How did Recognizing motor difficulties impact on his learning?

As a classroom practitioner (not under research conditions), I began to notice that Dan’s ability to concentrate, to write (fine motor skills) and to relate to others improved. For the first time he was also able to express his feelings openly, shocking everyone once by crying to a piece of music and telling everyone how it made him feel.

It became very clear, therefore, that there was a link between the learners’ learning and movement. As Hannaford (1995: 11) says: ‘Thinking and learning are not all in our head.’ Normally the brain is thought of as separate from our bodies. However, research by Hannaford (1995) and Jenson (2000) clearly suggests that the body and the brain effectively act as one (Doherty and Bailey, 2003: 51). Doherty and Bailey (2003: 51–2) state: ‘Movement is integral and essential to all learning. Through it we can express learning, our understanding and ourselves. The body is the medium for learning and movement is the choreography of our brain’s systems.’