How We Model Educational Embodiment: Practical Considerations and a Theoretical Proposal

Abstract

In his essay, “Neuroscience, Education, and a Radical Embodiment Model of Mind and Cognition,” Clarence Joldersma aims to “develop a model that more adequately situates the conversation about neuroscience’s possible contribution to educational practice, including the idea of interventions.” The radical embodiment model Joldersma develops here is a speculative yet well-balanced account, substantially informed by the broader theoretical project of embodiment in recent cognitive science. Radical embodied cognition’s avowedly non-representational stance — that perception is fundamentally goal-directed action and learning occurs outside of the head, in the space between brains, bodies, and lifeworld — unfolds educational possibilities in a way that previous computationalist theories never did. As a result, constructive dialogue between neuroscientists and educators seems much more plausible.