Teaching embodied knowledge through narratives
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Autor:innen
Autor:in (Körperschaft)
Publikationsdatum
2026
Typ der Arbeit
Studiengang
Sammlung
Typ
01A - Beitrag in wissenschaftlicher Zeitschrift
Herausgeber:innen
Herausgeber:in (Körperschaft)
Betreuer:in
Übergeordnetes Werk
Frontiers in Education
Themenheft
DOI der Originalpublikation
Link
Zugehörige Forschungsdaten
Reihe / Serie
Reihennummer
Jahrgang / Band
11
Ausgabe / Nummer
Seiten / Dauer
Patentnummer
Verlag / Herausgebende Institution
Frontiers
Verlagsort / Veranstaltungsort
Auflage
Version
Programmiersprache
Abtretungsempfänger:in
Praxispartner:in/Auftraggeber:in
Zusammenfassung
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.
Schlagwörter
Fachgebiet (DDC)
Veranstaltung
Startdatum der Ausstellung
Enddatum der Ausstellung
Startdatum der Konferenz
Enddatum der Konferenz
Datum der letzten Prüfung
ISBN
ISSN
2504-284X
Sprache
Englisch
Während FHNW Zugehörigkeit erstellt
Ja
Zukunftsfelder FHNW
Publikationsstatus
Veröffentlicht
Begutachtung
peer-reviewed
Open Access-Status
Gold
Lizenz
Zitation
Messmer, R., & Schönfeld, K. (2026). Teaching embodied knowledge through narratives. Frontiers in Education, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2026.1894619