Sharing Breath: Embodied Learning and Decolonization

Saturday, November 10, 2018 - 9:00am

Discussions about Indigenizing the academy have abounded in Canada over the past few years. And yet, despite the numerous policies and reports that have been written, there is a lack of clarity around what pedagogical methods could help to decolonize our institutions. Sharing Breath: Embodied Learning and Decolonization edited by Sheila Batacharya and Yuk-Lin Renita Wong demonstrates how the academy cannot be decolonized while we still subscribe to the Western idea of mind over body. The book acknowledges and draws attention to the incommensurability between decolonization and aspects of social justice projects in education.

The contributors to this collection, including OCAD U’s Susan Ferguson, Director of the Writing and Learning Centre, argue that connecting the body, mind, and the spirit is integral to decolonization projects and to the reimagining of pedagogy. By providing a useful range of embodied ways of teaching, learning, and knowing for scholars to consider, this “field-building” book maps out an area for embodiment scholarship in education.

 

Venue & Address: 
University of Toronto OISE 252 Bloor St. W. Room 5-260
Cost: 
Free
poster for book launch