**5. Bodies in relation**

Taking a minor turn [24] means seeing difference (be it as appearance, identity, beliefs, culture etc.) as generative and productive. Difference from normative ways of being in education is rarely appreciated in and for itself, but instead viewed as deficit, with 'inclusion' meaning a layering of additional processes rather than a shift in or redesign of the education system. A holistic, affirmative curriculum practice avoids these universal, normative modes of teaching and moves towards process-led activity, which is grounded in care of individuals and elevation of different modes of being and generating knowledge. There is a central role for neurodiversity, not only for students but for teachers too.

Within Science education, Strom and Kayumova [25] suggest that dialogue is vital for building shared knowledges while recognising such different perspectives, identities and locations. Creating communities and turning away from neo-liberal framings of competition and individualism (many of which are engrained in liberal understandings of science itself) thus form part of an engaged pedagogical approach. Science continues to be based around Western epistemologies, and this in turn creates certain 'science' subjects; young people acculturated to ways of enacting scientific endeavour and practice. The authors suggest instead that we move to 'pluriversal praxis' which '…requires embracing an onto-epistemological shift based on relationality, interdependence, embodiment, ethics, and care towards youth, diverse communities, and more-than-human collectives.' ([25], p. 2).

Further to this, Kayumova and Dou [26] discuss the need to enact 'ethical and sociopolitical accountability' in science. This not only enhances a sense of belonging and engagement, but more importantly '…it helps perhaps even to design worlds in which articulations of nature and culture are intertwined and not separate in ways that we can defend or recreate worlds that relate important and communal dimensions.' Such strategies are necessary for providing an inclusive learning environment such that diverse learners from different cultural backgrounds can experience not only subject knowledge but do this 'outside human experiences' that build new relations with the natural world and new understandings of human/non-human relationality and reciprocity.

Strom and Kayumova also urge us to take account of the body in the classroom, stating that '…embodied onto epistemologies, social and cultural histories, experiences, and performances of different physical bodies (including human bodies) are

### *Thinking, Alternatively: The Application of Art, Philosophy and Holistic Practice in the Teaching… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.114039*

central to the nature of social relations, including learning interactions.' Taking a material turn in this way means paying attention to the way bodies move in space and the role (or not) of bodily autonomy, as well as the structure of learning environments, the bodily effects of student-teacher relations, the impact of school rules on the body, and so on.

Francis Bacon was an advocate of the notion that the 'destiny of science was not only to enlarge human beings' knowledge but to improve human beings' life on earth' ([7], p. 28). He also believed that the construction of a better world was achieved through ascertaining the truth about natures' workings. The emphasis on knowledge retention currently seen in schooling frequently overlooks the ethical component of science learning, along with the understanding that learning is a relational and distributed activity. Shifting attention to the body and thereby appreciating inequalities, located and political perspectives and oppressive practices is a vital way of addressing this call for improvement, not only for humans but our more-than-human counterparts.
