Frequently Asked Questions

Humans didn’t evolve to spend all day sitting, and yet the design of school curricula all but forces them to. 

Scientific studies of cognition and learning now tell us that getting students moving can improve educational outcomes on multiple measures including

overall academic performance

standardized test scores

creativity

memory and information retention

classroom focus and behavior

Embodied approaches to teaching and learning additionally show great promise for advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion goals by engaging underrepresented minorities, low performing students, and students with disabilities including ADHD and dyslexia.

Plus it’s fun to explore the physics of pendulums on a playground swing, or learn poetry in motion! 

Of course, not every subject is amenable to this approach, and students can't be in constant motion. But it is remarkable to discover how we could get them out of their seats more frequently-without detracting from academic learning time.

Embodied Education is a low-cost pedagogical innovation that recombines existing institutional resources in novel ways. 

Many schools and colleges already have the basic building blocks in place, which include personnel (academic instructors, physical education/movement arts instructors, coaches, parents/community members with relevant expertise), facilities  and associated equipment (classrooms, gyms, playing fields, playgrounds).

If that sounds like your institution, the resources here can assist you in bringing together what’s happening in science and history classes with what’s happening in gym class.

For educational institutions lacking some of these resources, dance, walking, gesture, and general movement—which can be done in a classroom, corridor, or cafeteria—offer the most cost-accessible entry points to Embodied Education. 

Many creative possibilities exist, for example in mathematics education for elementary through high school learners. Research programs organized to develop new technologies for embodied learning are sprouting up as well. The lesson plans and ideas provided on this site are devoted to publicizing lower cost, lower tech curricula, however, in recognition that many schools lack the funds to buy new equipment whereas students already bring their bodies to school each day.

We also invite teachers and students to consider how the tech world is making use of insights into the body’s role in cognition and learning, most notably in the field of Embodied Artificial Intelligence.

Have a look at the examples here, which offer a taste of how to integrate a range of movement genres – from games to martial arts - into academic subject instruction. For example, an elementary school math teacher might encourage students to gesture to learn concepts in algebra, geometry, and statistics; play fraction ball to cement their understanding of fractions and decimals; or explore how yoga poses can complement geometry instruction.

Have a look at the examples here, which showcase how a range of movement genres can be integrated into academic instruction across subject areas at various grade levels. For example, a college-level movement arts instructor could help faculty and students explore topics from cell biology and organic chemistry to and religion and US history through dance.

Embodied Education has shown particular benefits for populations who don’t typically succeed in more conventional classrooms, including underrepresented minorities, low performing students, and students with disabilities including ADHD, autism, and dyslexia.  

The lesson plans and ideas referenced on this site vary widely as to how much physicality they demand. If you and/or your students have physical limitations, we urge you to explore the possibilities of gesture—comparatively accessible and backed by a rich body of theoretical research on its classroom use. The International Society for Learning Sciences offers a helpful introduction to this research. 

Absolutely! The MIT Project on Embodied Education hopes to build community among advocates for movement and learning across disciplines, professions, and languages to consolidate our impact on the educational field. Please get in touch to tell us about yourself and what you’re doing, so we can share it here. We ask only that your resource is free to use.