxis och estetik. Embodied praxis och dess användning, representerad genom Alexandertekniken och Elsa Gindlers koncept, är sedan närmare diskuterad, samt dess relation till modern neuromekanik. Genom att se skolan som en plats för embodied praxis, estetisk sensorisk praktik och förtrogenhetspraktik, bygger undersökningen på deltagarnas användning av balanssinnet, sett i hållningen i ögonblicket under en skoldag. Etablerad sensorisk kulturell praxis om hur vi använder vår förmåga att vara i balans observeras från ett intersubjektivt perspektiv. Detta kompletteras med samtal och enstaka explorationer, som utgör endast en mindre del i undersökningen. Även tiden för stillasittande mäts.  Den framtagna empirin av embodied learning analyseras kvalitativt. Detta sker genom att analysera riktningar i hållningen i ögonblicket, för att hitta inkluderande eller exkluderande motsvarande sensoriska tendenser i relation till individuell, social och reglerande sensorisk kulturell praxis. Den mindre kvantitativa delen i denna undersökning består av att mäta tiden som eleverna sitter under skoldagen, för att kunna analysera elevernas sedimentära beteende.   Resultaten visar att embodied learning inte var märkbart igenkänd och inte kommenterad av läraren. Undervisningspassen var varierande i rum, form och innehåll. Trots lärarens ihållande försök att skapa rörlighet, satt barnen minst 54 % av skoldagen. Inkluderande dynamisk sensorisk korrespondens resulterade i en väl fungerande funktionell användning av balanssinnet och främjade embodied learning. Isolerande eller uteslutande respons främjade inte den funktionella användningen av balanssinnet eller embodied learning märkbart. Resultatet visar också att elevernas hållningar största delen av tiden, visade riktningar som pekade nedåt, de lutade sig framåt, bakåt eller inåt och sjönk ner i möblerna i enlighet med tyngdlagen. Visade de en inkluderande korrespondens, ökade balanssinnets fungerande i hållningen i ögonblicket. Studien tillstår i sin slutsats att fysisk aktivitet är nödvändig och har effekt, men argumenterar, att röra sig för att vara frisk är inget effektivt sätt för att förändra stillasittande beteende. Resonemanget i studien leder i stället till att vi behöver röra oss generellt på ett införlivat hälsofrämjande sätt. För att kunna använda oss av vårt balanssinne på ett intelligent sätt, behöver vi fortfarande fördjupa förståelsen av vår evolutionärt nedärvda färdighet ytterligare. / <p>This interdisciplinary study in educational science includes elements from the field of art and aesthetics as well as life science.  The investigation is not an effect study. It is about our sensorial cultural use of balance, from the perspective of an embodied practitioner.</p>

abstract: This dissertation describes the development of a state-of-the-art immersive media environment and its potential to motivate high school youth with autism to vocally express themselves. Due to the limited availability of media environments in public education settings, studies on the use of such systems in special education contexts are rare. A study called Sea of Signs utilized the Situated Multimodal Art Learning Lab (SMALLab), to present a custom-designed conversational scenario for pairs of youth with autism. Heuristics for building the scenario were developed following a 4-year design-based research approach that fosters social interaction, communication, and self-expression through embodied design. Sea of Signs implemented these heuristics through an immersive experience, supported by spatial and audio-visual feedback that helped clarify and reinforce students' vocal expressions within a partner-based conversational framework. A multiple-baseline design across participants was used to determine the extent to which individuals exhibited observable change as a result of the activity in SMALLab. Teacher interviews were conducted prior to the experimental phase to identify each student's pattern of social interaction, communication, and problem-solving strategies in the classroom. Ethnographic methods and video coding were used throughout the experimental phase to assess whether there were changes in (a) speech duration per session and per turn, (b) turn-taking patterns, and (c) teacher prompting per session. In addition, teacher interviews were conducted daily after every SMALLab session to further triangulate the nature of behaviors observed in each session. Final teacher interviews were conducted after the experimental phase to collect data on possible transfer of behavioral improvements into students' classroom lives beyond SMALLab. Results from this study suggest that the activity successfully increased independently generated speech in some students, while increasing a focus on seeking out social partners in others. Furthermore, the activity indicated a number of future directions in research on the nature of voice and discourse, rooted in the use of aesthetics and phenomenology, to augment, extend, and encourage developments in directed communication skills for youth with autism. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Media Arts and Sciences 2013

Current computer-assisted pronunciation training (CAPT) tools are too focused on what technologies can do, rather than focusing on learner needs and pedagogy. They also lack an embodied perspective on learning. This thesis presents a Research through Design project exploring what kind of interactive design features can support second language learners’ pronunciation learning of segmental speech sounds with embodiment in mind. ComPron was designed: an open simulated prototype that supports learners in learning perception and production of new segmental speech sounds in a second language, by comparing them to native language speech sounds. ComProm was evaluated through think-aloud user tests and semi-structured interviews (N=4). The findings indicate that ComPron supports awareness of speech sound-movement connections, association building between sounds, and production of sounds. The design features that enabled awareness, association building, and speech sound production support are discussed and what ComPron offers in comparison to other CAPT-tools.

Syftet med denna studie har varit att ta reda på hur en interventionsstudie med intensivläsning under en femveckorsperiod, fyra dagar i veckan, med material som är anpassat efter elevernas intressen påverkar elevernas läsförståelse. Metoder som används i studien är enskilda intervjuer med elever, observationer och DLS- test som är ett diagnosinstrument för att mäta elevers läsoch skrivförmåga. De teoretiska utgångspunkter som undersökningen grundar sig på är den sociokulturella lärandeteorin, kognitivism samt embodied learning. Den sociokulturella lärandeteorin valdes för att eleverna i undersökningen lär i samspel med andra, kognitivism för att förstå hur barn tänker. Embodied learning där fokus på den kroppsliga aktiviteten ligger som grund för att förstå hur eleven använder sin kropp vid intensivläsning. Tidigare forskning visar i PISA- undersökningar att svenska elever har en allt sämre läsförmåga. Resultatet i studien visar på kroppens betydelse för att förstå det som läses men även den avsaknad av reflektion i läsundervisningen för att eleverna ska få förståelse för hur processen läsning går till. / The purpose of this study has been to find out how an intervention study with intensive reading during a five-week period, four days a week, with the material specifically adjusted to the pupils’ interests impacts their reading comprehension. The methods used in the study is individual interviews with the pupils, observations and DLS-tests which is a diagnosticinstrument for measuring the pupils reading and writing ability. The theories of this study are based on sociocultural learning theory, cognitivism and embodied learning. The sociocultural learning theory was chosen because the students in this study learn together with other, cognitivism because trying to understand how children think. Embodied learning where focus lies on activity of the body to understand how student use their body when they learn intensive reading. Earlier studies show in PISA studies that the Swedish pupils is getting lesser and lesser reading ability. The results in the study shows the body’s importance in understanding what we read. But it also shows the lack of reflection in the reading instructions for the pupils to understand how the process of reading works.

Skolan ska eftersträva att alla elever erfar daglig fysisk aktivitet under hela skoldagen, vilket ställer krav på samtliga lärare inom skolans verksamhet. Syftet med studien är därför att bidra med kunskap om vilka olika arbetssätt och uppfattningar lärare har om rörelseintegrerad undervisning i engelskämnet, samt vilka resultat de uppfattar sig uppnå med metoden. Detta avser jag uppfylla genom att intervjua fem lärare i årskurs 4–6. Följande frågeställningar har använts:  - Hur och med vilka argument beskriver lärare att de använder rörelse i kombination med språkinlärning i engelska? - På vilka sätt bidrar rörelseintegrerad engelskundervisning till elevers lärande enligt lärare? - Vilka möjligheter respektive hinder erfar lärare med att integrera rörelse i engelskundervisningen?  Föreliggande studie tar utgångspunkt i ramfaktorteorin samt kognitivismen och idén om förkroppsligat lärande. Studien genomfördes genom semistrukturerade intervjuer med fem lärare i årskurs 4–6. Resultatet visar att lärare implementerar rörelse i engelskundervisningen genom arbetssätten drama, TPR, rörelselekar och rörelsesånger, i syfte att utveckla elevers vokabulär, hörförståelse och kommunikation i tal. Enligt lärarnas uppfattningar hjälper dessa rörelseintegrerade arbetssätt elever att befästa ord och begrepp samt förstå en kontext, på grund av kopplingen mellan rörelsen och det språkliga innehållet. Möjligheterna som lärarna ser med att integrera rörelse är att det skapar delaktighet och variation i engelskundervisningen. Hinder som lärarna uppfattar är att externa faktorer, såsom små lokaler, kan påverka hur den rörelseintegrerade undervisningen gestaltar sig. / The school should strive towards all students encountering daily physical activity throughout the school day, which puts demand on the entirety of teachers within the school’s operation. The purpose of the study is therefore to contribute with knowledge about what different working methods and perceptions teachers have about movement-based teaching in the English subject, along with what results they perceive to achieve with the method. I intend to fulfill this by interviewing five teachers in grades 4-6. The following questions have been used:  - How and with what arguments do the teachers describe their use of movement in combination with language learning in English? - In what ways does movement-based English teaching contribute to students’ learning according to teachers? - What opportunities and/or obstacles do the teachers experience when integrating movement in their English teaching?  The present study stems from the frame factor theory, along with the cognitive theory and the idea of embodied learning. The study was carried out through semi-structured interviews with five teachers in grades 4-6. The result shows that the teachers implement movement in their English teaching through drama, TPR, movement games and movement songs with the purpose to develop students’ vocabulary, listening comprehension and communication through speech. According to the teachers’ perceptions this movement-based way of teaching helps students consolidate words and expressions, and it also helps them understand a context, due to the connection between the movement and linguistic content. The opportunities that the teachers see with integrating movement is that it encourages participation and creates variety in the English teaching. Obstacles that the teachers experience are that external factors, such as small premises, can affect how the movement-based teaching takes shape.

In order to address complex challenges and bring about transformations, change agents need to possess the necessary capacities. Contemplative pedagogies such as Social Presencing Theater (SPT) may play a crucial role in developing such capacities. Therefore, this thesis explores how the embodiment method SPT could contribute to Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), in order to support change agents in development. SPT and its learning environment, outcomes and possible contributions to ESD were researched through surveys with twelve participants of a two-day SPT training, as well as interviews with eleven SPT facilitators. According to the results, SPT has the potential to offer relevant contemplative practices that cultivate the capacities that leaders need to address complexity and uncertainty. The findings suggest that as a learning process, SPT can foster capacities within change agents and groups, promoting awareness and mental flexibility to recognize and work with dynamic systems. SPT also appears to foster specific learning outcomes, including several key competencies for sustainability. We recommend applying SPT in the context of strategic leadership development for sustainability, to promote sustainability education that is strategic, holistic, and innovative.

This thesis aims to understand the role of facilitated nature experiences for leadersas a step towards sustainability. Qualitative interviews were conducted with facilitators andparticipants of nature-based leadership programs (NBLP) and analyzed regarding 1) Transformative Learning Conditions, 2) Transformative Learning Outcomes, and 3) Professional Changes inspired by NBLP participation. Results show that facilitators foster Transformative Learning through six main conditions and that Transformative Learning ishappening as participants experience an increased understanding of interrelatedness within our socio-ecological system, change in worldviews, as well as realignment with purpose and gained confidence. Our findings indicate some evidence of professional changes after programcompletion that show potential to move society towards sustainability. The reconstruction of worldviews and increased human-nature connectedness depicts the potential for NBLP to address a deep leverage point that is highly effective for systemic change towards sustainability. Our research provides valuable insights for practitioners in the fields of education for sustainable development and sustainability leadership to increase both conscious and subconscious ecological systems understanding. The authors suggest NBLP should be further explored by decision-makers and researchers.

I en nära samverkan med yrkesverksamma svensklärare utreder och prövar föreliggande studie hur undervisningen i litteraturhistoria kan utvecklas i praktiken. Med utgångspunkt i elevers och svensklärares uttryckta erfarenheter av arbete med litteraturhistoriska texter konstrueras en didaktisk design. Den didaktiska designen omsätter tidigare forskning rörande förkroppsligat lärande i en lektionsserie på sex lektioner där fokus ligger på bearbetning av en litteraturhistorisk text med hjälp av fyra fysiska komponenter: gester, röstläge-intonation, en visuell komponent samt en auditiv komponent. Iscensättningen av den didaktiska designen studeras med en triangulering som består av observationer, fokusgruppsamtal med elever och lärarintervjuer samt skriftliga exit tickets. Genom en tematisk analys visar resultatet att eleverna trots ett utmanande språk erövrar den litteraturhistoriska texten, engagerar sig i olika erbjudna livsvärldar, minns textinnehåll och inkarnerar nyvunnen kunskap med hjälp av kroppsliga representationer. Förklaringen spåras till kroppen och sinnets enhet samt det meningsskapande multimodala perspektivet, där föreliggande studie också visar den sociokulturella kontextens betydelse. Litteraturdidaktiska ställningstaganden diskuteras vidare och konstaterar att fysiska komponenter kan användas för att gynna en omfattande läsupplevelse, där både kropp och sinne förses med den litteraturhistoriska textens narrativ på olika sätt. Slutligen föreslås fysiska komponenter som en väg in i texten, vilket i sin tur potentiellt kan leda till ökad måluppfyllelse. / In collaboration with professional teachers who teach the Swedish language, this study explores how to develop teaching in history of literature within the field of design-based research. A didactic design is created and tried in an authentic learning situation. This didactic design refers to earlier studies of embodied learning. In a series of six lessons which focus on working with texts from the Enlightenment, four physical components are incorporated in the design: gestures, voices, a visual component and an auditive component. The staging of the didactic design is investigated through a triangulation consisting of observations, group conversations with pupils, interviews with the teacher and written exit- tickets by pupils. Through a thematic analysis the result shows that students, despite the challenging language, conquer the texts from the Enlightenment, engages themselves in different presented lifeworlds, remember contents and incorporates newfound knowledge while using bodily representations. The explanation is traced to the unity of body and mind and to the multimodal perspective that creates meaning. The presented study also shows the meaning of a sociocultural context while working with literature. Didactic literature positions are discussed further and state that physical components can be used as an entrance into texts from different time periods. All thanks to extensive reading experience, where body and mind are provided with narrative through multiply senses. The discussion continues and suggests that due to the fact that pupils are experiencing the narrative in the texts, they are able to perform more extensive analysis which is the focus of the curriculum.

No description available.

In the context of Chicanx experiences in the United States, where varying generations of Chicanxs experience bicultural realities, this study shows how embodied knowledge performed through the body’s movements in folklórico dance by Chicanx youth from multiple generations, acts as a mechanism for reconnecting youth to cultural ties, reevaluating educational practices, and emplacing within youth, the ability to foster the confidence to express and create imagined futures. Data collection incorporated a series of interviews with eight Chicanx youth and adults who have either taught or danced folklórico in the Phoenix, Los Angeles, or Coachella Valley areas. Interview participants revealed a strong sense of cultural orgullo that acts as a bedrock for their cultural identity affirmation and reclamation. This orgullo and other cultural knowledges such as familismo and collective consciousness were emphasized through pedagogies of embodiment. Dancers described learning these cultural knowledges not just through the embodiment of physical dance steps but through the embodiment of social customs honored by their folklórico communities. Much of these social customs centered around fostering and maintaining relationships of genuine, holistic caring. These relationships were foundational for personal, mental, and emotional growth of dancers. Through these relationships, individual identities found the support to thrive within collective communities. Given the influx of educational pedagogies that attempt to depersonalize, depoliticize, and de-emotionalize the education through the implementation of tracking systems, standardized tests, and culturally inaccessible curriculums, these stories suggest alternate forms of learning that may account for students’ entire well-being. While this project is very much about reclaiming historical pasts, it is also about re-envisioning educational possibilities, discovering inner potentials and building collective communities that recognize and rejoice in those potentials. Through this study, a deeper understanding of the functions of movement and dance will strengthen platforms that push arts education and ethnic studies to greater educationalist agendas.