Academic articles and lectures are central to university education. But according to Odabasi, Demeijer and Pichel, one source of knowledge tends to be overlooked: the body. Through Social Presencing Theater (SPT), they invite students to experience societal issues in a different way. “Knowledge also resides in the body. In intuition. In emotion.”
For Almina Karya Odabasi (teaching and research officer in Organization Sciences), Frederique Demeijer (assistant professor in Transformative Learning at the Athena Institute) and Jaro Pichel (education specialist at the VU Centre for Teaching and Learning), it all began with a shared question: why is academic education so heavily focused on thinking, when people also learn through feeling, moving and experiencing?
“Our aim goes beyond a single course or teaching method,” says Odabasi. “We want to recognize the body as an active carrier of knowledge. This is particularly relevant in higher education, where learning is traditionally approached primarily as a cognitive process.”
Mindfulness, social art and systems thinking
With support from the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) programme, the three researchers developed an educational initiative at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam centred around Social Presencing Theater (SPT), a method developed by Arawana Hayashi, which stems from Otto Scharmer’s Theory U. With this method, they are investigating how embodied learning can be integrated into academic education.
“SPT is an embodied, socio-artistic methodology for change,” explains Pichel. “The method combines mindfulness, art, and systems thinking and is now being applied within organisations, educational institutions and social movements.”
The approach gained further recognition when Demeijer and Eduardo Urias, assistant professor at the Athena Institute, were awarded a Comenius Teaching Fellow grant in June 2026. “This will enable us to further develop SPT and integrate it systematically into the Interdisciplinary CSL Course 2: Addressing Challenges through Transdisciplinary Research. This way, we are taking the next step towards a broader perspective on learning and knowledge within the university.”
Movement, silence and physical presence
Within SPT, participants use movement, silence and physical presence to make social systems visible. In the 4D Mapping exercise, students take on different positions within a societal issue. “You literally step into a system,” Demeijer explains. “This allows you to explore a societal issue not only through theory and analysis, but also by experiencing what it means to be part of that system.”
The method is used to explore complex societal issues such as institutionalized racism and loneliness. “By taking on different positions within a system, students explore how these relate to one another.” According to Demeijer, this can lead to insights that theory alone cannot provide. “It creates something that goes beyond rational understanding.”
Thinking, feeling, experiencing
Embodied learning also demands something of students. Many participants first want to understand exactly what is going to happen. “Students keep asking questions because they want to get a cognitive grasp of things first,” says Demeijer. “A five-minute introduction would sometimes turn into twenty minutes. Afterwards, we had to do grounding exercises again to bring people out of their analytical mode and back into their bodies.”
The physical learning environment also isn’t always suited to this approach. Fixed seating, cables across the floor and lecture halls with little room to move can make these activities difficult. “It makes you think,” says Demeijer. “Are we actually designing our university to educate the changemakers of the future?”
Reconnecting
For the three researchers, the project also demonstrates that educational research does not always have to start with a clearly defined problem. Odabasi: “Sometimes innovation arises when professionals from different disciplines follow a shared curiosity.”
For Pichel, SPT also reflects a broader challenge facing higher education. “Higher education is under pressure from budget cuts, polarization and an increasing focus on individualization. That is precisely why we need to rediscover the space between people. By slowing down and being consciously present, we can reconnect with ourselves, our bodies and one another.”
According to the researchers, the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) plays an important role in this. The programme provides space to explore and develop new approaches to teaching. Their advice to colleagues is simple: “Be open to different ways of thinking and dare to let go of institutionalised patterns from time to time.”
Interested in researching your teaching? Call for proposals: CTL SoTL Fund 2026/2027
Do you have an idea to innovate your teaching and investigate its impact on student learning? The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) Fund supports VU Amsterdam educators in developing, implementing and researching educational innovations. Receive up to €10.000 in funding, as well as training and coaching. Find all information about the call, deadlines, previous projects and how to apply.
