Abstract
In this chapter I explore how I incorporate concepts of play and improvisation into my design and teaching of undergraduate and graduate courses for adult learners. While the primary discussion will be how these concepts are the subject matter, these concepts also form the pillars of my teaching processes. My course design includes how I design syllabi and assignments; how I teach my courses includes shaping the event of a class meeting to facilitate activities for movement, sharing of stories, and using voice and breath—experiential engagement that allows for personal and interpersonal spontaneity and authentic and soulful expression from participants that enhances collaboration and community building. As these experiences are not typically associated with college-level learning, and playful activities are not typically associated with conventional college teaching, I explore the considerations, constraints and value of embodied, experiential teaching and learning methods in college settings that can stir the ‘soul’ of learners. I further unpack these methods and the results I have observed in the context of current societal demands (such as expectations of work or family) on adults enrolled in college degree programs, discussing why experiential and embodied learning is vital for the whole being of today’s adult college student.
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Notes
- 1.
See discussion in Chickering and Havighurst (1981, pp. 16–48).
- 2.
- 3.
For additional discussion of the long heritage of experiential learning in education, traditions and applications of experiential learning theory, and major scholarship in this field see Kolb (2014), Sections: “Preface to the Revised Edition,” “Other Contributions to Experiential Learning Theory” and “Update and Reflections: Foundational Scholars of Experiential Learning Theory.”
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Kisiel, C.M. (2020). Designs for Embodiment and Soul: Offerings for Adult Learners in the Twenty-First-Century College Classroom. In: Bussey, M., Mozzini-Alister, C. (eds) Phenomenologies of Grace. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-40623-3_10
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