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Biopedagogy of Rumination and Regurgitation (open access)

Biopedagogy of Rumination and Regurgitation

Regurgitating test answers, needing more time to digest a reading, or being spoon fed information are just a few of many digestive metaphors currently used in education. In taking seriously the use of these metaphors, I suggest that humans recognize a connection, on some level, between the mental act of taking in and processing knowledge and the physical act of digestion, yet in educational discourse, these processes are more often than not cast in a negative light. The following philosophical exploration begins with a close look at two digestive practices, rumination and regurgitation, in non-human animals such as ruminants, seed-eating birds, and honey bees. By looking to these animals, it becomes possible to rehabilitate an affirmative human version of rumination and regurgitation in which our physical and mental selves are intrinsically intertwined in and through bodily education. The works of Giorgio Agamben, Tyson E. Lewis, Nathan Snaza, and Vinciane Despret support a theoretical framework which moves beyond human-centered education towards the development of an inhuman biopedagogy that embraces digestion rather than discriminates against it. I offer practical applications of rumination and regurgitation, shedding light on moments when rumination and regurgitation are already present in education, and introduces slight adjustments to …
Date: December 2019
Creator: McIntosh, Shoshana
System: The UNT Digital Library