“I STOPPED SEEING MY BODY AS A CONTAINER”. MOTOR, EMOTIONAL, AND BIOGRAPHICAL MEANINGS ARISING FROM THE USE OF CORPOGRAPHIES IN THE UNIVERSITY CLASSROOM

Abstract

This manuscript examines the use of corpography as a pedagogical tool in the university classroom. It focuses on visual narratives in which students create and graphically represent their moving bodies through expressive dynamics and body awareness, within the context of initial training in the undergraduate programme in Physical Activity and Sport Sciences. This biographical-narrative study explores the meanings that emerge from the analysis of 150 visual narratives produced by students. The analysis addresses the emotional, motor, and biographical meanings constructed and narrated through their visual compositions. The findings indicate that corpography constitutes a relevant pedagogical tool for fostering processes of self-discovery, creativity, and the deconstruction of hegemonic body models. Furthermore, the study highlights the importance of conscious body work in learning processes and underscores the role of affective bonds in enhancing interpersonal relationships both inside and outside the university classroom.

Keywords
Visual Narrative; Corpography; Initial Training; Corporality

Resumen

Este manuscrito profundiza en el uso de la corpografía como herramienta pedagógica en el aula universitaria. Se trata de narrativas visuales en las que el alumnado crea y grafía su cuerpo en movimiento a partir de dinámicas expresivas y de consciencia corporal en el contexto de la formación inicial del grado de Ciencias de la Actividad Física y el Deporte. El estudio, de corte biográfico narrativo, profundiza en los significados que emergen de los 150 relatos visuales analizados. El análisis profundiza en los significados emocionales, motrices y biográficos que el alumnado narra a través de sus composiciones visuales. Los resultados muestran que la corpografía es una herramienta válida para promover procesos de autodescubrimiento, creatividad y deconstrucción de modelos corporales hegemónicos. Se evidencia la importancia del trabajo consciente corporal en el aprendizaje y la relevancia de crear vínculos afectivos como mejora en las relaciones interpersonales dentro y fuera del aula universitaria.

Palabras clave
Narrativa visual; Corpografía; Formación inicial; Corporeidad

Resumo

Este manuscrito explora o uso da corpografia como uma ferramenta pedagógica na sala de aula da universidade. Ele trata de narrativas visuais nas quais os alunos criam e representam graficamente seus corpos em movimento com base na dinâmica expressiva e na consciência corporal no contexto da formação inicial para o curso de Ciências da Atividade Física e do Esporte. Esse estudo narrativo biográfico investiga os significados que emergem das 150 histórias visuais analisadas. A análise investiga os significados emocionais, motores e biográficos que os alunos narram por meio de suas composições visuais. Os resultados mostram que a corpografia é uma ferramenta válida para promover processos de autodescoberta, criatividade e desconstrução de modelos corporais hegemônicos. Fica evidente a importância do trabalho consciente do corpo na aprendizagem e a relevância da criação de vínculos afetivos como melhoria nas relações interpessoais dentro e fora da sala de aula da universidade.

Palavras-chave
Narrativa visual; Corpografia; Treinamento inicial; Corporeidade

1 INTRODUCTION

In recent decades, understanding the role of the body in education has been a topic of interest in educational research. For a long time, the predominant educational approach has been rooted in intellectual development, placing the body in the background or as a mere functional instrument subordinate to cognitive learning. This reductionist paradigm of corporeality is being questioned by recent scientific advances in different fields of knowledge. Research in the fields of neurobiology, neuroeducation, and emotional education (Damásio, 2022; Diez; Castellanos, 2022) highlights the need to understand the importance of the body in cognitive development and the influence that bodily markers have on brain connections. These studies point to the need to take bodily experience into account as a space from which to rethink the intellect, since learning does not occur solely through effort, memorization, or deductive analysis; rather, what guides, motivates, and shapes our decisions is strongly emotional in nature. Research in the field of emotional education (Fernández-Berrocal; Cabello, 2021; Kostiv; Rodríguez-Hernández, 2022) has demonstrated improvements in aspects related to health, coexistence, academic improvement, and the importance of socio-emotional bonds for student learning. In the field of sociology, Turner (2009) and Le Breton (2002) highlighted human corporeality as a sociocultural phenomenon necessary for constructing the subject's relationship with the world. Abramowski and Sorondo (2022) argue that it is necessary to understand that learning is relational and is built on socio-affective bonds, constructed on the basis of the idea of a historical, changing, learned construct that gives meaning to the dialogue between the subject and society. This dialogue traverses the corporeal. Kaplan (2022) states that education is constructed through intersubjectivities, invisibly and corporeally woven. Therefore, although education has largely focused on a technicist and applied reproductive approach (Mujica, 2022; Spittle; Spittle, 2016), it is essential to consider that the educational process is an interweaving of education, body, and sensibilities. CAs Galak (2022) argues, bodies and sensibilities are “repositories” of content, recipients of external and objective knowledge. Hence, the need to investigate teacher training from this triple dimension, as it involves understanding different theoretical perspectives that help to dissolve the asymmetries that generate social, class, or gender distinctions.

The teaching of aspects related to motor skills involves physical, intellectual, social, and emotional dimensions. Hence, the importance of considering, on the one hand, the plasticity of learning, the processes of conscious attention, relationality, and reflexivity (Hillary et al., 2015; Roca et al., 2019); and, on the other hand, understanding the emotional, relational, and sociocultural dimension of the body as an ecosystemic issue (González; Barea; Martínez-Álvarez, 2024; Jiménez-Jaimes, 2023). The body does not act solely as a passive receiver but also as a subjective and active agent that interacts with and affects the environment in which it unfolds.

In this context, the sciences of physical activity and sport and Physical Education play a central role in reconceptualizing learning with the body as a fundamentally relational and affective axis, with clear ethical and political implications. It is important to talk about embodied learnings and knowledges based on conscious pedagogies, given that the body is at the same time testimony, structure, and essence of the subjectivities that inhabit it (Águila, 2024; Planella, 2006; Prados-Megías, 2020).

1.1 KNOWLEDGES AND BODILY EXPERIENCE TOWARDS EXPRESSIVE SOVEREIGNTY IN THE CLASSROOM

The integration of the body into educational processes implies not considering it as an object, but rather as the means through which we experience and understand the world (Merleau-Ponty et al., 2013). The contributions of Jensen (2005) showed that kinesthetic learning improves processes related to cognition, problem-solving, and creative processes. Hence, the importance of generating integrative pedagogical experiences that can denormalize thoughts, practices, and behaviors related to the body that focus their attention exclusively on motor performance (Estrada-Castro, 2024). As Ruiz (2017) states, the initial training of professionals in the field of motor activity should incorporate their embodied knowledges as a source of knowledge. Planella (2024) delves deeper into this idea, based on the concept of caring for the body through a “sensitive pedagogy,” that is, one that incorporates differences and diversity from multiple forms of expression and experiences to rethink the body in education as a “corporeal-affective” bond (Prados-Megías; Ruiz, 2023). This reinforces the idea of considering the body as a place of relationship and learning, an embodied body capable of generating knowledge and meaning from what happens to it, what it suffers, or what it discovers.

Research on corporeality in higher education has experienced notable growth, positioning itself as an emerging interdisciplinary field. Hegna and Ørbæk (2024) conducted a systematic review of 247 articles, spanning various disciplines, including 66 publications related to teacher education. Although most studies focus on cognitive and discursive aspects of corporeality, the authors identified a lack of emphasis on sensory, bodily, and intersubjective dimensions. On the other hand, Lambert et al. (2024) analyzed the theoretical conceptualization of corporeality through a narrative review of 23 articles published between 2010 and 2021. The authors highlight key attributes such as intentionality, affect, meaning, sharing, and unity, underscoring the transformative potential of pedagogical practices that integrate the body in its diversity of expressions. However, they also highlighted the disconnect between theoretical frameworks and their practical application, which limits their impact on pedagogy. To address this absence, Moreno and Rivas (2022) propose the term expressive sovereignty in learning, that is, considering the classroom as a living and expressive space in which bodies are made present through their voices. This expressive sovereignty, in the educational field of corporeality, refers, on the one hand, to listening to experience (Contreras; Quiles; Paredes, 2019), and, on the other, to considering the classroom as a place for training oneself that deepens commitment to the didactic experience (Alves, 2020), as well as a space of encounter and of personal and collective creation through critical-creative and poetic dialogues. In this sense, bodily expressive arts and their multiple manifestations (dramatization, improvisation, dance, conscious movement, bodily performances, etc.) are potentially necessary languages through which it becomes possible to communicate and to confront inequalities, exclusions, and social injustices that students experience in their bodies (Prados-Megías; Ruiz, 2023), as an ethical exercise and an exercise of justice that opens possible paths to delve into the natural beauty of bodies (Baptista; Zanolla, 2016). Gallo, Planella, and Ramírez (2020) speak of a bodily education based on slowness, touch, experiential knowledge, self-knowledge, and the value of an education of presence, grounded in creative and participatory methodologies that have the potential to be applicable to other educational contexts and to generate change (Freitas; Mouraz; Pereira, 2017; Hernández-Rodríguez; Lirola; Prados-Megías, 2024). The integration of this perspective into initial training can enrich the understanding of the body as a central agent in the construction of knowledge; that is, thinking the body from experience is an act of natural beauty as a logical form of resistance to societies that administer the control of bodies, both in objective and subjective terms (Baptista; Zanolla, 2016).

1.2 CORPOGRAPHY AS A PEDAGOGICAL TOOL

Recent research into embodied learning (EL) technologies reinforces this view by demonstrating how integrating the body into the educational process can improve student performance in real-world contexts. Blasco and Bernabé (2016); Kosmas and Zaphiris (2023) showed that EL methodologies contribute significantly to cognitive performance, motor skills, academic performance, and improve emotional state, student motivation, and relational skills. They highlight the transformative potential of pedagogical practices that use learning and assessment tools based on movement, art, and reflexivity.

In this sense, corpography represents a unique convergence between art, movement, and pedagogy, functioning as an educational methodological resource (EL) that creatively and reflexively integrates bodily experiences into learning. This tool allows students to explore their personal experiences through visual and textual narratives, fosters processes of (self-)exploration and knowledge, and retrieves bodily memories, contributing to making visible stereotypes and prejudices related to corporeality (Planella, 2013). The educational potential of corpography lies in its capacity to express learning in a creative and sovereign way (Moreno; Rivas, 2022). Rather than perceiving the body as a functional object in which only the outcome matters, corpography offers the possibility of creating visual compositions in which the subject is placed at the center of learning on the basis of lived experience. In this sense, corpography, within the field of initial training, is a tool that makes it possible to understand the educational act as a creative and innovative process that offers the possibility of critically (re)thinking models of learning about the body. At the same time, corpography makes visible the diversity of experiences, identities, vulnerabilities, exclusions, etc. This has profound implications for inclusive education, challenging traditional norms and expectations, since it allows students with different physical abilities and different bodily experiences to participate fully. According to Planella-Ribera et al. (2022), the use of corpography is essential for building an inclusive and equitable learning environment in which the person can feel valued and understood. Despite its potential, corpography is a relatively unexplored tool in university education. This gap represents an opportunity to expand knowledge about how bodily visual narratives can enrich the educational experience and foster critical knowledge.

This study derives from the good practices and innovation project entitled “LabCorpoEDuca-M.”¹ As part of this project, the present study focuses the analysis on the visual and textual narratives generated through corpography in order to understand how university students conceptualize and experience the relationship between body, movement, and learning. The objectives of this study are:

1. to identify the thematic patterns present in the corpographies created by students based on their lived experiences in the course Body, Awareness, and Movement;

2. to explore the perceptions and meanings that students attribute to the body in the learning process;

3. to delve into the socio-emotional meanings that students attribute to listening and to the lived experience of the body.

2 METHODOLOGY

2.1 BIOGRAPHICAL-NARRATIVE PARADIGM IN EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

This study adopts a biographical-narrative approach, privileging students’ voices and the subjective interpretation of their experiences. This type of study recognizes collective and subjective construction (Rivas, 2009), where narratives become vehicles for exploring the meanings, details, and nuances attributed to the body in movement and its relationship with learning. As Clandinin (2013) points out, biographical-narrative research makes it possible to inquire into how students ’lived experiences contribute to the generation of critical and transformative knowledge, acting as a bridge between personal experience and collective knowledge. Making students ’voices visible from their experiences, as Ellis and Bochner (2000) indicate, provides elements for educational change, since it takes into account voices that have been marginalized or silenced.

This type of research embraces the becoming of the classroom and, therefore, it is not a type of research that merely collects experiences, but rather thinks from them. In this way, each student inquires into what is one’s own and what is learned in relation to others, in order to enable questions, searches, and conversations (Kohan, 2017), generating knowledge from the collective transmission of meanings (Cotty, 1998) and giving rise to social constructions and knowledge about the body from an intersubjective perspective (Sandín, 2003). Along with Contreras and Pérez de Lara (2010), we can argue that this research situates experience as embodied reality in order to generate situated knowledge.

The study is carried out based on the visual narratives and written narratives of the subjects with whom we conduct research in initial teacher training in the field of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences. We understand that narratives constitute knowledge that students construct from their own experience and in interrelation with the class group and with the contexts in which they act. That is, they show particular realities, ways of understanding reality, and ways of acting (Denzin, 1989; O’Neill; Roberts; Sparkes, 2015).

2.2 PARTICIPANTS AND RESEARCH CONTEXT

The sample consists of third-year students enrolled in the Bachelor's Degree in Physical Activity and Sports Sciences (CAFyD, Ciencias de la Actividad Física y el Deporte) at the University of Almería (UAL), who are taking the semester-long course “Body, Consciousness, and Movement”. The number of students enrolled over these years amounts to 360 students, 60% men and 40% women, aged between 20 and 22 years. Corpography is part of one of the learning instruments used in the course. For this study, the corpographies produced in the course over four academic years (from 2020 to 2024) were used. Once the course had ended, students were asked to submit their corpography on an optional basis. Participating students signed an informed consent authorizing the use of corpographies (images and associated texts) exclusively for academic analysis and research purposes. However, this consent does not include public dissemination of the images, which guarantees the protection of participants ’identity and personal data. Therefore, corpographies are not visually displayed in the article, and their analysis is presented in a descriptive and textual manner, respecting ethical principles of confidentiality, anonymity, and responsible use of information. All necessary information about the study was provided, as well as protocols regarding ethical principles of confidentiality, anonymity, and respect for privacy, preserving any personal information. Students were informed of the optional nature of submitting corpographies, as well as the possibility of withdrawing them at any time during the study without any consequences. Participants were also informed that there was no financial or other type of remuneration. Anonymity was guaranteed by indicating that, in each corpography and discussion entry, any identifying information would be removed and replaced by codes typical of this type of research. This work is carried out under the ethical code of good research practices established by the University of Almería, Spain.

2.3 INFORMATION GATHERING TOOLS

1. Visual narratives (corpographies). Narrative videos created by students (duration from 1:30 to 2:30 minutes, in mp4 format). The videos contain visual and sound-musical elements, images of the body in movement, verbal and non-verbal language, and various ways of graphing content that provide reflection on the bodily experiences and learnings that students experienced during the course. A total of 150 corpographies were collected over the aforementioned academic years. Coding was carried out as follows: Corpography (C), number (from 1–150).

2. Debates. In the virtual classroom of the course, a space called “debates or forums on corpography” was designed, in which students, on an optional basis, freely and anonymously share opinions, reflections, and contributions related to meanings and learnings connected to corpography. A total of 4 debates (one per academic year) were analyzed, with 140 entries. Coding was carried out as follows: Debate (D), number (from 1–140).

2.4 ANALYSIS PROCESS

The analysis adopted a rhizomatic approach (Deleuze; Guattari, 2008), characterized by its capacity to trace dynamic and multidimensional connections among the collected data. The analytical categories made it possible to problematize the aims of the study. The analysis of the information obtained helps to understand and deepen how university students conceptualize and experience the relationship between body, movement, and learning, to identify patterns related to the body, and to explore emotional meanings that students associate with learning about the body. The following analytical dimensions-categories proposed by Gallo, Planella, and Ramírez (2020) were used:

1. corpo-Biographies: Narratives that question bodily and educational norms, highlighting aspects of denunciation and transgression. This category analyzes information related to the conceptualization and/or models of the body and their relationship or lack thereof with processes of awareness and movement;

2. corpo-Sensitivities: Reflections that explore the coexistence and beauty of the body within a non-traditional educational methodological framework. This category includes narratives that account for sensitivities that highlight the beauty and aesthetic dimension of the body;

3. corpo-Mobilities: Representations of movement as an intrinsic need beyond its physical functionality. This category includes information that addresses movement from affective and relational dimensions.

An iterative process based on the do–tell–retell–redo model (Clandinin, 2013) was used to deepen emerging meanings and generate new interpretations. Corpographies were analyzed through a combination of visual and textual content analysis, identifying thematic and symbolic patterns. This was complemented with similarly categorized information from students ’opinions and reflections in the debates.

The analysis of the information was carried out in four stages:

1. First stage. Review and cataloguing: the 150 available videos were viewed in full to identify key characteristics (themes, narrative structure, visual elements used). Likewise, the 140 debate entries were catalogued.

2. Second stage. Initial coding: preliminary codes were developed around the categorical axes Corpo-Biographies, Corpo-Sensitivities, and Corpo-Mobilities.

3. Third stage. Thematic analysis: NVivo qualitative analysis software was used to organize the data and facilitate triangulation between visual narratives and debates.

4. Fourth stage. Triangulation: findings were contrasted with the debates to enrich interpretation.

3 ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

The analysis reveals a rich variety of experiences and reflections regarding the relationship with the body, movement, and bodily awareness in the context of university training. Based on the proposed rhizomatic approach (Deleuze; Guattari, 2008) and the theoretical analytical dimensions (Gallo; Planella; Ramírez, 2020), recurrent patterns and themes emerge that are grouped into the three categories mentioned above.

Figure 1 represents the distribution of the main themes identified in the 150 corpographies:

• Corpo-Biographies (40%): Narratives that question traditional norms in learning, transgressive learnings, and processes of personal and collective (self-)discovery.

• Corpo-Sensitivities (35%): Narrative and visual accounts that symbolize corporeality within non-conventional educational frameworks through explorations and sensory and emotional dimensions that connect the beautiful, the transcendent, and the spiritual aspects of the body.

• Corpo-Mobilities (25%): Experiences centered on movement, expressed through motor manifestations of free expression and expressive performances.

Figure 1
Percentage distribution in relation to the analytical categories of the corpographies.

Figure 2 schematizes the emerging themes of each analytical category:

Figure 2
Analytical categories and emerging themes of the corpographies.

Next, the emerging themes in each categorical dimension are described, illustrating them with representative evidence from students ’narratives in dialogue with the literature. The narratives provide meanings about the body–awareness–movement relationship and the learnings that take place throughout the course.

3.1 CORPO-BIOGRAPHIES. NARRATIVES OF (SELF-)DISCOVERY, TRANSGRESSION, AND TRANSFORMATION

In this category, themes related to the breaking of bodily and educational norms referring to traditional conceptions of the body are identified. Most students reflect an initial tension toward culturally imposed bodily ideals, evidencing insecurities and internalized prejudices. Phrases such as

“my body silently screams what we keep quiet about or what society censors; I am chubby, I don’t have curves, my breasts are not voluminous, I lack a six-pack” “I do not know my body beyond physical pain, its image and volume” “now I can say that my body is not only muscle and physical strength” (C-3-8-15-79; D-35-48-98-131)

highlight the beginning of a shift in the learned bodily paradigm. The body is no longer only a functional, mechanical, and limited object, but also reveals new experiences that bring students into contact with affective, perceptual, sensory, and emotional dimensions. A body that, by feeling consciously, transgresses the norm of what is politically correct: “I move more freely, even if the exercise is not what is understood as correct”, “improvising movement also requires an exercise of discipline, but from a feeling of freedom that I did not have before” (C-25; D56).

At the same time, narratives also show a significant transformation. The educational process acts as a catalyst for questioning stereotypes and promoting personal acceptance. For example, students report:

“I stopped seeing my body as a container with human form to recognize it as something unique that has a voice and wants to tell us something” […] “the body has always been there, but I had never stopped to listen to it” (C-78).

“I know I have a body that feels, but now I grant it another time and another way of listening to it, breathing, becoming aware of breathing and the effect it has on my body; it is more than just taking my pulse” (D-23; C-1-99).

“I realized how my classmate moves, breathes, I feel him. I am not an isolated body; we are bodies, and relating through touch has been very special, a surprise. I felt how diverse we are” (C-33-127; D-55-140).

These experiences underline a discovery that, while novel, is recognized by students as something of their own, giving the learnings of the course a critical character in rethinking normative conceptions of the body and the construction of multiple bodily identities.

The corpo-biographical dimension points to several important issues. On the one hand, students speak in terms of transformation (Rivas, 2009) insofar as they evidence a break with hegemonic bodily ideals (Estrada-Castro, 2024) and highlight the role of the body as a narrator of experiences and emotions that transgress what is usually experienced in the classroom (Planella, 2024). On the other hand, as Fernández-Berrocal and Cabello (2021) and Kostiv and Rodríguez-Hernández (2022) point out, an education that incorporates emotional experience and its relationship with educational processes, in this case through the body in movement, provides new knowledge and significant changes in conceptions of the body and the benefits it produces in terms of mental health, bodily well-being, and connection between the different dimensions of the human being. Finally, when students explore their bodies, they discover bodily limitations that they transform into possibilities. Thus, as Gálvez and Sastre (2011) point out, movement can be understood as a rhizomatic practice that connects different dimensions of human experience, transcending the merely functional and discovering the potential of movement as a source of self-knowledge with oneself, with others, and as an emotional catalyst and aesthetic and creative expression (Freitas; Mouraz; Pereira 2017).

3.2 CORPO-SENSITIVITIES. THE BODY AS A SPACE OF CONNECTION WITH THE BEAUTIFUL AND THE TRANSCENDENT

In the narratives analyzed, the body is presented as a space of sensitivity and emotional expression. The experiences reflect a discovery of the inherent beauty of the body and its capacity to connect with the surrounding environment and with others. The act of walking barefoot, described in some corpographies, becomes a powerful metaphor to represent this sensitivity: “Each step is a delicate balance between my soles and the earth […] I felt how I flow in time and how the weight of my body is different, each one and all at the same time connected” (D-45; C-25). At the same time, the encounter with one’s own corporeality and that of the group is presented as an opportunity for an unprecedented relational dialogue:

“It is a unique experience in my training, I have spoken to, listened to, and cared for my body […] I have also observed the bodies of my classmates and I realize the many messages they emit, how different we are and how the system tries to unify us and not believe in the beauty that each person has” (C-11; D-8-116).

Likewise, diverse practices of bodily awareness such as yoga, tai chi, diaphragmatic therapy, dance therapy, eutonics, conscious gymnastics, relaxation techniques, conscious systems for movement technique, etc., are described in the corpographies as opportunities to rediscover coexistence and harmony between body–mind–spirit. Students ’narratives highlight:

“I did not believe in the practice of relaxation, but now it is my refuge to reach a state of calm that I never thought would be possible” (C-45).

“I realize how breathing is not only a physical measure, but helps me to concentrate, think, feel, and reduce my stress; my corpography has reflected the importance of breathing in my way of being in class. I have discovered that breathing gives me more sensitivity in the way I listen to and look at others” (D-88; C-8-10).

“I wanted to portray my emotions in class and I discovered the emotions recorded in my bodily memory; I have not learned to manage them, but to love them. They make me feel alive, they make me vibrate, whatever they are. Now I realize” (C-62).

“Sharing these experiences with my classmates has created a better atmosphere in class and in our relationships” (D-139).

These experiences show how the bodily practices proposed in the course foster an expanded perception of the body in relation to the environment surrounding the classroom. They become a means to embody and inhabit corporeality, including personal, social, and transcendental dimensions that point toward an improvement in personal and collective well-being. The corpo-sensitivities evidenced in students ’narratives express what could be a concretization of what Planella (2024) proposes as a sensitive and sensorial pedagogical practice (Sandín, 2003). The lived experience of students reflects that the body is a place of encounter-discovery, of conscious sensitivity, which becomes flesh because it feels what happens to it and because it is capable of positioning itself and understanding what happens to other people. Gallo, Planella, and Ramírez (2020), and Contreras and Pérez-Lara (2010) speak of what, educationally, is an “embodied body”: bodies that transcend the merely functional and relate on the basis of what each human being lives and experiences. It is then that the body is discovered in coexistence through gestures, sensitivities, and silences that speak of human beauty beyond what is apparently aesthetic (Baptista; Zanolla, 2016). As Kohan (2017) points out, the body is not only a vehicle that experiences, manages, and reproduces what it feels or learns, but represents in itself the embodiment of what it feels and gives meaning to what it lives, in order to actively commit to reality and its environment.

3.3 CORPO-MOBILITIES. THE AFFECTIVE AND SOCIO-EMOTIONAL BOND OF MOVEMENT

Movement emerges as a central theme in the corpographies, not only as a physical motor act, but as an intrinsic need that transcends its functionality. The narratives highlight how movement is perceived as a vehicle for knowledge and for the creation of relational bonds that transform learning.

“My legs allowed me to get on this train and with my mind I learned to move from carriage to carriage. I feel that I have strength in my legs and at the same time I discover the meaning of walking in order to go out to meet other people; my foot became huge and I felt that I was walking in a different way, my classmate and I were walking as if united, we became emotional without speaking, just feeling that walking together” (C-79).

“Moving freely, breaking typical movement schemes, has made me feel lighter and to attune myself more rhythmically with my partner” (D-122).

These testimonies exemplify how students interpret movement as a symbolic process in the creation of relational bonds and personal growth. At the same time, these experiences lead students to rediscover another physical education beyond what is purely motor:

“I have always been made to think that physical education is sport or physical exercise; now I can say that there is much to explore. What I have experienced in this course makes me feel a different body; I thought I was clumsy, arrhythmic, but I have discovered that I can create and invent other movements far from their mechanics and efficiency. It is a pleasure to move freely and creatively” (D-34).

In addition, students highlight the importance of listening to the body through movement, identifying patterns that they previously ignored:

“I discovered that my asymmetry was not only physical, but reflected my lack of inner balance; now expressive and free movement is my guide to stabilize myself and to feel its beauty” (C-5).

“I discover the rigidity of my body and it is like feeling the rigidity of the desks; I also discover the fear and the trembling of my legs like the trembling when they put me forward as an example in class” (D-125).

These reflections show how movement in the educational context becomes a tool for releasing tensions, overcoming emotional blockages, rediscovering the potential of the body, and interpreting the body–educational institution relationship.

An institution that forgets the body or conceives it as a trained body. However, to speak of corps-mobilities is to highlight narratives in which students ’voices crack hegemonic trends and discourses about the body, in order to give meaning to a sovereign way of expressing oneself and to move forward toward other narratives that transform ideas, concepts, and practices about human mobility. The results indicate that corpography is a possible tool (Blasco; Bernabé, 2016; Kosmas; Zaphiris, 2023) for students to develop creative and critical processes of self-expression as a way of constructing knowledge and shared knowledges in their initial training (Alves, 2020; Moreno; Rivas, 2022; Prados-Megías; Ruiz, 2023). In this sense, the initial tension reflected in many narratives, marked by disconnection from the body, can be interpreted as a symptom of cultural norms that prioritize performance and appearance over integral well-being (Gallo; Planella; Ramírez, 2020). However, the process lived in the university classroom and captured in the corpographies facilitates the deconstruction of traditional models in order to move into the discovery of sensitive, conscious, and diverse bodies, as González, Varea, and Martínez-Álvarez (2024) point out.

As Gallo, Planella, and Ramírez (2020) note, all motor work within the university classroom that develops strategies related to understanding the body from different subjectivities helps to create new relationships between bodies (Merleau-Ponty et al., 2013) and an education beyond the disciplinary. In this sense, corpography is constituted as a valid tool to break traditional forms of training that conceal the subject from their body. Using strategies different from the traditional ones turns didactics into a possible space for generating hetero-didactics or other-didactics that are more inclusive (Freitas; Mouraz; Pereira, 2020; Hernández-Rodríguez; Lirola; Prados-Megías, 2024; Zembylas; Papamichael, 2017). Analyzing the ways in which bodies are “visually graphed” in the classroom makes didactics mobile, because thinking from the body requires inhabiting the classroom (Wrench; Garret, 2015) and thinking educational practices from bodies that are otherness and, therefore, thinking the body from care and responsibility toward others (Barreda, 2019). This implies not only questioning culturally imposed bodily ideals, but also rethinking the pedagogical approaches from which everything related to movement, the body, and motricity is addressed in the field of the sciences of physical activity, sport, and school physical education (Alves, 2020; González; Varea; Martínez-Álvarez, 2024).

4 BY WAY OF CONCLUSION

This study analyzes the visual and textual narratives generated through corpography with the aim of understanding how university students conceptualize and experience the relationship between body, movement, and learning. In this sense, the analysis of the corpographies reveals the richness and complexity of the relationship between body, bodily awareness, and movement from the experience of a body that highlights not only what is purely physical-motor but above all what is sensorial-emotional-relational.

In the university context, the use of corpography is revealed as a pedagogical tool that fosters self-knowledge and favors the carrying out of creative processes through the exercise of expressive sovereignty. In this sense, the corpo-biographical dimension provides meanings that show the importance of personal stories and processes of self-reflexivity. The bodily is narrated in order to make diversities and processes of personal self-affirmation visible.

Regarding the meanings linked to corpo-sensibilities, students find in corpography a space in which to express their sensitivity towards the bodily in a more affective and emotional way. The analyzed narratives show that students “stop seeing the body as a container” (C-78) and come to live it as a source of experiential knowledge and not only as academic knowledge. Including the affective-relational dimension gives meaning to thoughts, feelings, and emotions that take place in learning. The presentation of corpographies in the university classroom favors the development of a creative space of expressive freedom, a living and relational place in which useful and valuable knowledge is jointly constructed. This space contributes to deconstructing traditional conceptions of the bodily and to thinking the body from different sensibilities and diversities.

The corpographies show corpo-mobility meanings that lead students to question traditional bodily patterns, providing elements to lay the foundations for counter-hegemonic knowledge in the field of sport. Students highlight that learning related to the body and movement has traditionally been dominated and assessed through regulated, standardized, and quantifiable standards. The corpographies and the narratives highlight that students grant great value to experience-based learning, since in this way affective, emotional, and relational learnings acquire special relevance as a necessary source in the construction of practical knowledge.

The limitations refer, first, to the sample, composed exclusively of students from a specific university context, which may limit the generalization of the findings to other educational contexts. In addition, although corpographies offer a rich source of information, their analysis should be contrasted with other sources of information (Cotty, 1998). Second, there is a lack of longitudinal evaluation that would allow analysis of the impact of corpography over time. Nevertheless, this study opens up new opportunities to investigate the role of corpography in education, such as: conducting longitudinal studies to analyze how students ’experiences and reflections change throughout their academic trajectory; applying corpography in different educational contexts; approaching the study from intercultural perspectives and gender studies; and, finally, contributing studies on the impact of corpography and its relationship with mental health, emotional well-being, and self-regulation in students with specific needs.

• FUNDING
  This work was carried out without the support of funding sources.
• HOW TO CITE
  PRADOS MEGÍAS, Maria Esther; LIROLA MANZANO, María Jesús; HERNÁNDEZ RODRÍGUEZ, Antonia Irene. “I Stopped Seeing My Body as a Container”. Motor, Emotional, and Biographical Meanings Arising From the Use of Corpographies In The University Classroom. Movimento, v. 32, p. e32003, Jan./Dec., 2026. DOI: https://doi.org/10.22456/1982-8918.145460
• 1
  The University of Almería, through the Vice-Rectorate for Undergraduate Studies and Teaching Innovation, holds a biannual call for proposals through CIFAD (Centro de innovación, formación y Apoyo Docente; Center for Innovation, Training, and Teaching Support, https://www.ual.es/universidad/serviciosgenerales/cifad) to submit projects on good practices and teaching innovation with the aim of promoting practices in university education for teaching and learning that encourage adaptation to the social, economic, technological, and cultural changes that occur at each moment in history. s manuscript is the result of a teaching innovation project that has been implemented from the 2019/2020 academic year to the present. The LabCorpoEDuca-M project places emphasis on new learning methodologies in the context of disciplines linked to the area of Didactics of Bodily Expression and its relationship with processes of diversity and multidisciplinarity.

AVAILABILITY OF RESEARCH DATA

The research data are not available.

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Edited by

• EDITORIAL RESPONSIBILITY
  Alex Branco Fraga* https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6881-1446
  Elisandro Schultz Wittizorecki* https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7825-0358
  Mauro Myskiw* https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4689-3804
  Raquel da Silveira* https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8632-0731
  * Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Escola de Educação Física, Fisioterapia e Dança, Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil.

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  23 Mar 2026
• Date of issue
  2026

History

• Received
  28 Jan 2025
• Accepted
  10 Sept 2025
• Published
  24 Feb 2026