Empowered Writing through Movement in the English Classroom

My article for the International Council of Teachers of English

This post originally appeared in the autumn ‘Back to School’ issue of the International Council of Teachers of English Newsletter in August 2023. The intended audience is, therefore, secondary or high school English teachers, primarily teaching in the International Baccalaureate, but hopefully others will find it interesting! It explains some of the origins of this project.

Thanks for joining us at Yoga Culture’s Yoga & Writing community. Please let us know if you’ve used movement in your school classroom as well.

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Empowered Writing through Movement in the English Classroom

Probably like many of you, I went into teaching English because I loved literature and enjoyed working with teenagers. While these have remained true, I have developed lots of reasons for teaching that evolved over the years, but the one that became my center is this: Everyone can write. Everyone has a voice that deserves to be heard.

Of course, teaching writing also means teaching literature…and language and ideas and…well, what it means to be human. But this simple reductionist idea in my teaching was sparked by a conversation with Julia Lesage, iconic editor at the academic film journal Jump Cut during my PhD studies. In a small room seminar, she proclaimed just that: I believe everyone can write. Everyone just needs a chance to develop their writing.

This mantra can be expressed in many empowering ways to students. We can keep high standards and expectations for all. We can differentiate to reach all in our classrooms. We can teach all students tools that can help them write not only whilst in school but beyond.

Over the years, I have found that another, perhaps unexpected, way we can do this is through movement. Using short, directive movement as part of lessons about writing can help us inspire creativity, reach all students, make memorable experiences, and combat deferring to AI.

Inspiring the creativity within

As a long-time athlete, I have always been interested in the mind-body connection, something that’s easily thrown around in schools these days. I wanted to go deeper than ‘seeking calm’ or ‘avoiding stress’ in trying to pursue these benefits in the classroom. Although those consequences are also useful, I thought we could go further.

In a weekend-long yoga workshop on Space & Flow in Vienna with Raphan Kebe, we were first asked what we wanted to get out of the course. My response was creativity. I knew Kebe had a unique, jazz-like way of approaching yoga and I thought it might be useful to my writing. 

One of the concepts we investigated in movement was called Creativity in Constraint, which has become my approach to helping students and professional writers alike understand methods of using text types, genres, and even the five-paragraph-essay model to not only be successful in sharing a communicated message but also be more creative.

One of the activities that I brought to my classroom almost directly was the “physical kōan.” Whilst a Zen kōan is a set of parameters which has no one solution and creates meaning out of uncertainty, a physical one is a riddle of movement in the body. My adapted model cleared the space in the room, then asked students to move from one side to the other all the while on one foot and making a 360 degree turn at some point. Every single time, all the students first hopped across the room with a (wobbly) turn in the middle somewhere. Fine, ok, assignment complete. But can anyone, I questioned, find a different way to complete the same riddle? Hopping one foot to the next, spinning a bum on a desk, even a cartwheel in an outdoor class setting were alternative responses. Great, so, how do we apply this concept to our writing?

Suddenly, light bulbs were going off all over the place. Everyone had something to say about the creative process and writing essays. Often, they came up with ideas I hadn’t thought of or gave us issues to debate. The students were actively internalizing their process as writers and understanding essay writing as a creative act.

Reaching all students

With the success of this experiment, I went on to try others. Of course, we all learn that moving students around during a lesson can help to keep attention at the very least. Stand-up reading and acting of drama tend to invigorate the room. Many of you might use the agree/disagree model where students stand around the room to debate an issue. I love this one and also make sure there’s a soft ball being passed around to the speaker. It keeps us awake but also empowers the speaker, who might normally take a passive role in their chair. Sometimes we forget to do this in DP classrooms or during PD with staff, but it’s just as important for them.

The reasoning, however, is not simply to wake up. It goes beyond this. We are juxtaposed with different parts of the classroom environment and students. We see from a new perspective. And, as we move, we may gain moments of reflection in our learning. I can’t go into all the details here, but I’ll share a couple of other ideas that have worked.

Read the room as students walk in. What do they need today? Creativity functions best with a lucid mind, so a tricky combination of relaxation and alertness is best. But we also want students to feel optimistic and courageous, especially if they might be writing or, even more so, sharing their writing with others.

These activities don’t have to take a lot of time. Even five minutes can make a difference at the start or in the middle of a lesson. As teachers, we constantly read the room. Are students getting it? Falling asleep? Confused? Hungry? In response to these situations, we sometimes plow through lessons with little success, and other times pivot in unexpected ways to bring the classroom alive again.

Even as students come into the classroom, I like to welcome them individually and get a gage on the emotions and attitude in the room. Occasionally, we start with a pose from yoga, things you can easily find online. If there is tension, for example, we might start with something like Eagle Pose, which has a feeling of drawing one’s tension in and then releasing. If students lack confidence, we might do Warrior 2 together.  I always give students the option to participate or not. These might not seem directly related to writing, but to feel ready to write, releasing tension and creating a trusting environment are central to students’ experiences.

And students with injury or physical disability can still participate. It can help them to see that you’ve thought of the way they can be included and might help students with learning disabilities understand this is just a way we can all help each other to assert our authentic selves. There are many resources online, like yogis in wheelchairs or modifications for different bodies.

Mind-body metaphors

Another way to make the movement in the classroom more directly connected to the writing process is through metaphor. Of course, the more metaphor we can include in our classrooms, the better!

In one activity, I like to look at the spine as the initiator of movement and stability in the body. We can do spine rolls and then slowly move our appendages along with the spine, considering the way it holds us all together. Then, we talk about thesis statements or central themes of poems.

Another thing we can do is use Lion Breath for courage. Why is the lion a symbol of courage? How can we channel a fierceness within ourselves to create? It’s a great talking point for students. You can use other animals as well. It’s fun, makes us relax, and is also memorable. Students move too frequently through the different classes of their day with routines and repetition. Some of these routines are wonderful for learning as well, but a small use of the body to talk about a lesson will surely stick in a student’s mind.

These activities are great for the international environment, which is often multilingual. Moving the physical body is a fun way to share Mother tongues in the room (how do you say lion or arm in your language?). These seemingly small uses of multilingualism are proven with research to be especially empowering confidence-builders for students. Additionally, those not so comfortable with their non-native language skills or accent might feel freer expressing themselves with their body’s movements.

An antidote to AI?

The IB is already taking an integrated approach to AI, considering its benefits alongside the dangers of relying on it too heavily or creating hurdles to student learning. If students can learn from a mind-body perspective, they may also be aware when it is useful and appropriate to use AI for benefit. In other words, they can articulate the different layers of learning and methods of producing writing. By teaching writing with the physical body, that is, as an active part of oneself, students may be more able to recognize its value as an integral part of themselves. It becomes a personal act.

Understanding writing from the inside out and being asked to play with its functions and structures in creative ways helps students internalize what they learn. Greater knowledge allows them to be more creative with their writing and to use writing to express their creativity in other domains.

The possibilities for movement in the English classroom are endless. Try some safe experiments and see where it leads you. Or, let the students create lessons with their bodies that surprise you. At the very minimum, even a concentrated approach will give students more agency in their learning, showing them that awareness and health of the mind and body will let them thrive.

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Move Your Mind: Eagle Pose