With the increase in schools shifting to specialized educational systems focused on one area of student development, e.g.. STEM, Classical, Fine Arts, etc., I want to use this article to defend the power of whole-child education. While some may criticize a whole-child education as "jack of all trades, master of none" perspective thus promoting a more specialized education, I would argue that a broad whole-child education, especially Prek-12, builds a strong foundation and best prepares students to flourish in an ever-changing world after high school.
An Introduction
Two overarching educational philosophies (Hebraic and Hellenistic) are present in the western educational world today. Most educational models can be traced back to these two roots: the Old Testament (Hebraic) and Greek philosophy (Hellenistic). Each need much more than a paragraph to fully understand, but a brief introduction to these two educational paradigms is below.
The Hebraic model originates from the Old Testament view of education and life. Flourishing and human development is driven and defined by a rich and full definition of "shalom." Shalom, while most often defined as "peace" is better understood as a completeness, wholeness of being, harmony, and flourishing. This includes all aspects of a person. A complementary Hebrew term is "heart"; in the Old Testament, "heart" is often used to refer to the complete inner being of a person, including the mind, spiritual soul, emotions, personality, and passion ... essentially "all" of a person. A Hebraic model of education would, therefore, seek to promote shalom in all areas of a person's being: cognitive, spiritual, social, emotional, physical, and intrapersonal.
The Hellenistic model originates from the Greek philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, and Socrates. This paradigm, while always elevating the cognitive (e.g., philosophy as the "queen of all sciences"), began with a holistic view of education, including citizenship, public speaking, service to humanity, vocational arts, and virtue. In fact, the term "liberal arts" (from Aristotle) has become synonymous for a well-rounded education. Today, the Hellenistic (or Greek) model of education is limited to academics, and a school's (and student's) identity (and worth) is primarily based on cognitive development. This can be summarized in Descartes' quote, "I think, therefore, I am."
It would take an entire educational philosophy class to understand the full nuances of each of these two philosophies. To simplify, the Hebraic paradigm focuses on holistic student development (heart), and the Hellenistic paradigm focuses on cognitive student development (mind). We can actually see this distinction in the Old and New Testaments. The Shema is a Hebrew prayer/command that is found in the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy (6:4-5): "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength." This passage, written in Hebrew and to a specifically Hebrew audience, would be clearly interpreted by the word "heart." In fact, "soul" and "strength" are there for emphasis ... "heart" means the complete, holistic being. In the New Testament (written in Greek), Jesus quotes the Shema as the greatest commandment: "Love the Lord with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind." As one can see, one word is different; Jesus didn't misquote the Old Testament, but he replaced "strength" with "mind" as he was speaking to a heavily Greek-influenced world. The Greek world emphasized a person's mind as the most important aspect of his/her being, so it was appropriate to insert that as an emphatic phrase to his audience in order to make the point of "all of one's being." So, what does this have to do with 21st Century education?
Our modern educational system is steeped in a Hellenistic (or neo-Hellenistic) worldview which, essentially today, focuses primarily on cognitive development. Even though Aristotle (and other Greek philosophers) promoted the "good life," citizenship, ethics, and virtue in education, today our educational system has devolved into focusing on what we can objectively measure. In fact, the 21st Century in K-12 education has been marked (or marred) by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. School effectiveness has been reduced to a test score, typically in reading and math; likewise, student value (as determined by college acceptances/scholarships) is reduced to a test score.
Unfortunately, because education values what we measure, school systems have "doubled down" on preparation for standardized test scores, focused solely on cognitive development.
While one would assume non-religious schools would align more with the pagan Greek philosophers and religious schools would align more with the Old Testament, all American schools have capitulated to a neo-Hellenistic educational philosophy. Academic excellence and cognitive development (as measured by test scores) rule supreme in our schools today ... and our nation is a mess.
We are reaping the logical consequences of a hyper-focus on cognitive development. Students may be smarter today (as measured by "high stakes" standardized tests), but they are more depressed, stressed, obese, self-absorbed, unethical, faithless, and mean. I wish this was an exaggeration. Ironically, the only characteristic that is arguable from the previous statement is if students are actually "smarter" today.
New schools and school initiatives have been launched, but, unfortunately, most align with a neo-Hellenistic paradigm with the ultimate goal of raising test scores.
The Whole-Child Education movement, while not a new concept, has gained renewed interest from more of a Hebraic and "heart" educational paradigm. While still holding on to test scores to measure cognitive development and rate students/schools, educators are re-asserting that flourishing is more than just head knowledge.
Similar to the concept of "shalom," a Whole-Child educational model is holistic, pursuing a flourishing in all aspects of a student's being. Schools are implementing aspects of whole-child education in response to the student development crisis we currently see in our community. Today, schools are still heavily in the Hellenistic camp, but they are implementing Hebraic elements of Whole-Child education to encourage student flourishing.
While each educator would define "whole-child" or "holistic education" differently, I am going to be focusing on the following elements:
- Cognitive
- Spiritual
- Social
- Emotional
- Physical
- Intrapersonal
The next blog will focus on how these elements are applied in a school setting. Stay tuned.
