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Embodied Outdoors Arts-Based Approaches to Mathematical Understanding.

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Title: Embodied Outdoors Arts-Based Approaches to Mathematical Understanding.
Alternate Title: Enfoques artísticos basados en el cuerpo y al aire libre para la comprensión matemática.
Authors: Gerofsky, Susan1
Source: Encounters in Theory & History of Education / Rencontres en Theorie et Histoire de l'Educacion. Fall2025, Vol. 26, p56-87. 32p.
Subject Terms: *STEAM education, *Mathematics education, *Teaching methods, *Outdoor education, *Experiential learning, Sensorimotor integration
Abstract (English): School mathematics instruction remains shaped by pedagogical traditions rooted in nineteenth-century industrial models that privilege static, indoor, and calculationfocused learning. Alternative possibilities for mathematical understanding emerge through embodied, arts-based, and outdoor pedagogies that engage movement, sensory experience, and the living world. Drawing on more than a decade of pedagogical design experiments with educators, preservice teachers, and students, mathematics learning is examined in campus gardens, forests, beaches, and other outdoor environments. Mathematical ideas are developed through bodily movement, artistic practice, and multisensory engagement with land, materials, and seasonal cycles, alongside more familiar forms of mathematical representation. These pedagogical experiments suggest that learning mathematics in and with the more-thanhuman world can deepen conceptual understanding, foster collaboration, and reconnect mathematics with its historical and ecological roots. Rather than displacing indoor classrooms or paper-and-pencil work, a more balanced mathematics curriculum is advanced one that integrates embodied and outdoor approaches as complementary ways of knowing across STEM/STEAM education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Abstract (Spanish): La enseñanza escolar de las matemáticas continúa estando moldeada por tradiciones pedagógicas arraigadas en modelos industriales del siglo XIX que privilegian formas de aprendizaje estáticas, interiores y centradas en el cálculo. Desde esta perspectiva, emergen posibilidades alternativas para la comprensión matemática a través de pedagogías corporizadas, basadas en las artes y al aire libre, que involucran el movimiento, la experiencia sensorial y el mundo vivo. A partir de más de una década de experimentos de diseño pedagógico con educadores, docentes en formación y estudiantes, se examina el aprendizaje de las matemáticas en jardines universitarios, bosques, playas y otros entornos exteriores. Las ideas matemáticas se desarrollan mediante el movimiento corporal, la práctica artística y el compromiso multisensorial con la tierra, los materiales y los ciclos estacionales, junto con formas más familiares de representación matemática. Estos experimentos pedagógicos sugieren que aprender matemáticas en y con el mundo más-que-humano puede profundizar la comprensión conceptual, fomentar la colaboración y reconectar las matemáticas con sus raíces históricas y ecológicas. En lugar de desplazar las aulas interiores o el trabajo con lápiz y papel, se propone un currículo matemático más equilibrado que integre enfoques corporizados y al aire libre como formas complementarias de conocer en la educación STEM/STEAM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Abstract (French): Cet article présente une approche pour un enseignement et un apprentissage approfondi des mathématiques à travers des pédagogies incarnées, artistiques et en plein air, une approche de la pédagogie des mathématiques qui offre en outre le potentiel d'enseigner dans l'ensemble du curriculum STIM/STEAM, de promouvoir une éducation tournée vers des futurs durables et de favoriser le bien-être des élèves et des enseignants. Cette approche innovante est illustrée par plusieurs expériences curriculaires et pédagogiques d'enseignement en plein air des mathématiques de la maternelle à la fin du secondaire, dans l'espace expérimental d'un jardin d'enseignement et d'apprentissage sur le campus de l'Université de la Colombie-Britannique, à Vancouver, au Canada. Le succès de ces expérimentations est proposé comme un catalyseur incitant les éducateurs et éducatrices en mathématiques à adopter l'idée d'enseigner les mathématiques à tous les niveaux à l'aide de pédagogies soigneusement conçues incarnées, artistiques et en plein air afin de compléter et de donner du sens aux approches plus traditionnelles fondées sur les cours magistraux et le travail au crayon et sur papier. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Encounters in Theory & History of Education / Rencontres en Theorie et Histoire de l'Educacion is the property of Queen's University, Faculty of Education and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Education Research Complete
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  Data: Embodied Outdoors Arts-Based Approaches to Mathematical Understanding.
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  Data: Enfoques artísticos basados en el cuerpo y al aire libre para la comprensión matemática.
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  Label: Abstract (English)
  Group: Ab
  Data: School mathematics instruction remains shaped by pedagogical traditions rooted in nineteenth-century industrial models that privilege static, indoor, and calculationfocused learning. Alternative possibilities for mathematical understanding emerge through embodied, arts-based, and outdoor pedagogies that engage movement, sensory experience, and the living world. Drawing on more than a decade of pedagogical design experiments with educators, preservice teachers, and students, mathematics learning is examined in campus gardens, forests, beaches, and other outdoor environments. Mathematical ideas are developed through bodily movement, artistic practice, and multisensory engagement with land, materials, and seasonal cycles, alongside more familiar forms of mathematical representation. These pedagogical experiments suggest that learning mathematics in and with the more-thanhuman world can deepen conceptual understanding, foster collaboration, and reconnect mathematics with its historical and ecological roots. Rather than displacing indoor classrooms or paper-and-pencil work, a more balanced mathematics curriculum is advanced one that integrates embodied and outdoor approaches as complementary ways of knowing across STEM/STEAM education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract (Spanish)
  Group: Ab
  Data: La enseñanza escolar de las matemáticas continúa estando moldeada por tradiciones pedagógicas arraigadas en modelos industriales del siglo XIX que privilegian formas de aprendizaje estáticas, interiores y centradas en el cálculo. Desde esta perspectiva, emergen posibilidades alternativas para la comprensión matemática a través de pedagogías corporizadas, basadas en las artes y al aire libre, que involucran el movimiento, la experiencia sensorial y el mundo vivo. A partir de más de una década de experimentos de diseño pedagógico con educadores, docentes en formación y estudiantes, se examina el aprendizaje de las matemáticas en jardines universitarios, bosques, playas y otros entornos exteriores. Las ideas matemáticas se desarrollan mediante el movimiento corporal, la práctica artística y el compromiso multisensorial con la tierra, los materiales y los ciclos estacionales, junto con formas más familiares de representación matemática. Estos experimentos pedagógicos sugieren que aprender matemáticas en y con el mundo más-que-humano puede profundizar la comprensión conceptual, fomentar la colaboración y reconectar las matemáticas con sus raíces históricas y ecológicas. En lugar de desplazar las aulas interiores o el trabajo con lápiz y papel, se propone un currículo matemático más equilibrado que integre enfoques corporizados y al aire libre como formas complementarias de conocer en la educación STEM/STEAM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract (French)
  Group: Ab
  Data: Cet article présente une approche pour un enseignement et un apprentissage approfondi des mathématiques à travers des pédagogies incarnées, artistiques et en plein air, une approche de la pédagogie des mathématiques qui offre en outre le potentiel d'enseigner dans l'ensemble du curriculum STIM/STEAM, de promouvoir une éducation tournée vers des futurs durables et de favoriser le bien-être des élèves et des enseignants. Cette approche innovante est illustrée par plusieurs expériences curriculaires et pédagogiques d'enseignement en plein air des mathématiques de la maternelle à la fin du secondaire, dans l'espace expérimental d'un jardin d'enseignement et d'apprentissage sur le campus de l'Université de la Colombie-Britannique, à Vancouver, au Canada. Le succès de ces expérimentations est proposé comme un catalyseur incitant les éducateurs et éducatrices en mathématiques à adopter l'idée d'enseigner les mathématiques à tous les niveaux à l'aide de pédagogies soigneusement conçues incarnées, artistiques et en plein air afin de compléter et de donner du sens aux approches plus traditionnelles fondées sur les cours magistraux et le travail au crayon et sur papier. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
– Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright
  Label:
  Group: Ab
  Data: <i>Copyright of Encounters in Theory & History of Education / Rencontres en Theorie et Histoire de l'Educacion is the property of Queen's University, Faculty of Education and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
PLink https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=ehh&AN=191251155
RecordInfo BibRecord:
  BibEntity:
    Identifiers:
      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.24908/encounters.v26i0.20253
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      – Code: eng
        Text: English
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      Pagination:
        PageCount: 32
        StartPage: 56
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: STEAM education
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Mathematics education
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Teaching methods
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Outdoor education
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Experiential learning
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Sensorimotor integration
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    Titles:
      – TitleFull: Embodied Outdoors Arts-Based Approaches to Mathematical Understanding.
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            – D: 01
              M: 10
              Text: Fall2025
              Type: published
              Y: 2025
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