ABSTRACT
To explain why thinking and teaching with physical materials in the college classroom is valuable, this chapter discusses some of the beliefs and intellectual traditions that prevent us from seeing that cognition and learning are embodied. Beginning with the notion that the mind and the body are separate and distinct, the chapter challenges this dualism as well as the value system that creates a hierarchy in which mind is elevated over body. The mind and the body, instead, are an integrated and inseparable whole, and learning with physical materials, kinesthetic experiences, and manipulatives for students to interact with can be extremely valuable. All learning is experiential learning, and creating classroom experiences that promote inquiry and engage the embodied learner are essential. The work of Renee Descartes, John Dewey, William James, Rudolf Arnheim, and Antonio Damasio, among others, lays the foundation for this argument.
