Learning through Covid-19: Why we need our body to learn and work in the Covid-19 times

As we sit down in front of a screen and dial into another Zoom meeting, how are we engaging our minds and bodies in our learning and work? In this webinar we will explore how our understandings of the mind are being re-imagined through  neuroscience, clever experiments in embodied psychology and age old practices that draw on the wisdom of the body and its role in creativity. Our narrative of the mind shapes how we engage with our embodied intelligence and Covid-19 has placed us squarely in a space where we can re-consider what it means to have a body and what happens between bodies when we work and learn. Our current situation is a creative crucible for how we might work and educate in the ‘new normal’, and respond to the unknown challenges ahead.

This first session by Dr Barbara Doran, in a sequence of three webinars, will introduce the concept of embodiment, and its role in our learning and work, challenging us to think creatively about embodiment in Covid-19 times. Next, Lucy Allen will lead an experiential workshop on embodied strategies helping students grapple with the feeling of being ‘stuck’ in their learning (Wednesday, 12th of August, 11:30-12:30). The third session (Wednesday, 26th of August, 11:30-12:30) will be a sense-making conversation exploring implications to our practice, building on the provocations presented in the first two sessions and additional stimulus material.

Come prepared to stretch your minds and bodies!

Presenter

Dr Barbara Doran is an experienced speaker, mentor, educator, project innovator and artist who directs her energies to building our collective capacities to improve how we live. Barbara has over 20 years of experience in working in the realms of collective well being including public health, urban and regional planning, health psychology and the arts. She draws from across the arts, the tertiary sector and project experience in the private, public and community sectors which bring together practical, scholarly, imaginative, playful and collaborative outcomes. Barbara's work seeks to amplify supportive social capital, environmentally sustainable systems in cultivation and exchange, practices linked to food, slow fashion and adornment, healthy built environments, mental health and value of the arts in sharing our stories.

Suggested pre-readings

1. Watch the video by Guy Claxton - author of 'Intelligence in the Flesh: Why Your Mind Needs Your Body Much More Than it Thinks' - Why your mind needs your body (22:46 minutes): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqrz4cMQM5c
2. Read the opinion piece by  Susan Plum on Why We’re Exhausted by Zoom: https://insidehighered.com/advice/2020/04/22/professor-explores-why-zoom-classes-deplete-her-energy-opinion

Register for the second session on Wednesday 12 August 
‘Re-thinking embodied learning and education practice’ by Lucy Allen.