Whole Child Education

Public education is often viewed as dominated by an emphasis on test scores and narrowly defined parameters of performance and achievement. By contrast, John P. Miller's Whole Child Education fosters relationships between various forms of thinking, links body and mind, and recognizes the inner life of the child. Addressing issues of teaching, curriculum, the school, and teacher wellness, Miller presents three basic approaches (transmission, transaction, and transformation) that facilitate a connection with the whole student. Practical examples from teachers who have incorporated Miller's ideas into their own classrooms and description of Toronto's Whole Child School (founded in 2009) illustrate how the 'Whole Curriculum' can be implemented on both the small and large scale. Inspired by the powerful vision of Martin Luther King and his concept of the Beloved Community, Whole Child Education is a vehicle for building community through holistic education.

Public education is often viewed as dominated by an emphasis on test scores and narrowly defined parameters of performance and achievement. By contrast, John P. Miller's Whole Child Education fosters relationships between various forms of thinking, links body and mind, and recognizes the inner life of the child. Addressing issues of teaching, curriculum, the school, and teacher wellness, Miller presents three basic approaches (transmission, transaction, and transformation) that facilitate a connection with the whole student. Practical examples from teachers who have incorporated Miller's ideas into their own classrooms and description of Toronto's Whole Child School (founded in 2009) illustrate how the 'Whole Curriculum' can be implemented on both the small and large scale. Inspired by the powerful vision of Martin Luther King and his concept of the Beloved Community, Whole Child Education is a vehicle for building community through holistic education.

Public education is often viewed as dominated by an emphasis on test scores and narrowly defined parameters of performance and achievement. By contrast, John P. Miller's Whole Child Education fosters relationships between various forms of thinking, links body and mind, and recognizes the inner life of the child. Addressing issues of teaching, curriculum, the school, and teacher wellness, Miller presents three basic approaches (transmission, transaction, and transformation) that facilitate a connection with the whole student. Practical examples from teachers who have incorporated Miller's ideas into their own classrooms and description of Toronto's Whole Child School (founded in 2009) illustrate how the 'Whole Curriculum' can be implemented on both the small and large scale. Inspired by the powerful vision of Martin Luther King and his concept of the Beloved Community, Whole Child Education is a vehicle for building community through holistic education.

This volume offers critical analysis of national school reform policies intended to align with global agendas to promote educational quality and equity. By uniquely foregrounding the need for education reform to nurture child well-being alongside traditional measures of academic achievement, the book identifies common challenges across the Global North and South and extends insights provided by international student assessment data. Chapters offer a close analysis of reform practices in countries in Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Americas to consider cultural, social, political, and functional aspects which drive or inhibit the success of reform initiatives. Providing excellent insights into holistic education for children and youth, this book highlights lessons to support global efforts in providing high-quality, equitable education for the whole child. Developing international knowledge and supplementing international data, this volume will be of interest to students, scholars, and researchers with an interest in education policy, as well as comparative and international education.

At the dawn of the twenty-first century, we are living in a global era, yet schooling systems remain generally reactive and slow to adapt to shifting economic, technological, demographic, and cultural terrains. There is a growing urgency to create, evaluate, and expand new models of education that are better synchronized with the realities of today’s globally linked economies and societies. Educating the Whole Child for the Whole World examines one such model: the ethos and practices of the Ross Schools and their incubation, promotion, and launching of new ideas and practices into public education. Over the last two decades Ross has come to articulate a systematic approach to education consciously tailored for a new era of global interdependence. In this volume, world-renowned scholars from a variety of disciplines, as well as veteran teachers, administrators, and students, come together to examine some of the best practices in K-12 education in the context of an increasingly interconnected world. Together they explore how the Ross model of education, which cultivates in students a global perspective, aligns with broader trends in the arts, humanities, and sciences in the new millennium. Contributors: Nick Appelbaum, Ralph Abraham, Antonio M. Battro, Sally Booth, Michele Clays, Elizabeth M. Daley, Antonio Damasio, Hanna Damasio, Kurt W. Fischer, Howard Gardner, Vartan Gregorian, Christina Hinton, Hideaki Koizumi, Debra McCall, Carolyn Sattin-Bajaj, John Sexton, Carola Suárez-Orozco, Marcelo M. Suárez-Orozco, William Irwin Thompson, and Sherry Turkle.

Among the many models of school reform that have emerged in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, one has endured for more than 50 years: the School Development Program (SDP). Established in 1968 by renowned child psychiatrist James P. Comer and the Yale Child Study Center, the SDP is grounded in the belief that successful schooling—particularly for children from disadvantaged backgrounds—must focus on the whole child. With that in mind, the SDP encompasses both academics and social-emotional development, and it is founded on positive and productive relationships among students, teachers, school leaders, and parents. With the Whole Child in Mind describes the SDP's six developmental pathways (cognitive, social, psychological, physical, linguistic, and ethical) and explains how the program's nine key components (in the form of mechanisms, operations, and guiding principles) create a comprehensive approach to educating children for successful outcomes. Firsthand recollections by Comer, school leaders and teachers, and SDP staff members provide an inside look at the challenges and successes that eventually transformed severely underperforming schools into models of excellence. Linda Darling-Hammond, one of the country's foremost experts on K-12 education, and her colleagues argue persuasively for the continuing relevance of the SDP. Far too many schools still operate in a high-pressure environment that emphasizes testing and standardized curricula while ignoring the fundamental importance of personal connections that make a profound difference for students. Fifty years on, the SDP is still just as powerful as ever.

We discuss whole-child development, learning, and thriving through a dynamic systems theory lens that focuses on the United States and includes an analysis of historical challenges in the American public education system, including inequitable resources, opportunities, and outcomes. To transform US education systems, developmental and learning scientists, educators, policymakers, parents, and communities must apply the knowledge they have today to 1. challenge the assumptions and goals that drove the design of the current US education system, 2. articulate a revised, comprehensive definition of whole-child development, learning, and thriving that accepts rather than simplifies how human beings develop, 3. create a profound paradigm shift in how the purpose of education is described in the context of social, cultural, and political forces, including the impacts of race, privilege, and bias and 4. describe a new dynamic 'language' for measurement of both the academic competencies and the full set of 21st century skills.

Educate the whole child by building a culture of collaboration in your school! This book for K–12 general and special education teachers, administrators, and student support specialists explores how to make collaboration and coordination work, who takes responsibility for the process, and why collaboration is central to improving outcomes for students with complex learning needs. The author: Discusses the roles, responsibilities, and relationships between school professionals, community agencies, and service providers Offers case examples as real-world illustrations of collaboration Emphasizes important developmental transitions from the elementary years through high school and after