Embodied learning with and from aikido : a mixed-methods investigation into teaching intercultural communication skills for the workplace
(2024)
- Author
- Greet Angèle De Baets (UGent)
- Promoter
- Ellen Van Praet (UGent) , Sofie Decock (UGent) and Andreas Niehaus (UGent)
- Organization
- Abstract
- This doctoral research investigates how the Japanese martial art of aikido can be used as an embodied pedagogy to enhance intercultural business communication training. The project aims to determine the effectiveness of integrating aikido principles (learning from aikido) and corresponding movements (learning with aikido) in developing intercultural competence. The research comprises four studies, primarily using qualitative methods, except for the fourth study, which employs a mixed-methods approach. The first study explores the parallels between aikido interaction and intercultural interaction. It reveals that both emphasise conscious interaction that focuses on co-creating common ground and harmony. Aikido interaction achieves this via physical activities that promote multisensory learning and somatic training. These findings highlight the potential of aikido activities to teach the principles of harmony and common ground, essential for effective intercultural communication. In the second study, interviews with 20 aikido experts from around the world identify eleven core principles of aikido, categorised into tranquillity, connection, and ecology. These principles form a model of aikido interaction that offers transferable skills. Moreover, the study emphasises that aikido's self-regulating and co-regulating properties can bring about physical, physiological, and mental changes that reduce defensive reactions and influence behaviour positively, making the aikido interaction model a valuable embodied pedagogy for intercultural communication training. The third study examines the variations in practice, motivation, societal role, and values of the aikido experts interviewed. Despite these differences, the core principles of aikido remain consistent, providing a common foundation for applying aikido interaction models in diverse contexts. This study underscores the adaptability of aikido principles to various contemporary settings while maintaining their core values. The fourth study assesses the impact of aikido-embodied training on business and organisational participants. A training experiment involving 73 employees, employers, and entrepreneurs from Belgium and the Netherlands compared intercultural communication training with embodied aikido exercises to a version of the training with only theoretical explanations. The measured and surveyed data show that the aikido interaction model (learning from aikido) and the embodied learning experience (learning with aikido) supported participant satisfaction, memory performance, and intercultural competence. Overall, this doctoral research emphasises the pedagogical and conceptual advantages of incorporating physical activities like aikido into intercultural communication training. Aikido's principles of intrapersonal (inward), interpersonal (outward), and upward development offer a comprehensive method for fostering intercultural competence, focusing on tranquillity, cognitive empathy, anthropocosmic nobility, and lifelong learning. Therefore, integrating aikido into intercultural business communication training enriches existing models and approaches. Aligning the findings with contemporary theories that expand the definition of language, this research eventually suggests that aikido can be understood as a language. This perspective allows future research to examine aikido through linguistic theories, highlighting its potential as a language that involves social interaction, bodily movements, sensory experiences, and contextual meaning-making. Future research with such an approach can provide valuable tools for facilitators and participants in intercultural communication training and support other pedagogical or communicative domains.
- Dit doctoraatsproject onderzoekt hoe de Japanse krijgskunst aikido kan worden ingezet als een leermethode die lichaam en geest betrekt in interculturele communicatietraining voor de werkplek. Het onderzoeksproject heeft als doel de effectiviteit te bepalen van aikido-principes (leren van aikido) en bijhorende bewegingen (leren met aikido) in de ontwikkeling van interculturele competentie. Het onderzoek bestaat uit vier studies die vooral een beroep doen op kwalitatieve onderzoekmethoden, behalve de vierde studie die een gemengde methoden-benadering gebruikt. De eerste studie verkent de parallellen tussen aikido-interactie en interculturele interactie. Het onthult dat beide de nadruk leggen op bewuste interactie die zich richt op het samen creëren van een gemeenschappelijke basis en harmonie. Aikido-interactie bereikt dat via fysieke oefeningen die zintuiglijk leren en belichaamde training ondersteunen. Die bevindingen benadrukken het potentieel van aikido-oefeningen om de principes van harmonie en gemeenschappelijke basis aan te leren die essentieel zijn voor doeltreffende interculturele communicatie. In de tweede studie werden interviews afgenomen met 20 aikido-experten van over de hele wereld. Daarbij werden elf kernprincipes van aikido geïdentificeerd, verdeeld in drie categorieën: rust, verbinding en ecologie. Die principes vormen een aikido-interactiemodel met overdraagbare vaardigheden. Bovendien benadrukt de studie dat de zelfregulerende en coregulerende eigenschappen van aikido fysieke, fysiologische en mentale veranderingen teweeg kunnen brengen die defensieve reacties verminderen en gedrag positief beïnvloeden. Daardoor vormt het aikido-interactiemodel een waardevolle belichaamde pedagogiek voor interculturele communicatietraining. De derde studie onderzoekt de variaties in de beoefening, motivatie, maatschappelijke rol en waarden die de aikido-experten rapporteren. Ondanks de verschillen blijven de kernprincipes van aikido consistent waardoor ze een gemeenschappelijk fundament bieden voor de toepassing van aikido-interactiemodellen in diverse contexten. Deze studie benadrukt dat aikido-principes aanpasbaar zijn aan verschillende hedendaagse omgevingen, terwijl de kernwaarden behouden blijven. De vierde studie beoordeelt de impact van aikido-belichaamde training op deelnemers uit het werkveld. Een trainingsexperiment met 73 werknemers, werkgevers en ondernemers uit België en Nederland vergeleek interculturele communicatietraining met belichaamde aikido-oefeningen enerzijds met een versie van diezelfde training met enkel theoretische uitleg anderzijds. Uit de gemeten en bevraagde gegevens bleek dat het aikido-interactiemodel (leren van aikido) en de belichaamde leerervaring (leren met aikido) een positief effect hebben op de tevredenheid van de deelnemers, hun geheugenprestaties en hun interculturele competentie. Dit doctoraatsonderzoek benadrukt de pedagogische en conceptuele voordelen van de integratie van fysieke activiteiten zoals aikido in interculturele communicatietraining. De principes van aikido, vooral ter ondersteuning van een intrapersoonlijk (intern), interpersoonlijk (extern) en hoger ontwikkelingsproces, bieden een uitgebreide methode om interculturele competentie te bevorderen met een focus op rust, cognitieve empathie, antropokosmisch-geïnspireerde nobele doelen en levenslang leren. Daarom is de integratie van aikido in professionele interculturele communicatietraining een verrijking voor bestaande modellen en benaderingen. Door de bevindingen van dit onderzoek af te stemmen op vooruitstrevende taalkundige theorieën, suggereert dit onderzoek uiteindelijk dat aikido kan worden begrepen als een taal. Dat perspectief stelt toekomstige onderzoekers in staat om aikido te belichten via taalkundige theorieën, waarbij het potentieel van aikido wordt benadrukt als een taal die sociale interactie, lichaamsbewegingen, zintuiglijke ervaringen en contextuele betekenisvorming omvat. Toekomstig onderzoek met een dergelijke benadering kan waardevolle hulpmiddelen aanreiken aan trainers en deelnemers van interculturele communicatietraining of andere leer- en communicatiedoeleinden ondersteunen.
- Keywords
- aikido, communication, interculturality, interaction, didactics, ethnography, mixed methods, experiential learning, embodied pedagogy
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Citation
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication: http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-01JD72PRPKKQ76VYVY0776385A
- MLA
- De Baets, Greet Angèle. Embodied Learning with and from Aikido : A Mixed-Methods Investigation into Teaching Intercultural Communication Skills for the Workplace. Ghent University, Faculty of Arts and Philosophy, 2024.
- APA
- De Baets, G. A. (2024). Embodied learning with and from aikido : a mixed-methods investigation into teaching intercultural communication skills for the workplace. Ghent University, Faculty of Arts and Philosophy, Ghent, Belgium.
- Chicago author-date
- De Baets, Greet Angèle. 2024. “Embodied Learning with and from Aikido : A Mixed-Methods Investigation into Teaching Intercultural Communication Skills for the Workplace.” Ghent, Belgium: Ghent University, Faculty of Arts and Philosophy.
- Chicago author-date (all authors)
- De Baets, Greet Angèle. 2024. “Embodied Learning with and from Aikido : A Mixed-Methods Investigation into Teaching Intercultural Communication Skills for the Workplace.” Ghent, Belgium: Ghent University, Faculty of Arts and Philosophy.
- Vancouver
- 1.De Baets GA. Embodied learning with and from aikido : a mixed-methods investigation into teaching intercultural communication skills for the workplace. [Ghent, Belgium]: Ghent University, Faculty of Arts and Philosophy; 2024.
- IEEE
- [1]G. A. De Baets, “Embodied learning with and from aikido : a mixed-methods investigation into teaching intercultural communication skills for the workplace,” Ghent University, Faculty of Arts and Philosophy, Ghent, Belgium, 2024.
@phdthesis{01JD72PRPKKQ76VYVY0776385A, abstract = {{This doctoral research investigates how the Japanese martial art of aikido can be used as an embodied pedagogy to enhance intercultural business communication training. The project aims to determine the effectiveness of integrating aikido principles (learning from aikido) and corresponding movements (learning with aikido) in developing intercultural competence. The research comprises four studies, primarily using qualitative methods, except for the fourth study, which employs a mixed-methods approach. The first study explores the parallels between aikido interaction and intercultural interaction. It reveals that both emphasise conscious interaction that focuses on co-creating common ground and harmony. Aikido interaction achieves this via physical activities that promote multisensory learning and somatic training. These findings highlight the potential of aikido activities to teach the principles of harmony and common ground, essential for effective intercultural communication. In the second study, interviews with 20 aikido experts from around the world identify eleven core principles of aikido, categorised into tranquillity, connection, and ecology. These principles form a model of aikido interaction that offers transferable skills. Moreover, the study emphasises that aikido's self-regulating and co-regulating properties can bring about physical, physiological, and mental changes that reduce defensive reactions and influence behaviour positively, making the aikido interaction model a valuable embodied pedagogy for intercultural communication training. The third study examines the variations in practice, motivation, societal role, and values of the aikido experts interviewed. Despite these differences, the core principles of aikido remain consistent, providing a common foundation for applying aikido interaction models in diverse contexts. This study underscores the adaptability of aikido principles to various contemporary settings while maintaining their core values. The fourth study assesses the impact of aikido-embodied training on business and organisational participants. A training experiment involving 73 employees, employers, and entrepreneurs from Belgium and the Netherlands compared intercultural communication training with embodied aikido exercises to a version of the training with only theoretical explanations. The measured and surveyed data show that the aikido interaction model (learning from aikido) and the embodied learning experience (learning with aikido) supported participant satisfaction, memory performance, and intercultural competence. Overall, this doctoral research emphasises the pedagogical and conceptual advantages of incorporating physical activities like aikido into intercultural communication training. Aikido's principles of intrapersonal (inward), interpersonal (outward), and upward development offer a comprehensive method for fostering intercultural competence, focusing on tranquillity, cognitive empathy, anthropocosmic nobility, and lifelong learning. Therefore, integrating aikido into intercultural business communication training enriches existing models and approaches. Aligning the findings with contemporary theories that expand the definition of language, this research eventually suggests that aikido can be understood as a language. This perspective allows future research to examine aikido through linguistic theories, highlighting its potential as a language that involves social interaction, bodily movements, sensory experiences, and contextual meaning-making. Future research with such an approach can provide valuable tools for facilitators and participants in intercultural communication training and support other pedagogical or communicative domains.}}, author = {{De Baets, Greet Angèle}}, keywords = {{aikido,communication,interculturality,interaction,didactics,ethnography,mixed methods,experiential learning,embodied pedagogy}}, language = {{eng}}, pages = {{XXII, 233}}, publisher = {{Ghent University, Faculty of Arts and Philosophy}}, school = {{Ghent University}}, title = {{Embodied learning with and from aikido : a mixed-methods investigation into teaching intercultural communication skills for the workplace}}, year = {{2024}}, }