Cultivating Methodology Through Somaesthetics

Abstract

A gardener wouldn’t dream of cultivating her plot with just a trowel, nor would a chef cook with just a knife, so why do many academics rely on prose as their only means of representing their work? I will explore how educational theory and practice might be cultivated through praxis in the context of the fundamental basis of all place-based learning – the body through which we all experience the world. I will use three interrelated representations to explore the linkage between contemplative practice and the development of teaching and learning as a process: poetry, art and prose. The roots of my investigation are threefold: my recent experience of a three year Iyengar yoga teacher training program which represents the contemplative component, an exploration of mixed media métissage, and my ongoing work as a high school teacher in an inner city setting using experiential learning to stimulate interaction in my classes. These educational perspectives are further nested among personal interests in wilderness expeditions, gardening and artwork that delve into my ecological connectedness with the world and my responses to it.