Embodied learning: Teaching sexuality and religion to a changing student body

Abstract

Sexuality, more so than other subject areas, magnifies the embodied nature of teaching and learning as well as conspicuously silences open dialogue given its taboo status in many religious and theological contexts. Yet, student learning about sexuality that incorporates knowledge of and about religion, in particular, may greatly improve the public discourse about sexuality through our students as responsible citizens and as leaders in their chosen professions. To bridge this gap, through a year-long collaboration, a group of professors and instructors with expertise and experience teaching sexuality and religion in a variety of disciplines and diverse institutional and religious contexts developed, tested, and refined classroom teaching strategies to shift from a content-based "subject matter"to an embodied learning experience, resulting in perspective transformation as a primary student-learning outcome. Findings in the form of "guiding questions," encourage instructors to attend to contextual, experiential, and performative aspects of the classroom environment. shame, guilt, power, and freedom. Sexuality has been at the heart of the U.S. culture wars for nearly half a century. Public debate about sexuality has reached a fever pitch in U.S. legal discourse, and divisions over sexuality are reshaping the religious landscape. Cross-cultural comparisons reveal a wide array of morals and practices, and rates of childhood and adult sexual abuse are staggering.2 Yet, open dialogue about sexuality is conspicuously silenced in many religious and theological contexts. How do we overcome this aversion in order to teach effectively, responsibly, and openly about sexuality and religion?As sexuality increasingly becomes an expected part of the explicit curriculum in religious and theological studies, classroom instructors need the knowledge and skills to handle this topic effectively -regardless of their specific research expertise. Faculty in both religious studies and theological school contexts need additional training and resources. Instructors need heightened awareness, tried and tested pedagogical strategies, and collegial support to help navigate institutional constraints, respond to student needs, model reflective awareness of sexuality and embodiment, and create space for the learner's personal and contextual discernment. For sexuality and embodiment to become an intentional part of the student's classroom learning experience in religious studies and theological education rather than a conspicuous silence, we need to integrate classroom instruction more effectively with everyday realities (Ott, 2012, 13;Stephens & Jung, 2015). Even in classrooms with a more descriptive orientation, the embodied nature of religious thought and practice are ignored at the risk of distorting the subject matter. Sexuality is no longer an optional curriculum in religious studies and theological education.This article begins with theoretical reflections on embodied learning designed to promote self-awareness and increased levels...

Teaching about teaching sexuality and religion

“…The activities and discussion to this point in the workshop have served to attune participants to the contextual, experiential, and performative aspects of the classroom environment. By establishing ground rules for discussion, sharing in pairs and as a large group, and debriefing each exercise, participants have replicated a similar but much more extensive process of peer‐to‐peer learning led by Ott and Stephens through a yearlong pedagogy project funded by a grant from the Wabash Center and administered through Drew University (). Having framed their own pedagogical questions, participants should be ready to appreciate the issues raised in the form of the “guiding questions” handout (see Appendix).…”

“…Ott and Stephens (), in a separate article in this volume, offer a detailed discussion of the importance of teaching about sexuality and religion, the potential benefits to individual students, educational institutions, and society, and a pedagogical strategy for doing this well:

Sexuality, more so than other subject areas, magnifies the embodied nature of teaching and learning as well as conspicuously silences open dialogue given its taboo status in many religious and theological contexts. …This is a personal and political topic fraught with tension, and it influences classroom learning even in its absence from the explicit curriculum.

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“…Effective pedagogy about sexuality must include embodied learning. Ott and Stephens () observe that few instructors have made the shift from a content‐based “subject matter” approach to an embodied learning experience that, when holistically approached, considers “the embodiment of the instructor and students, institutional location, and [the] social impact of sexuality, religious and theological studies.”

When classroom learning addresses the embodied, experiential realities of sexuality that students encounter everyday outside the classroom, students are better able to integrate their formal education about sexuality with the world around them. …[We desire our students to become aware] of how social, psychological, and cultural factors shape sexuality and our perception of it.… [Integrating this awareness with] knowledge of and about religion, in particular, may greatly improve the public discourse about sexuality through our students as responsible citizens and as leaders in their chosen professions.

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“…The above paragraphs from Ott and Stephens () function not only as a quick summary of the pedagogical approach of the present article on teaching about teaching sexuality and religion but also as an introduction to this sample training workshop for faculty and/or graduate teaching assistants.…”

“…Together, we have taught this specific workshop for colleagues from multiple institutional contexts at a national conference as well as for faculty and graduate teaching assistants at Ott's home institution, Drew Theological School. The workshop outlined and described herein is designed to promote constructive pedagogical strategies for embodied learning, theorized in greater detail in Ott and Stephens (), which may be assigned as advance reading.…”