The Whole Child Approach to Education

One red, one yellow, and one blue puzzle piece
each held by a different hand. The background is 
a variety of different color puzzle pieces.

 As the field of education continues to evolve, new and innovative practices are introduced. In 2007 the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, also known as ASCD, launched the Whole Child Initiative. This initiative seeks to expand approaches to education to focus on the long-term success and development of children, rather than short-term academic achievement. There are five tenants to this approach, which prioritize child development by making sure that students are healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged. The ASCD and other proponents of this approach to education believe that it is important to help students develop important life skills that can be used outside of the classroom, such as confidence, respect, social skills, problem-solving skills, and self-esteem, to name a few. Teaching students valuable skills such as these will help them to become well-rounded, productive members of society after they leave the classroom. This approach to education is also very beneficial to classrooms and schools with diverse populations. The Whole Child Approach to education will highlight the strengths and differences of each student in a way that uplifts every child. This can be beneficial when teaching a variety of students from different cultural backgrounds. Embracing challenging conversations between students and families with cultural and religious differences, as well as viewing differences as assets rather than divisions can make each student in the classroom more well-rounded and respectful individuals. 

I believe that the Whole Child Approach to education can truly change the world, as everything stems from education. This approach to learning will make future generations more well-rounded, open-minded, and adaptable to changes. These are very important traits for people to have in the ever-changing and fast paced world that we live in today. If everyone had the ability to embrace differences and listen to a wide variety of perspectives, the world we live in today could be less volatile. The students that I will have in my classroom will be the next generations of people contributing to and becoming leaders in society. I think that it is very important to acknowledge that these students are also people outside of my classroom, and the whole child approach to education ensures that they will become well-rounded individuals outside of a school setting. I feel that as a student, very few of my teachers embraced an approach to teaching like this one, and it made me feel unappreciated and unheard by my instructors. It felt like they saw me as a set of data or solely a student with no life outside of their classroom. The few teachers that I had that acknowledged my life outside of school, and the parts of me that were not just a student were much more influential to my learning. In my opinion, students learn more effectively when all parts of them are acknowledged and appreciated. This allows for more relationships to be built, which improves students' self-esteem and self-worth, making it easier to overcome academic challenges. I hope to implement the Whole Child Approach to education within my own classroom, as I truly believe it could be a catalyst for ensuring a better future for everyone.