More and more we are hearing about the "Whole Child" and what it means to address and understand all the needs a child has: intellectual, spiritual, social, physical and emotional. In researching this topic I came across an article in which the New York State education department is outlining exactly how a school can educate the whole child.
http://www.p12.nysed.gov/sss/sedl/DRAFTguidelinesforNYSlatestversion.pdf
These guidelines walk you through the domains that should be addresses and how a school should go about doing this. The basics are support, involvementt, outreach and intervention. It is the belief of this education department that when the "Whole Child" is considered teacher can teach more effectively, learning will happen more consistently and parents and the community will become more involved.
Other countries are already prioritizing social and emotional learning. Singapore for example, had integrated SEL (Social Emotional Learning) into their schools and consistently scores at the top of Iinternational Math and Science competitions (Barth,M. 2010).
American children deserve every opportunity for success and if social emotional learning is missing for the schools, it's worth a try.
Barth, M. (2010) Educating the Whole Child Engaging the Whole School. NYS Eduaction Department, Albany, NY.
Amanda,
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that by teaching the whole child, you are effectively involving the people surrounding that child. You will build the child's self-confidence and allow them to know that you see what they excel in and that you want to support them. By showing this support and pride, it will be contagious to those around him; family, friends, community, etc. Thank you for your insightful post.
Raina
I agree that teaching the whole child is very important.Involvement, outreach, and intervention is important in helping a child and giving them what they need to succeed.
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