Reimagining dialogue : how can embodiment teach?

Abstract

In this thesis, I attempt to further entangle theories of embodiment and dialogue in order to teach. The majority of my observations come from a workshop I participated in Taiwan during January, 2020. I, along with 14 other guest pedagogues, had to find new ways to teach without the use of verbal language because we did not share a common language with the students. I began to ask myself: How can embodiment teach? At first, I was unable to think of myself as a researcher. The term “research” held power over what I could imagine it to be. Through renaming the term “research” as “archive” I was able to overcome the preconceived power that “research” had over me. By reflecting on my own learning style, I uncovered a method of naming and renaming that helps me to dialogue with the world. Karen Barad refers to agency as “response-ability”, or the ability to respond. This phenomena brought me to thinking about imagination as a main tool for agency in dialogical practices. By further entangling agency and embodied dialogue I found a link towards anti-oppressive education. I wanted to trouble my understanding of the teacher and student relationship. Through my reflections I found a surprising paradox in my search to deconstruct the teacher-student relationship. I realized that in order to be the teacher I aspire to be, I would need to always remain a student. This unlocked a future imagining of the group as a teaching agent of its own. The workshop in Taiwan brought along new suggestions for how embodiment could teach. By placing an emphasis on intention and transformation, rather than verbalization, one can begin to transform the body into a tool for dialogue. I explored 2 different ways to teach without a common language. One, a collaborative touch practice I created with a fellow colleague, Marisa Martin. Another, a drawing practice about outlining yourself on a piece of paper and reimagining all of the possibilities that the human form can be. What this archival has unlocked in me is the unlimited amount of possibilities that exist when one entangles imagination, embodiment, dialogue, and pedagogy.