LEGO Literacy Alert!
Around the 41-minute mark, Susan busts out LEGO to answer some questions.
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Hello there!
We’re Dr. Jane Hession and Ronan Healy. We’re a husband and wife team and co-founders of the service design studio How Might We - www.howmightwe.design
We're passionate about Play and provide online and in-house training in the LEGO Serious Play method to:
1) Third-level Educators - https://bit.ly/LSP_Ed_Innovators
2) Organisational Innovators - https://bit.ly/LSP_Org_Innovators
Episode Seven
Physical space, sensation, and movement affects learning??? Nonsense! Powerpoint does!
Plus, slides are even more amazing since AI can automatically input images of people with bizarre facial expressions and eight fingers!
As nonsensical as that last line is, how ridiculous is it that learning (for whatever age) has lost ‘touch’ (pun intended!) with the fact that physical space, sensation, and movement affect learning?
This is why Dr Susan Hrach’s book Minding Bodies: How Physical Space, Sensation, and Movement Affect Learning grabbed our attention. And while talking about attention, here’s a quote from Susan’s book we loved.
“The goal of increasing one's IA (Interoceptive Awareness) isn't to become more accurate but rather to gain more control over our attention to internal signals and to better regulate our responses to them.”
As the hype train for AI in learning continues to gather pace, we should also listen to the marginal (playful renegade) voices advocating for IA. So go listen
Susan Who?
Dr. Susan Hrach is the author of the 2022 Silver Nautilus Award-winning book Minding Bodies: how physical space, sensation, and movement affect learning (WVU Press, 2021). She is also the Director of the Faculty Center and a professor of English at Columbus State University in Georgia. The University System of Georgia has recognized her with a statewide Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award; she has also served as a scholar for the USG’s Executive Leadership Institute.
www.linkedin.com/in/dr-susan-hrach/
Minding Bodies. How Physical Space, Sensation, and Movement Affect Learning
https://wvupressonline.com/minding-bodies
Website
www.susanhrach.com/
https://twitter.com/susanhrach?lang=en
Additional Topics
Antonio Damasio - Descartes' Error: Emotion, Reason, and the Human Brain
https://www.amazon.com/Descartes-Error-Emotion-Reason-Human/dp/014303622X
Antonio Damasio - Feeling & Knowing: Making Minds Conscious
https://www.amazon.com/Feeling-Knowing-Making-Minds-Conscious/dp/1524747556
Lisa Feldman Barrett
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisa_Feldman_Barrett
How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain
https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Emotions-Are-Made-Secret/dp/1509837493
Timestamps
(0:00) - Introduction and welcome
(2:32) - Susan's childhood experiences and independence
(8:54) - Adult playfulness and its importance
(11:45) - Balancing serious work with playfulness
(14:04) - Advice to younger self about playfulness and seriousness
(17:46) - Importance of embodied cognition in learning
(19:54) - Impact of environment on learning
(21:22) - Role of the body in the learning process
(24:15) - The importance of physical classroom environment
(27:10) - Experiencing learning outside the classroom
(30:09) - Tips for effective outdoor learning activities
(32:30) - Silver lining of COVID-19 for education
(33:10) - Importance of interoceptive awareness in learning
(34:20) - Classroom practices to enhance embodied learning
(36:12) - Recommendations for teachers to integrate embodied learning
(39:20) - Overcoming resistance to active learning
(41:50) - Transition to Lego builds
(42:07) - Lego build 1: What inspires you about your work?
(43:50) - Lego build 2: How do you think your work helps people think and feel differently about the world?
(45:26) - Lego build 3: What curiosity or conundrum do you want to conceptualize with Lego?
(46:50) - Reflection on resistance to change in education