Embodied learning in university physical education classes:

The report of Grand Design for Higher Education toward 2040 by the Central Council for Education (2018) has triggered reforms in higher education.The features of the report are "the connection between elementary and secondary education and higher education," "a shift from 'what teachers taught' to 'what they have learned and acquired'" and "education that allows students to feel the results of their learning."This study focuses on these three points in anticipation of a paradigm shift in liberal arts education and proposes the necessity of literacy education to make these points possible.Physical literacy was identified as the ability to be cultivated through education.Furthermore, we demonstrated embodied learning as a method of learning physical literacy.University physical education classes as liberal arts education are implemented by setting class objectives and selecting teaching methods in accordance with the three policies of each university.Furthermore, educational significance is found for these practices.The purpose of this education is to cultivate human education and the liberal arts.In these classes, health and sport literacy are practiced as education and research aimed at fostering literacy.In addition, liberal arts education focusing on embodiment is being developed.In this study, we focused on physical literacy fostered through education that focuses on embodiment.Physical literacy is briefly described by Whitehead, M. (2019) as "the motivation, confidence, physical competence, knowledge and understanding to value and take responsibility for engaging in physical activities for life."According to Takahashi and Kubota (2025), the 'embodiment of learning' in school physical education leads to embodied learning in university physical education classes.This learning is "a method of learning that relies on bodily knowledge."This learning is positioned as 'liberal arts as cultivation' and is similar to Lenk's 'der Kunst' (Lenk, 2017).In university physical education classes as liberal arts, it is thought that developing the "learning of embodiment" from elementary school to high school and incorporating embodied learning as a means of adult education will facilitate the connection and enable students to feel the results of their studies in upper secondary education.In university physical education classes, it is important to develop "embodied learning" by