embodied transformation: tapping into the nature of emergent learning
abstract
this dissertation describes a basic qualitative inquiry research study, regarding participant
experiences of an emergent approach to teaching in higher education. patterns in transformative
meaning-making were a particular focus. complexity theory was an orienting theory for the
study, and was included in a theoretical framework which organized observation, interviewing,
and the analysis of data. participants were twenty-two (22) pre-service teacher education
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, specializing in ecological literacy and consciousness. there were fifteen (15) female,
and seven (7) male participants, with an age range of 22-33. research methods included informal
and semi-structured interview notes, field notes, and artifacts collected and analyzed to identify
themes and patterns. the course being studied utilized an emergent design approach, in which
participants played roles in “macro-models”, which are analogous representations of ecological
phenomena. participants also engaged in a variety of other activities, and reflected on
experiences. macro-models encouraged intensive interaction between participants and were
conducted in natural surroundings. a new term, “embodied transformation”, emerged from the
analysis of data to describe the dynamic learning process that participants experienced. a model
was developed to visually represent embodied transformation, including growth in conceptual
understanding, which occurred through linear and non-linear processes of disequilibrium,
dispersal of old understandings, and coalescence of new and more adaptive understandings of
key concepts. conceptual understanding was not solely intellectual, but rather was rooted in the
physiological, emotional, and psychological aspects of participant experiences. these
dimensions caused changes in the intent and behaviour of participants as their understanding
became personally meaningful and connected to the larger ecosystem. this process was
recursive in that understandings, including discovering connections between concepts, were re-visited on multiple occasions, becoming more complex and transferrable to novel situations as
the course progressed. embodied transformation is discussed as a natural learning process,
evoked by the emergent design approach. the doctoral research project itself is discussed as a
complex phenomenon, in which conceptual understanding of complexity grew through an
unforeseen, recursive, embodied, and emergent process.