#30 How Embodiment Elevates Education: Lisa Clughen’s Path to Transformative Teaching

In this episode of The Embodied Educator podcast, host Liz welcomes award-winning lecturer Lisa Clughen from the Nottingham Institute for Languages and Intercultural Communication. Lisa shares her journey in academia and her pioneering work in embodied education, which began with her personal experiences overcoming an eating disorder. The discussion covers Lisa's projects, such as 'Somatic Movement for Educators,' and her advocacy for mind-body practices in higher education. Lisa delves into research on coordinated movement (like handwriting), its benefits for mood and self-esteem, and her current research on joyful education. Tune in to discover practical methods for incorporating embodiment into teaching and its positive impact on mental health, well-being, and effective learning.

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Introduction to the Embodied Educator Podcast

00:51 Season Introduction 

01:33 Guest Introduction with Lisa Clughen: Background and Achievements

04:04 Lisa's Journey with Embodiment and Eating Disorders

08:19 The Impact of Cultural Discourses on the Body, inspired by feminism

20:54 Empowering Students Through Embodied Writing

43:45 Qigong and Embodiment in Education

46:53 Introduction to Qigong in Education

48:12 Preparing the Body and stepping Into  Qigong

50:39 Guided Qigong Movement

56:47 Incorporating Qigong in the Classroom

58:37 Student Reactions and Research

01:03:05 Embodied Learning Techniques in Modern Languages

01:04:51 Handwriting and Vocabulary Learning

01:07:54 The Importance of Movement and Touch

01:11:06 Challenges and Inclusivity in Embodied Education

01:16:30 (Mental) Health Benefits of Qigong

01:21:21 Synchrony and Connection through Movement

01:27:44 Conclusion and Further Research

EMBODY MOMENT

Around minute 48 Lisa guides us into a qigong practice, which you can use to open any learning space! Tune in, because she beautifully weaves in her modern languages background into the movement - we are very curious to here if you would use this excercise in your classroom? LET US KNOW what your experience is.

CONTACT LIZ

LinkedIn @Liz Wientjes

Instagram @Bodylizious

CONTACT LISA

Lisa Clughen, Senior Lecturer in Spanish, The Nottingham Institute for Languages and Intercultural Communication (NILIC), School of Arts and Humanities, C/O Dice Building, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, NG1 4FY, England

[email protected] 

Linkedin: Lisa Clughen 

Twitter: @ClughenLisa

Invitation to Participate in Two Research Projects Relating to Embodiment in Higher Education

We are a team of researchers from Nottingham Trent University (NTU), UK, and we would be very grateful if anybody working in learning and teaching in Higher Education in any context anywhere would participate in our research projects on different embodiment issues in Higher Education. Your opinions matter! Thank you so much.

RESEARCH PROJECT 1: Mindful Movement for Learning, Teaching and Wellbeing in HE
This project invites HE colleagues in any context to trial an online mindful movement practice and then to fill in a short form about your opinions on the role and use of bodymind practices in HE. It should take around 15 mins after project sign up.
CLICK THIS LINK 

RESEARCH PROJECT 2: Positive Emotions for Learning, Teaching and Wellbeing in HE

Please help us to spread a little bit of Happiness across Higher Education! This project invites HE colleagues in any context to offer your opinions on the role positive emotions in HE and share examples of where you have cultivated or experienced them in your experience of working in HE. It is in 3 parts and you can do 1 or all parts. Part 1 should take around 15 mins after project sign up and uses psychometric tests to gauge poisitve emotions in HE learning and teaching. Part 2: This invites you to participate in and offer your opinions on The 10 Days of Happiness Programme created by the internationally famous organisation, Action for Happiness.

Staff Sign-Up link

RESOURCES

References in Podcast

Bordo, S. (1990) ‘Reading the Slender Body’ in Jacobus, M; Fox K, E; Shuttleworth, S; Body/Politics, New York, London: Routledge, 1990, 83-112

________ (1993) Unbearable Weight. Feminism, Western Culture and the Body, Berkeley, London: University of California Press

________ (1992) ‘Anorexia Nervosa: Psychopathology as the Crystallization of Culture’ in Crowley and Himmelweit 1992

Clughen, L. (2002) Re-reading Lorca. MPhil Thesis. The University of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne.

Holden, L. (2024) Holden Qigong. Available at: https://www.holdenqigong.com/ (Accessed: 18/07/2024).

John W. Brick Mental Health Foundation (2022) Move Your Mental Health: A Review of the Scientific Evidence on the Role Exercise and Physical Activity. Available at: https://www.johnwbrickfoundation.org/move-your-mental-health-report/ (Accessed: 10/07/2024).

OneHE. (2024) Develop your teaching your way. Available at: https://onehe.org// (Accessed: 10/07/2024).

Orbach, S. (2010) Bodies, 2nd Edition. London: Profile Books

Orbach, S. (1987) Hunger Strike: The Anorectic’s Struggle as a Metaphor for our Age, 2nd edition,

London: Faber and Faber

Riva, E., Lister, K., and Jeglinska, W. (2024) Student and Staff Mental Well-being in European Higher Education Institutions. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union. Available at: https://nesetweb.eu/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/NESET-AR4-Well-being-in-HE-with-identifiers-combine.pdf (Accessed: 09/07/2024).

Schifano, I. (2023) ‘”They made me feel invalid”: Shocking new figures show scale of student mental health crisis’, The Tab (3 May). Available at: https://thetab.com/uk/2023/05/02/they-made-me-feel-invalid-shocking-new-figures-show-scale-of-student-mental-health-crisis-294306 (Accessed: 10/07/2024).

Steptoe, A. (2019a) 'Happiness and Health’, Annual Review of Public Health, 40, pp. 339-359 Available at: https://www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-040218-044150

Steptoe, A. (2019b) 'Investing in Happiness: The Gerontological Perspective', Gerontology, 65(6), pp. 634-639 Available at: 10.1159/000501124.

Steptoe, A., Deaton, A. and Stone, A. (2014) 'Subjective wellbeing, health, and ageing', The Lancet, 385(9968), pp. 640-648 Available at: 10.1016/S0140-6736(13)61489-0.

Steptoe, A., Wardle, J. and Marmot, M. (2005) 'Positive affect and health-related neuroendocrine, cardiovascular, and inflammatory processes', Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 102(18), pp. 6508-12 Available at: 10.1073/pnas.0409174102.

UCAS (2021) Starting the conversation: UCAS report on Student Mental Health. Cheltenham: UCAS. Available at: https://www.ucas.com/file/513961/download?token=wAaKRniC (Accessed: 08/07/2024).

Sample Publications Relating to Embodiment, Movement and Mindful Movement

Lisa Clughen - Research and Recommended Reading.docx

CLUGHEN, L. (2023) ‘Embodiment is the future’: What is embodiment and is it the future paradigm for learning and teaching in higher education?’ Innovations in Education and Teaching International, Taylor and Francis.

CLUGHEN, L. (2023, May 4) Taking Positive Steps for Learning and Teaching: Movement for Learner Developers. #Take5 #86

CLUGHEN, L. (2022, August 16) ‘Embodiment in the Post-Pandemic University: The Benefits of Mindful Movement for Learning (A Tribute to bell hooks)’. The Post-Pandemic University.

CLUGHEN, L. (2022) A Guide to Embedding Movement into Higher Education, The Trent Institute of Learning and Teaching (TILT), Nottingham Trent University.

CLUGHEN, L. (2018) ‘An Open Letter to Colleagues Working to Improve Student Success in Higher Education’, Journal of Writing in Creative Practice, Volume 11, Number 1, 1 June 2018, pp. 83-97(15)

CLUGHEN, L. (2017) Guest Editor, ‘The Role of the Body in Creativity’. Special Edition, The Creative Academic Magazine. Available at: http://www.creativeacademic.uk/

CONNELL AND CLUGHEN (2015) ‘Play Is Not ‘A Four Letter Word’: The Lecture-performance as a Playful...