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Neuroqueer Learning Spaces Page
This is a collaborative community driven project I am working on with Stimpunks. Please visit Stimpunks website for further information.
The contemporary classroom is a bastion of neuronormativity. We neuroqueer to fight for the right to learn differently.
Fundamentally neuroqueer learning spaces that enable “freedom of embodiment” and “cognitive liberty” are needed for radical inclusivity. Learning facilitators need to be ‘space holders’ so children’s bodyminds are allowed to live and learn authentically.
We need to deconstruct, dismantle and un-learn as part of the neuroqueering process to lift the burden of neuronormativity that is weighing our children down.
…a radical shift in perspective … requires us to redefine our terms, recalibrate our language, rephrase our questions, reinterpret our data, and completely rethink our basic concepts and approaches.
Definitions
neuronormativity = a set of norms, standards, expectations and ideals that centre a particular way of functioning as the right way to function.
neuroqueer = subverting, defying, disrupting, liberating oneself from neuronormativity.
neuroqueering = the process of being neuroqueer and transforming oneself or a space as an act of liberation from neuronormativity
embodiment = staying present in our own bodies to sensations, emotions and the external environment without going into dysregulation without going into fight/flight/freeze/fawn.
regulation = tending to and responding to the body’s needs.
cognitive liberty = the idea that individuals have the right to absolute sovereignty over their own minds and their own cognitive processes.
somatic liberty = freedom of embodiment, freedom to indulge, adopt, and/or experiment with any styles or quirks of movement and embodiment, whether they come naturally to one or whether one chooses them. the freedom to give bodily expression to one’s neurodivergence.
human scale = the number of people than we can possibly form trustworthy relationships with within human cognitive limits (according to Robin Dunbar’s research, a human can maintain a maximum of 150 relationships at any point in time).
radical inclusivity = working together to dismantle systemic barriers and create neuroqueer spaces where everyone has freedom to embrace cognitive and somatic liberty.
Considerations
- What might education look like in a system in which the acceptance, inclusion, and accommodation of every sort of bodymind represents an unquestioned baseline? (Walker, pg 77–79)
- Students must be free to be neurodivergent, to act neurodivergent, to look and sound neurodivergent. (Walker, pg 152–153)
- The classroom must be declared a zone of freedom from the dominant culture’s pervasive requirement that everyone strive to constantly perform neuronormativity. (Walker, pg 152–153)
- All social environments and learning spaces that exceed human scale, i.e. that involve more people than we can possibly form trustworthy relationships with, are inherently unsafe. (Bettin)
Embodiment and Radical Inclusivity
We need safe spaces to be with each other in embodied, meaningful, collaborative, and responsive ways. Our children deserve to feel cared for, understood and safe to explore. We believe we need radical inclusivity to prevent the continuation of the severe mental health crisis our young people are experiencing today.
A radical change to learning spaces is needed to enable children to be embodied, feel safe and feel liberated enough to explore and be curious about the world around them. We can work and learn in infinitely creative ways, but we need to be embodied in order to do that and connected within ourselves and with the world and people around us. To feel embodied, you need feelings of safety; people need to value strengths, validate difficulties, and provide support where needed. The neurodiversity-affirming work by McGreevey et al.(2023) based on the Life World Model by Todres et al. (2009) applies equally to health care and education. It offers a humanising framework for everyone, not just autistic people. Everyone deserves to feel a sense of togetherness and have their journeys make sense so they have agency and autonomy over their learning journeys.
“Cavendish Spaces” are based on flexibility, interaction, movement, and the role of embodied responsive experiences. They reject the boundaries of traditional classroom settings and examine how they restrict embodied experiences and lead to disembodied experiences and harm. We need to deconstruct, dismantle and un-learn as part of the neuroqueering process to lift the burden of neuronormativity that is weighing our children down.
We are exploring the idea of an embodied education. We are exploring how learning spaces may impact neuroqueer learning potential and radical cognitive and somatic liberty. Inspired by Ira Socol, who suggests Zero-Based Design as part of this process. That means children will be no longer be trapped in your past. It will enable us to:
Reimagine the Learner Experience.
Reimagine the Learning Spaces.
Reimagine How Professionals Learn.
Learn more in our manifesto: Neuroqueer Learning Spaces Manifesto
Version: 1.0
License: Neuroqueer Learning Spaces Why Sheet is marked with CC0 1.0