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Beyond Collaboration: Embodied Teacher Learning and the Discourse of Collaboration in Education Reform

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Abstract

In this paper I highlight the significance of Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s contribution to the study of teacher learning. I particularly draw on his notion of embodiment to show that professional knowledge is embodied knowledge and that teachers make sense of their professional world through their embodied action. I contrast my interpretation with a professional learning model that has been influential in Canada, the US, the UK, Australia and other countries. I suggest that policy makers interested in education reform initiatives would benefit from interrogating the nature of professional practices in education.

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Correspondence to Augusto Riveros.

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Riveros, A. Beyond Collaboration: Embodied Teacher Learning and the Discourse of Collaboration in Education Reform. Stud Philos Educ 31, 603–612 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11217-012-9323-6

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