Theatrical practices to improve the emotional involvement of online and in presence learning experiences

The centrality of the bodily element in the genesis and development of cognitive processes, recognised and corroborated by scientific developments, has been embraced in recent decades by pedagogical theories that acknowledge the inseparability of the cognitive, bodily and emotional dimensions in the teachinglearning process. For instances the bioducational approach emphasises the importance of recognizing, managing and interpreting the role of one's own and others' emotions for the effective development of social and cognitive skills. These skills are fundamental to the pursuit of mental health, as outlined in the World Health Organisation's Mental Health Development Plan 2013-2030, which advocates for the promotion of educational and inclusive interventions focused on social-emotional skills. The present article, within this line of research, recognises in theatrical practices the possibility of embracing what the WHO proposes, since theatre offers relational, inclusive and communicative channels that foster contact with one's own and others' emotions, thus promoting learners' mental health. This vision embraces a holistic and trans-disciplinary epistemological approach, encompassing pedagogy, art and neuroscience, in which every scientific contribution becomes an integral and necessary part of the educational phenomenon, with the aim of placing bodily and emotional experience at the centre, thus supporting the idea that «without emotions there is no adequate processing of the things learned and perhaps not even learning»