Embodiment-based pedagogy in MSW training: a qualitative study of material engagement, reflective learning, and professional identity

Embodiment has received growing attention in social work scholarship, yet its pedagogical role in professional education remains underexamined. This qualitative study explored how MSW students experienced and interpreted an embodiment-based learning process within a graduate social work course. The course focused on bodily presence in therapeutic space and included two structured units: one involving rope-based movement and relational exploration, and the other symbolic work using body organs to represent professional qualities, strengths, and vulnerabilities. Data consisted of reflective journals written by 18 MSW students following these activities and were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. Five interrelated themes emerged: (1) the body as a symbolic channel for constructing professional identity, (2) material as a trigger of memory and mediator between sensation and meaning, (3) color, texture, and form as a language of inner states, (4) interpersonal resonance as an accelerator of meaning-making, and (5) movement from personal experience to professional identity. Findings suggest that embodiment-based pedagogy may create a reflective space in which bodily sensation, material engagement, symbolic expression, and interpersonal feedback support self-awareness and emerging professional identity. The study highlights embodiment as a valuable dimension of reflective pedagogy and points to its possible role in professional formation.