Fostering cultural sustainability and student wellbeing: an embodied practice of teacher support in bilingual Tai Chi

Purpose: Grounded in an integrated framework of Self-Determination Theory (SDT) and Embodied Cognition Theory (ECT), this study examines a bilingual Tai Chi course as a case of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). Based on teachers' observations and understandings of students' sustained learning motivation and psychological wellbeing, this study explores how teachers support the satisfaction of students' basic psychological needs through embodied interactions operating via dual pathways (physical and symbolic). Methods: Using explanatory qualitative research design, this study conducted semi-structured interviews with 16 bilingual Tai Chi teachers from four comprehensive universities in China. A three-level coding procedure (open, axial, and selective coding) was used for data analysis to inductively generate categories and core themes. Findings: The analysis identified three core practices of teacher support: cultural translation, tiered task design, and embodied collaboration. In addition, based on teachers' descriptions of classroom experiences and their interpretations, a dual-pathway conceptual model was constructed to explicate how these instructional practices are understood by teachers as supporting students' cultural meaning construction and the satisfaction of basic psychological needs, rather than as direct causal effects. Conclusion: This study elucidates the role of embodied instructional support in promoting cultural and social sustainability. It also contributes a theoretically grounded and practically operable framework for higher education to integrate physical and psychological wellbeing, cultural inheritance, and teaching practice within the framework of ESD.