Balancing the senses : Experiences of learning in indoor skateboarding

• Indoor skate parks are purpose built environments for physical activity and bodies in motion. These settings are designed places of learning in both social and material respects. Skate parks in Sweden are usually large halls in buildings previously used for industries, now filled with wooden and sometimes concrete constructions. The solid and rough material consolidates the environment as hard and durable. Ceilings are most often high which influence the acoustics. The sound level is elevated from the noise of board riding on the wooden constructions, besides music from loud speakers adds to the aural experience. In spite of, or thanks to, the strident soundscape it is common by skateboarders to use a personal music device such as an mp3-player or the equivalent when skateboarding. The purpose of this paper is to discuss sensory and affective learning processes in relation to indoor skateboarding. In focus is the crossroads between senses, affect, place and learning. Empirical results are drawn from an ongoing ethnographic study on predominantly female skateboarding, embodied knowledge and board sport culture. The empirical material consists of field notes (in written, auditory and visual form), interviews and examples from media such as videos, magazines and internet pages. The aural sense and its capacity to include and exclude other sensory experiences, mainly balance, is examined and associated with affective incitement. Sharing and non-sharing spaces and experiences are discussed. The paper draws theoretically in large from the anthropological research on the senses in culture, and the psychology of affect. In addition the paper pays particular interest to the idea of “the risk of experience that is learning” (Ellsworth 2005).

Ämnesord

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskap -- Idrottsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences -- Sport and Fitness Sciences (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Annan samhällsvetenskap -- Övrig annan samhällsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Other Social Sciences -- Other Social Sciences not elsewhere specified (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

senses

affect

learning

Sports

Idrott

Children

Barn

Child and Youth Science

barn- och ungdomsvetenskap

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

kon (ämneskategori)