The Body and the Brain in Classrooms: On Matter and Social Context

Abstract

In this paper, the body as subject is seen as the focus of learning generic skills and competences such as criticism and creativity where learning is conceptualized as a complex making of meaning. I want to deepen an understanding of meaning making processes and of what occurs in learning skills and competences such as criticism and creativity. I will attempt to do it by focusing on the embodiment and embeddedness of a learner. I will work with a psychological constructionist account of the brain basis of emotion— the conceptual act model (Lindquist et al., 2012; Barrett et al., 2014), my own theoretical reflections, which are built on the conceptual act model and the Deleuzian and Guattarian (1987, 2009) philosophical accounts of affect, concept and stratum, and the theories developed within the field of Gender Studies that focus on body/matter and intersectionality. By discussing various theories in an experimental manner (i.e., I read theories that belong to different fields of knowledge such as Neuroscience, Philosophy, Gender Studies together to find out what results this may have), I will try to reflect on meaning making processes and on what occurs in learning skills and competences such as criticism and creativity but also on the implications this may have for pedagogy.