Cristiana D’Anna – Associate Professor, Department of Education and Sports Sciences, Pegaso University, Naples, Italy

Series: Education in a Competitive and Globalizing World
BISAC: EDU033000; EDU009000; EDU029000
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52305/VPWT6085

The book explores Physical Education Pedagogy from an innovative perspective that aims to highlight, on the one hand, the role of the corporeality in learning processes and, on the other hand, the potential of collaborative co-design among teachers to create learning environments that can effectively foster transversal skills. The first part of the volume examines co-design as a collaborative and participatory methodology for designing innovative learning environments that recognize and enhance the interdipendence between movement, cognition and learning. The contributions, drawing on contemporary reserarch on embodied cognition, show that the body actively participates in the knowledge construction. In this regard, bodily expression, intentional movement and multisensory experiences are powerful resources for co-design, as they ctivate and sustain the circular and simultaneous development of physical, cognitive and sensory development processes. The approaches presented are based on a biopsychosocial perspective, that leads to the observation and analysis of educational needs, by taking into account not only the biological aspects of movement, but also psychological (such as emotions and motivations) and social (group dynamics and environment) components. The text provides methodological tools useful for designing inclusive learning settings in physical education, promoting the development of transversal skills, such as problem solving, creativity and collaboration. Principles of embodied pedagogy are integrated with the competent use of digital technologies to promote effective physical literacy.

The final part of the text, entitled “The Pegaso Project”, describes the applied and experimental conclusion of the theoretical principles discussed in the previous sections, presenting the pilot project entitled “Co-designing learning environments from a Bio-Psycho-Social perspective: identifying needs and co-constructing a digital platform”, carried out by the Pegaso Telematic university. In line with the epistemological reflections described above, the project aimed to promote an innovative approach to educational design, with a purpose to develop a co-design model that would help build transferable skills, as well as to create a tech product (web app) as a tool capable to respond to educational needs of teachers and students, and provide practical implications for teaching practices.