The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School MORE THAN A BLACK BELT: EMBODIED LEARNING IN TAEKWONDO WOMEN A Dissertation in Adult Education by Valerie Ann Cholet © 2020 Valerie Ann Cholet Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Education December 2020 ii The dissertation of Valerie Cholet was reviewed and approved by the following: Elizabeth J. Tisdell Professor of Lifelong Learning and Adult Education, School of Behavioral Sciences and Education Professor-in-Charge, Doctor of Education in Lifelong Learning and Adult Education Dissertation Adviser Chair of Committee Robin Redmon Wright Associate Professor of Lifelong Learning and Adult Education Karin Sprow Forté, Assistant Teaching Professor of Teacher Education and Adult Education, Glen A. Mazis Distinguished Professor of Humanities and Philosophy, Humanities... iii ABSTRACT The purpose of this qualitative study is to examine how women make meaning of the embodied learning experience of earning a Black Belt in Taekwondo. The study is grounded in two-intersecting theoretical frameworks: embodied learning (in light of Merleau-Ponty’s philosophy of the body); and critical feminist theory, highlighting the participants’ experiences as women participating in the martial arts sport of Taekwondo. Like the six participants in the study, the researcher also has earned a black belt in Taekwondo. Hence the design of the study combined an autoethnographic approach, integrating the researcher’s experience earning a black belt in conjunction with narrative inquiry to examine the six participants’ stories. Data collection for narrative analysis was collected through semi-structured individual interviews, focus groups, a video elicitation exercise, and researcher field notes. Additionally, participants were encouraged to share personal artifacts in the form of symbols representing their Black Belt journey including an essay written just prior to testing for their black belt. Participant stories were written from these data. In addition a modified constant comparative analysis of data analysis across participants’ stories revealed three themes of findings: a shift in an embodied identity that translated to a new way of being in the world; greater consciousness of embodied learning through reflection and the significance of accessing embodied learning through physical activity; and the sense of feeling powerful as a woman. The study concludes with a discussion of the findings as they relate to the research questions, utilizing embodied learning theory and a critical feminist analysis. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................................... viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................................................................................... ix PART 1 .............................................................................................................................. 1 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .................................................................................... 1 MY BLACK BELT JOURNEY ....................................................................................... 2 Coming to know through my body................................................................................ 4 Body epiphany .............................................................................................................. 6 PURPOSE AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS ................................................................. 7 BACKGROUNG TO THE PROBLEM AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK .......... 8 The Philosophy of the body of Merleau-Ponty ............................................................. 9 Embodied Learning in Adult Education ..................................................................... 11 Defining Embodied Learning .................................................................................... 11 Researching Embodied Learning ............................................................................... 12 Movement and Learning............................................................................................. 15 FEMINIST THEORY AND PEDAGOGY ................................................................... 17 OVERVIEW OF THE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ............................................. 20 A QUALITATIVE AUTOETHNOGRAPHIC NARRATIVE STUDY ........................ 20 STUDY DESIGN AND DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS ............................. 22 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY .............................................................................. 23 Prevalence in Adult Learning Theory ........................................................................ 24 ASSUMPTIONS, LIMITATIONS AND STRENGTHS .............................................. 25 Assumptions ................................................................................................................ 25 Limitations .................................................................................................................. 25 Strengths ..................................................................................................................... 26 DEFINITIONS OF TERMS .......................................................................................... 26 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ..................................................................... 28 CONSIDERING THE FEMALE BODY IN PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND SPORT .. 28 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ................................................................................ 30 Experiential learning.................................................................................................. 30 Experiential learning and physical activity ............................................................... 32 Embodied learning ..................................................................................................... 34 Feminist Theory.......................................................................................................... 44 Feminist epistemology ................................................................................................ 49 Feminist theory and the physically active body ......................................................... 52 FEMINISM AND SPORT ............................................................................................ 53 Physical Feminism and Sport Feminism .................................................................... 55 Somatic Feminism and Corporeal Feminism ............................................................. 57 v EMBODIED LEARNING, WOMEN, AND SPORT ................................................... 58 Embodiment and sporting females ............................................................................. 59 Women in Sport .......................................................................................................... 63 Sporting female identity ............................................................................................. 65 SONGAHM TAEKWONDO ....................................................................................... 66 Philosophy of Taekwondo .......................................................................................... 67 Taekwondo, Embodied Learning, and Self Awareness .............................................. 68 Women and Taekwondo ............................................................................................. 69 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS: RESEARCH, WOMEN, AND TAEKWONDO ....................................................................................................................................... 73 Philosophy and the sporting female ........................................................................... 73 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY ................................................................................ 76 QUALITATIVE RESEARCH PARADIGM ................................................................ 76 RESEARCH TYPE: NARRATIVE INQUIRY AND AUTOETHNOGRAPHY ......... 81 Narrative Inquiry........................................................................................................ 81 Autoethnography ........................................................................................................ 83 COMBINING NARRATIVE INQUIRY AND AUTOETHNOGRAPHY .................. 84 RESEARCHER BACKGROUND ............................................................................... 85 PARTICIPANT SELECTION ...................................................................................... 88 Informed consent ........................................................................................................ 89 Data collection ........................................................................................................... 90 DATA ANALYSIS ....................................................................................................... 97 VERIFICATION STRATEGIES ................................................................................ 100 SUMMARY................................................................................................................. 102 PART TWO: EMBODIED NARRATIVES ............................................................... 103 INTRODUCTION TO EMBODIED NARRATIVES ................................................ 103 EMBODIED LEARNING IN TAEKWONDO: A FEMINIST AUTOETHNOGRAPHY ...........................................................................................