ERIC Number: EJ972618
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2010
Pages: 5
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0840-8114
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Available Date: N/A
Embodying Environments: Walking through Your Body
Lane, Julia
Pathways: The Ontario Journal of Outdoor Education, v22 n2 p12-16 Win 2010
The author comes to outdoor education from a background in theatre training. In the theatrical world one knows that the body remembers what the mind does not, or cannot. There are thus entire theatrical programs dedicated to developing the senses and training the body to engage beyond the facility of the mind alone. Anyone who has ever smelled a familiar scent and been "transported" to a different time and place knows about the power of the body's sensations to trigger thoughts and memories that the mind had previously forgotten or tuned out. In this article, the author describes an activity that engages the unique capacity of the body to experience learning in new ways and also to retain this learning beyond the scope of the thinking mind alone. What is particularly amazing about this activity is that it is relevant for students from K-12 at almost all levels of development. It encourages students to connect with a place in the absence of right or wrong--there is only the student's individual experiences, reactions and expressions. This exercise engages the body, the senses, sound and movement, while encouraging the intellectual mind to take a backseat to the experience. The article also suggests simple ways this activity facilitates well-being.
Descriptors: Adventure Education, Elementary Secondary Education, Teaching Methods, Outdoor Education, Well Being, Learning Experience
Council of Outdoor Educators of Ontario. 1185 Eglinton Avenue East, Toronto, Ontario, M3C 3C6, Canada. e-mail: info@COEO.org; Web site: http://www.coeo.org/publication.htm
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A