On Episode 580 of Teaching in Higher Ed, I welcome Dr. Leslie Bayers, Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at University of the Pacific, to the podcast. Leslie’s background spans Spanish and Latin American studies, educational development, and the teaching of movement, with her recent scholarship questioning inherited practices in higher education and empowering college teachers and learners. In this conversation, we discuss her chapter, “The Joy of Embodied Learning,” featured in the book Joy Centered Pedagogy in Higher Education.

Together, we explore the critical yet often overlooked role of the body in learning. Leslie shares personal experiences and research on embodied cognition, highlighting the tangible impact that classroom environments, movement, and sensory engagement can have on student joy and learning. We discuss practical ways to disrupt sedentary classroom norms, foster body literacy, and offer students invitations to tune into their embodied needs. Leslie also emphasizes setting appropriate boundaries around “scope of practice,” giving listeners clear ways to support students without stepping outside their expertise. Our conversation is rich with actionable ideas for integrating movement and care into higher education teaching, no matter the discipline.

Resources from the episode:

• Joy-Centered Pedagogy in Higher Education: Uplifting Teaching & Learning for All, edited by Eileen Camfield
• Ross Gay
• Masculinity as Homophobia: Fear, Shame and Silence in the Construction of Gender Identity, by Michael S. Kimmel
• SIFT
• Audre Lorde
• Martin Luther King Jr.
• Mike Caulfield
• Karl Marx
• Stanley Milgram
• Hannah Arendt
• Joy Cards
• Eichmann in Jerusalem
• All My Relations Podcast

Episode topics:

• Embodied Learning: Implicit and Explicit Messages in Academia
• The Impact of Physical Classroom Environments
• Bringing the Body Back: Small-Scale Embodiment Strategies
• The Role of Invitations and Group Movement in Learning
• Understanding Embodied Cognition
• Body Awareness, Emotional Literacy, and Learning
• Navigating Scope of Practice as an Educator
• Inviting Student Check-Ins and Mutual Care
• Embracing Discomfort and Joy in the Learning Process

Discussion questions:

1. Leslie Bayers shares that she rarely received explicit messages about the role of the body in learning as a student. What implicit messages about the body and learning did you encounter in your own educational journey?
2. How do classroom layouts, furniture, and physical teaching tools shape both the teacher's and students' engagement with embodied learning? Can you recall a time when your environment encouraged or inhibited movement?
3. Bayers describes the ways that embodied learning energizes students, especially in language classes. What small-scale practices have you seen (or could you imagine) that encourage meaningful movement in classes of any discipline?
4. Sedentarism and its negative impacts are a central topic in the discussion. What are some creative and accessible ways educators might disrupt sedentary classroom habits, even in lectures or large classes?
5. The concept of “body literacy” is mentioned—understanding and responding to bodily cues to support learning. Why is body literacy important for both students and instructors? How might we foster it intentionally?
6. How can inviting students to check in about their feelings (even anonymously) build classroom community and support learning—even in content-heavy courses like STEM or large survey classes?

Related Episodes

If you found meaning in The Joy of Embodied Learning with Leslie Bayers (Episode 580), you may also appreciate these related conversations:

• How Role Clarity and Boundaries Can Help Us Thrive (Episode 505) with Karen Costa

  Leslie references this episode with Karen during her conversation with me, highlighting how Costa’s work on role clarity and boundaries supports more sustainable and just teaching practices.

• Learning to Teach, Design, and Rest from Nature (Episode 578) with Karen Costa

  A nature-inspired conversation that explores teaching as an organic process, affirming rest and regeneration as essential to justice-centered work.

• Learning Out Loud (Episode 438) with Karen Caldwell

  This episode mirrors Leslie’s reflections on vulnerability, as Karen Caldwell shares how modeling “learning out loud” can create space for others to do the same.

Recommended

I came across this article by Forte on his 4-stage system for learning anything and think it is worth checking out. I especially appreciated the secret ingredient he includes at the end: play.

Speaking of play, if you want a 1-minute glimpse of my friend, Shannon, and I playfully unboxing our new set of Mixtiles (this time, for our library), check out our Mixtiles Unboxing Video.

It will only take you a minute, and you can even catch a bit of Shannon’s impromptu dancing at the end. 😂❤️

Quotable Words

As Karen Caldwell reminds us on Episode 438:

Our brains are literally switched on when we are curious.

Next Week’s Episode

On the upcoming episode of Teaching in Higher Ed, learn from Alexandra (Ana) Kogl about joyful justice.

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Affiliate income disclosure: Books that are recommended on the podcast link to the Teaching in Higher Ed bookstore on Bookshop.org. All affiliate income gets donated to the LibroMobile Arts Cooperative (LMAC), established in 2016 by Sara Rafael Garcia.”

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