Exploring Somatically Inter-Active Pedagogy within the Health Education and Active Living (HEAL) Master of Education Cohort

Grant program: Teaching and Learning Development Grant (TLDG)

Grant recipient: Stephen Smith, Faculty of Education

Project team: Randy Persad, research assistant

Timeframe: September 2017 to August 2019

Funding: $6000

Course addressed: EDUC 904 – Fieldwork

Final report: View Stephen Smith's final report (PDF)

Description: The purpose of this ISTLD grant project is to support an inquiry into the design, implementation and evaluation of a progression of somatic inter-activities through which students in the Health Education and Active Living (HEAL) cohort of a community-based Master of Education program can cultivate the postures, positions, gestures, expressions and complexions of attuned, pedagogical practice germane to their workplaces.

The inquiry will take place within the final “fieldwork” course of the two-year HEAL MEd and will involve up to twenty-one consenting cohort members whose professional backgrounds span K-12 health and physical education, tertiary-level health promotion and recreation, health care and therapeutic practices, nursing with local health authorities, and community-based health services.

Questions addressed:

• What somatic inter-activities from the movement disciplines of games and sports, partnered dance, martial arts, flow arts, and equestrian practices draw attention to the postures, positions, gestures, expressions and complexions of relational attunement?
• What personal and professional meanings do participants derive from engaging and reflecting upon these inter-activities?
• To what extent can this process of meaning-making constitute a sustained and sustaining practice of pedagogical development and relational attunement for the course participants?

Knowledge sharing: I am able to share my teaching-related, research work with the membership of two SFU Faculties. As Associate Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) with overall responsibilities for teaching and curriculum matters, I support indirectly the TLDG grant applications and directly the work of the TLC Educational Consultant in enhancing individual faculty member’s teaching initiatives. In both FHS and the Faculty of Education (FoE) of which I am a tenured member I share with my colleagues any teaching projects to which I am committed. I will do this through scheduled Teaching Dialogues in the FHS and Faculty Fora devoted to teaching interests in the FOE.

A professionally filmed and edited video compilation of the somatic inter-activities will be created to assist in the local dissemination of the project findings.