Building a Pedagogy of Idea Generation and Embodied Inquiry

Abstract

What futures become possible when we center questions, inquiry, and affective responses in research processes? What does it mean to support encounters with new ideas? In this article, I explore non-extractive models of teaching and learning, sharing ways of making space for idea generation, an under-described part of research and creative practice. The coming-up-with-ideas part of creative and scholarly work can be challenging to articulate, share, and teach. What if we paused and stretched this part out, making it more visible? By browsing physical collections of books in community with one another, during "curated browsing" experiences, we give ourselves - both faculty and students alike - space and time to meander, wonder, share observations, and disrupt transactional models of learning and scholarship. We build an awareness of how ideas are informed by power structures, and co-create humanizing spaces where knowledge is relational and embodied. By centering inquiry and idea generation, we activate the intersection of research, pedagogy, and lived experience.