Reflections on Veronica Sherborne and the practical application of the Sherborne Developmental Movement

Abstract

Abstract This personal reflection explores the life and work of Veronica Sherborne. It follows her journey from a student of physical education and dance at Bedford College in the 1940s to senior lecturer in special education at Bristol Polytechnic, where she taught student teachers about pair work with children with special educational needs and disabilities. It depicts how she met her mentor, Rudolf Laban, and young people with profound and multiple learning disabilities and their influences on the development of Sherborne Developmental Movement. Throughout the reflection, there are details about the teaching and impact of her pioneering movement work. It highlights the importance of her relational shared movement experiences in nurturing social engagement, bonding, emotional regulation, and focus in vulnerable children. There is reference to Sherborne’s intuition about movement, play, and touch as embodied languages. The author posits why neuroscience might recognise Sherborne Developmental Movement as a body-based bottom-up approach.