<\/a>principle 4: engage affective and embodied dimensions of learning<\/h2>\nit is critical that instructors use lecture and text to provide students with relevant empirical knowledge related to course content. this often involves providing the historical context needed for students to understand patterns and trends and developing students\u2019 intellectual capacity for engaging in social analysis (santas, 2000; estrada & matthews, 2016). yet, racial justice education requires much more than simply correcting misinformation or developing and applying a racial justice analysis. racial justice content is highly affective; indeed, part of the problematic nature of racial categories is the ways they have been constructed to evoke feeling states and emotions (e.g. safety, fear, distrust). further, students experience a great deal of feelings in response to the course content and classroom interactions.<\/p>\n
relatedly, racial justice courses engage students lived experiences as people who have been impacted by race and racism; and participating in classroom interactions is yet another way that race and racism become embodied, through who they choose to sit next to, who they elect to partner with in class or small group activities, when they choose to speak and when they remain silent. as such, it is essential to engage the affective and embodied dimensions of learning (bozalek, carolissen, leibowitz, nicholls, rohleder & swartz, 2010; danowitz & tuitt, 2011; housee, s., 2008; estrada & matthews, 2016; ford, 2012; kumashiro, 2000; lichty & palamaro-munsell, 2017; matias & mackey, 2016; rothschild, 2003; simpson, 2006;\u00a0 smele, siew-sarju, chou, breton,\u00a0 & bernhardt, 2017; zembylas, 2012).<\/p>\n
the call to “put the body back into knowledge making” (sutherland, 2013, p. 739) begins with normalizing the affective and embodied dimensions of learning (estrada & matthews 2016) and helping students to develop emotional literacy. as matias & mackey contend, students must “learn to take ownership of their own emotional responses to learning about race, racism, white supremacy, and whiteness” (2016, p. 37). at the same time, students must be willing to consider the emotional responses of others, which may be similar to or different from their own. this learning takes place through encounters with the course content, and also through peer-to-peer teaching and learning. scholars of social justice education recommend that instructors leverage student\u2019s lived experiences as sources of knowledge and learning (danowitz & tuitt, 2011; lichty & palamaro-munsell, 2017; smele, siew-sarju, chou, breton & bernhardt, 2017). in practice, engaging the affective and embodied dimensions of learning takes a variety of forms, including: pairing cognitive and experiential activities; slowing down to allow time for students to more deeply engage course content; and incorporating sensory ways of knowing, such as including rituals\/mindfulness practices (danowitz & tuitt, 2011; estrada & matthews 2016; housee, 2008; ford, 2012; rothschild, 2003; shahjahan, 2015; sutherland, 2013; waring & bordoloi, 2012).<\/p>\n
specific strategies for engaging the affective and embodied dimensions of leaning include:<\/p>\n