PhD Defence Jaco van den Dool

The body in the learning process

What is the role of the body in learning processes? Jaco's dissertation revolves around questions on musical knowledge and skills acquisition with embodied learning strategies. Rather than celebrating cognitive capabilities over bodily learning, which is the mainstay for most educational practices, he focuses on bodily communication and its pivotal role in learning.

This conversion provokes reflection on the often disregarded body in learning processes and sheds light on the manifold ways in which we can mobilize the body as a successful tool for learning. "The main goal of my research is scrutinizing the music transmission and embodied learning process of young musicians in band formations in informal learning settings in Nepal and The Netherlands. My study seeks to understand the role of the body in musical learning processes in order to contribute to the understanding and implementation of embodied learning in formal music education."

Jaco van den Dool

Jaco holds a professorship on 'Blended Learning' at Codarts University of the Arts he researches the ways in which digital tools can improve artistic learning and teaching in the fields of dance, music and circus. At the Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication, Jaco teaches arts education courses for bachelor and master students at the Department of Arts and Culture Studies. For more information, please visit Jaco's personal page.