Teaching embodied knowledge through narratives

Abstract

Introduction: This paper examines how embodied knowledge can be understood and taught across school subjects by dissolving the enduring body–mind dualism rooted in classical philosophy. Drawing on Dewey's critique of this dualism and his concept of a body–mind continuum, the authors situate physical education (PE) as a paradigmatic case for exploring embodied knowledge in teaching and learning. Historically, schooling privileged cognition, treating the body instrumentally and marginalizing bodily experience in curricula. Although PE eventually became institutionalized, its epistemic foundation remained conceptually split between bodily practice and abstract reflection. This paper addresses three key issues: (1) the historical and conceptual persistence of the body–mind divide in schooling, illustrated through the evolution of PE; (2) how embodied knowledge serves as a dynamic connector between body and mind, informed by pragmatism, phenomenology, and competence-oriented approaches; (3) the role of narratives and metaphors in articulating and transmitting embodied understanding.

Methods: This study combines discourse analysis and narrative inquiry to analyze the historical and cultural context of PE and sports. The research focuses on the concept of body–mind dualism in PE, utilizing data from two studies conducted in Swiss middle schools. The analysis explores how different individuals operate under varying rules within the body–mind dualism, examining embodied knowledge through narratives and thick descriptions.

Results and Discussion: A class practice vignette—the sea star example of a student learning the high jump—shows how learners draw on metaphors to express bodily insights that may not align with teachers’ technical language, highlighting both the presence of embodied knowledge and the communicative gap hindering its pedagogical use. This paper concludes that narratives and metaphors function as a shared language for embodied knowledge, enabling dialogue between teachers and learners. Rather than abandoning technique-based teaching, embodied narratives can complement it, fostering reflective, democratic learning across subjects. Ultimately, dissolving the body–mind dualism requires integrating embodied knowledge not only in PE but in all educational practices.