THE ROLE OF THE BODY IN EDUCATIONAL PROCESSES: PERFORMING ARTS AS A MULTISENSORY STIMULATION TOOL IN AN EMBODIED PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

The studies on mirror neurons have made it possible to understand that man has begun to learn thanks to imitation: an action that translates as a reading of the movement of others, recognizing it as one’s own despite not knowing fully the motor program because it is unknown until a given moment. By nature we tend to imitate our neighbor, an aspect that suggests that we look at the other as a projection of ourselves (Rizzolatti G., 2019). The observation of motor actions activates neural mechanisms that appear to be the same ones that operate in the understanding of sounds and in the semantic attribution of communication codes, both verbal and paraverbal (Gallese & Lakoff, 2005). To fully understand the neuroperceptive potential, the proposal is to consider the valid and possible educational implications of the performing arts. If art is an experience (Dewey, 2020) and «in the Piano delle arti a new conception of the school is expressed in which the dimension of knowledge of artistic manifestations and expressiveness finds full citizenship» (Legislative Decree 60/2017), it is imperative to emphasize the process and how the mind works with artistic materials to produce creative results (Webster, 1990). According to an approach that refers to embodied cognition (Bersalou L., 1999) and to the role of the body in learning processes, these tools will be useful for the construction of an artistic identity, a profile necessary to define the traits of a complete personality on the way out from compulsory school.