Why Holistic Learning is Important for Children
Since the Industrial Revolution, western institutions of learning have focused their models entirely on IQ, with an emphasis on standardization and memorization.
Today, experts in the education field worry that without taking a more holistic approach to learning, we’re failing our young students.
Holistic learning balances the emphasis on IQ with an emphasis on EQ, or emotional intelligence. Through a blend of approaches, holistic learning can give students the skills not only to learn but to feel, react, and empathize.
Read on to learn more about the holistic learning experience and why it’s important.
What Is Holistic Learning?
Holistic learning does not forgo the traditional academic learning that we’re used to seeing in the classroom. A range of subjects is still covered in-depth, including increasingly more complex topics related to history, literature, math, and science.
However, holistic learning incorporates methods and lessons that allow students to become more well-rounded individuals. Holistic educators strive to address the emotional, ethical, and social needs of their students in addition to the academic.
Traditional lessons can be made more holistic by incorporating questions of how individual students relate to them. Where do our beliefs and behaviors come from? How do they impact other people and what can we do to make the world a better place?
One important factor of holistic learning that you typically will not find in today’s standard classroom is emotional processing. In a holistic learning environment, teachers encourage students to understand their feelings, to sit with them, and then to cope with them in non-harmful ways. By learning emotional processing early, students come into adulthood with the patience, empathy, and self-awareness they need to not only survive, but thrive.
Why Is Holistic Learning Important for Children and Teens?
In today’s social and economic climate, we’re acutely aware of the role education plays in a young adult’s success. It is also clear that access to quality education is limited for many demographics, leading to employment, wage, and opportunity gaps.
By moving toward a more holistic model across the globe, we can ensure that all children are granted access to useful and applicable learning. We can begin to embrace different learning styles and modes of intelligence. We can also teach children who come from privileged backgrounds the importance of using their privilege to create a better world for all.
The success rate of programs like the one found at instrosenberg.ch makes it clear that holistic learning is worth embracing. Students who are taught using holistic methods leave school well-rounded and invested in the world around them. If we know that children are our future, it’s time to give them the tools to build a better one.
It’s Time to Broaden Our Approach to Education
A model of education that focuses solely on standardization and measurable academic intelligence is no longer serving us. Nurturing students in a holistic learning environment is the best way to close educational gaps, prepare students for adulthood, and create a better world.
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