<b>The power of embodied and arts-based learning in the Shared Humanity experiential learning opportunity at Stellenbosch University</b>
Creators: name: Costandius, Elmarie
name: Andrews, Ruth
Publisher: name: figshare
Year: 2025
Subjects: classificationCode: 390101
subject: Creative arts, media and communication curriculum and pedagogy
classificationCode: 390102
subject: Curriculum and pedagogy theory and development
classificationCode: 390107
subject: Humanities and social sciences curriculum and pedagogy (excl. economics, business and management)
classificationCode: 390199
subject: Curriculum and pedagogy not elsewhere classified
classificationCode: 390203
subject: Sociology of education
classificationCode: 390299
subject: Education policy, sociology and philosophy not elsewhere classified
classificationCode: 390303
subject: Higher education
classificationCode: 390307
subject: Teacher education and professional development of educators
classificationCode: 390399
subject: Education systems not elsewhere classified
classificationCode: 390401
subject: Comparative and cross-cultural education
classificationCode: 390402
subject: Education assessment and evaluation
classificationCode: 390403
subject: Educational administration, management and leadership
classificationCode: 390407
subject: Inclusive education
classificationCode: 390410
subject: Multicultural education (excl. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, Māori and Pacific Peoples)
classificationCode: 390499
subject: Specialist studies in education not elsewhere classified
classificationCode: 440405
subject: Poverty, inclusivity and wellbeing
classificationCode: 441004
subject: Social change
classificationCode: 441005
subject: Social theory
classificationCode: 441008
subject: Sociology of culture
classificationCode: 441012
subject: Sociology of inequalities
classificationCode: 441013
subject: Sociology of migration, ethnicity and multiculturalism
classificationCode: 441099
subject: Sociology not elsewhere classified
classificationCode: 441001
subject: Applied sociology, program evaluation and social impact assessment
classificationCode: 449999
subject: Other human society not elsewhere classified

description: <b>Abstract</b>The transformation of higher education in South Africa has tended to focus on issues such as access and representation, leaving curricula insufficiently addressed. This is surprising, considering that much previous scholarship, including the recent Khampepe Report, has called for the implementation of a specific pedagogical framework to foster in students critical and holistic perspectives about social justice issues and dismantle pre-existing biases. Shared Humanity: Lessons in Critical Thinking at Stellenbosch University was designed with these issues in mind and was implemented in 2019 as a pilot by the Division: Student Affairs in the Co-curriculum Office. This article discusses the visual arts session of Shared Humanity, which is premised on relational perspectives derived from post-empirical and indigenous knowledge frameworks. By examining relevant literature, specific learning practices and student reflections from the visual arts session, the article makes a case for the meaningful inclusion and development of embodied and arts-based learning strategies in social justice pedagogical frameworks in higher education. It argues that embodied and arts-based learning strategies offer new ways of thinking and learning about old problems and, as such, can become powerful tools for engaging students meaningfully in the transformation project. This article, therefore, focuses on student experiences of arts-based embodied methods to enhance teaching and learning related to social justice concerns.