AGORA - tidsskrift for forskning, udvikling og idéudveksling i ...

AGORA - tidsskrift for forskning,
udvikling og idéudveksling i professioner
experiences which the individual member of the community has and which are usually embodied and prereflective.
Individual experiences have to be made explicit and discursive so that they become meaningful
for the whole community and thus improve the cooperation of the members of the community. Only
common narratives – negotiated by the individuals of the community – can develop the fundament of
a community of practice which is defined by the three dimensions just mentioned. Narratives are often
based on common goals which the community has developed by reflecting on intentions and situated
actions of the participants. These goals are the ground for the development of the community. Narratives
configure a common understanding and build on the co-creation of meaning in regard to practice and
situated action of the community. As an example, think again of a team of ball-players. The tactics of the
team can be defined as the basis for the development of an important narrative. The players talk to each
other and develop and plan their tactics while the narrative for their actions is growing. On the basis of
narrative approach presented, it can be recommended as a successful strategy if the coach, in cooperation
with the players, develops the tactics which build on the situated experiences and actions of the player. A
well-functioning community of practice will build on narratives that are based on common practice and
that configure action patterns.
Conclusion
The idea of this article was to place embodiment and learning or, more precisely, body-anchored and
experience based learning in a broad theoretical framework. Phenomenology has proved to be a good
point of departure: Phenomenology is one of the few theoretical approaches that place the body in the
centre of investigation. Phenomenology helps to understand embodiment, the pre-reflective dimension of
human action and the fundamental intentional orientation towards a given environment. And it seems that
a growing number of research fields – above all cognitive neuro-science – are beginning to give the body
its due and thereby give credit to phenomenology (Varela, 1997).
But, in phenomenology, the social context and the interplay with others is more or less absent as a focus
point of reflection. Therefore it is important to open up for other perspectives. A combination of the theory
of community of practice and the narrative approach seems to be an appropriate theoretical standpoint.
These basic reflections on a theoretical framework can be concluded in a list of premises of bodyanchored
and experience-based learning and some guidelines for practice. It would exceed the capacities
of this article if the reader had expected a clear formula for his or her practice. The understanding
presented in this article forces everybody to look at the specific environmental frame and respect the
uniqueness of the individual. Therefore everyone who works with learning and human development
has to start with an investigation of the character of the given community of practice. This analysis and
understanding is the basis for the development of a coaching-oriented intervention strategy.
References
Abram, D. (1996). The spell of the sensuous. New York: Vintage Books.
Arnold, P. (1979). Meaning in movement, sport and physical education. London: Heinemann.
Bruner, J. (1990). Acts of meaning. Cambridge: Mass.: Harvard University Press.
Clark, A. (1999). An embodied cognitive science? Trends in Cognitive Science, 3, 9, 345-350.
Cox, M., & A. Theilgaard (1987). Mutative metaphors in psychotherapy. London: Tavistock.
www.cvustork.dk/agora/ 20