Phenomenology is the branch of philosophy that considers a person’s worldview and experiences as the sum of their thoughts, beliefs, actions and inactions insofar as the mind acts for and because of the body and as the body acts for and because of the mind. Phenomenology focuses on consciousness and the events, “phenomena”, that arise in being. It exists in opposition to the classic philosophical mind/body dichotomy espoused by Descartes and others. In its simplest incarnation, Embodiment is a term used to describe the totality of living in a body. In more complex terms we can consider Csordas’ ideas:
“If embodiment is an existential condition in which the body is the subjective source or intersubjective ground of experience, then studies under the rubric of embodiment are not “about” the body per se. Instead, they are about culture and experience insofar as these can be understood from the standpoint of bodily being-in-the-world. They require what I would call a cultural phenomenology concerned with synthesizing the immediacy of embodied experience with the multiplicity of cultural meaning in which we are always and inevitably immersed” (Csordas, 1999, p.143).
What is the phenomenological perspective?
Summary of reading, “Embodied Knowing in Online Environments“
In their article “Embodied Knowing in Online Environments”, authors Gloria Dall’Alba and Robyn Barnacle (2005) examine the topic of embodied learning in higher education from a phenomenological perspective. They divide their discussion of into six parts as they attempt to elucidate the meaning of our “technical turn away from the body…[in the midst of an]… epistemological reorienting toward the body” (Dall’Alba & Barnacle, 2005, p. 720).
I – Decontextualisation in Conventional Higher Education Programs
Dall’Alba and Barnacle state most learning processes involve acquiring progressively more complex knowledge and skills. Conventionally, this knowledge and these skills are decontextualised and not taught in the appropriate context. Once a student from a variety of professions has acquired the requisite information, they can then move onto the space where they will practice the associated skills that use this information. Rather, the authors would prefer to see graduate programs adopt teaching and learning strategies that show embodied learning.
| In conventional learning… | In Embodied Learning… |
| Knowledge and skills are acquired progressively from basic levels to more advanced levels (p.720). | Students are to build an understanding of when, how and why it is appropriate to use particular knowledge and skills and in what circumstance (p.720). |
| Knowledge is decontextualized from the practices to which they relate (p.720). | Students show an integration of knowing, acting and being in the form of embodied knowing (p.722). |
| Include periods of practice, work experience or substantial project work (p.721). | Students would develop ways of being appropriate to the areas of study (p.722). |
II – Embodied Knowing
Embodied learning has its base in phenomenological philosophy, and exists in opposition to traditional Western philosophy which places the intellect in the mind and the mind separate from the body. A strong proponent of this thinking was Descartes who held that while the intellect was in the mind, everything else not of the mind was “relegated to a dubious and uncertain ‘outside’”(Dall’Alba & Barnacle, 2005, p. 723). Learning could not be embodied because the body was of little relevance, and in great distance, to the mind.
Conversely, the phenomenological approach proposed by Husserl is that “consciousness can only engage with the world because it is already within, and a part of the physical corporeal world” (p.724). The authors go on to reference Merleau-Ponty, Heidegger, Gadamer and Massumi as they describe various aspects of the mind/body dichotomy and knowing through the body.
The authors effectively note, “tantalizingly, it appears that rather than being understood strictly as properties of either the mind or the body, intelligence and physical extension have the potential to be understood as qualities that are shared in an integration of mind and body” (p.725).
IV – Current uses of New Technologies in Higher Education
If online learning environments ask of students to leave their bodies behind, how will they continue to embody their learning? Dall’Alba and Barnacle (2005) highlight the work of Coomey and Stephenson, who “identified four features of online learning essential to good practice:” (p. 727)
- Incorporation of dialogue
- The active involvement of learners with learning materials or activities
- The provision of support
- Enabling learners to take appropriate control over their learning
The four traits are also identified as excellent features of ‘offline’ learning environments. As seen in other readings, the authors state there is no proof improved learning is a result of ICT and not improved/changed pedagogy. Additionally ICT is not driving a change in pedagogy.
V – Embodied Knowing and Technology
In this section, the authors explore in greater detail the phenomenological aspects of learning and their intersection with the use of technology. Heidegger is considered in greater detail for his work in “The Question Concerning Technology” and his view of technologies and their role in framing a person’s world. Philosopher Ihde is also explored for his description of a person’s relationship to technology. “Human technology relations have to be understood as just that: a relation” (Dall’Alba & Barnacle, 2005 p. 735). It is not a simple relationship, but rather one which “occurs as a two-way exchange that can manifest in multiple and manifold ways, the complexity and ambiguity of which defies singular determination” (p. 735).
VI – Opportunities and Limits of ICT’s in Higher Education Programs
Potential contributions of ICT’s to learning:
- Both the presence and non-presence of teachers in learning environments
- Synchronous/asynchronous, anonymous/identifiable communication between students and teachers
- Promotes the sharing of power between learner and teacher
- Enhances collaboration between students across borders
- Increases the diversity of the student group by providing variable spatio-temporal access
- Improves information searches
Potential limitations of ICT’s to embodied learning:
- Availability, access and support in the use of technology
- Teachers and student will need to be educated and supported in educational technology
Conclusion
Dall’Alba and Barnacle conclude by reminding the reader perception is mediated by technology. By challenging the mind/body and human/machine dichotomies, it is revealed that perception is embodied. Whether we are using a tool, a gadget, or the latest ICT’s, it is imperative to recognized that we are used by technology as it is used by us.
Visit Write Place, Write Time for a look at where authors write.
Summary of reading, “The Phenomenology of Space in Writing Online“
This was an additional article that proved to be compelling reading on the topic of phenomenological writing. Van Manen and Adams (2009) explore the effects of writing online, which does not necessarily describe writing that appears on the Internet, but rather writing accomplished in a technologically-mediated environment with the availability of connectedness at hand. Van Manen and Adams determine that technologies “speed up, accelerate, compel, [and] draw us into the virtual vortex of the experience of writing” (2009, p.21). The authors try to identify how writing online differs from writing with an unconnected device with the hopes of improving the pedagogy associated with online learning.
Van Manen and Adams end their article by summarizing:
“Writing is not the practice of some clever technique or the setting in motion of a word processor; neither is writing restricted to the moment where one sets pen to paper, or fingers to the keyboard. Writing has already begin, so to speak, when one has managed to enter the space of the text, the textorium. Online computer technologies intensify the phenomenology of writing […] while simultaneously raising questions about the potential loss of reflectivity, the unaccustomed yet easy publicness of publishing to the Web, and the uncharted complexity of human relation through text” (2009, p.21).
Discussion Questions
- What have you noticed about relating to your colleagues through text?
- What is your experience of approaching a “textorium” (someone else’s written word)?
- How do you relate to text that you create on a screen? How do you know when it is ‘good enough’ to be published?
- What could online courses do, or how could they change to reflect better a philosophy of embodied learning?
References
Csordas, T. J. (1999). Embodiment and cultural phenomenology. In G. Weiss & H. Haber (Eds.), Perspectives on embodiment: The intersections of nature and culture (pp.143-162). New York:Routledge.
Dall’Alba, G., & Barnacle, R. (2005). Embodied knowing in online environments. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 37(5), 719-744. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-5812.2005.00153.x
van Manen, M., & Adams, C. (2009). The phenomenology of space in writing online. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 41(1), 10-21. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-5812.2008.00480.x
Continue to Brain Theories Guide Page