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Whole Child Development: Is That All?

(from TownHall interview)

Character development & whole child development are two undervalued lessons taught in schools. Many schools feel that creating a positive environment and reinforcing rules are sufficient - the idea is that these values will be taught at home and reinforced at school.

"Whole child" is described as such: 
This is done by teaching soft skills such as curiosity, perseverance, and passion. It allows a child to have more grit and resilience in and out of the classroom. This is done by introducing play and experimental activities into the classroom. It allows kids to be creative and plan/monitor their own progress. These schools take kids on field trips to cultural centers (parks/art galleries/museums) and use the resources of the community (local businesses/artists/athletes) to inspire and influence the kids. 

The child can also be engaged in: 
  • Nature (taking walks, going to parks, gardening)
  • Physical Activity (exercises, dancing, long times to play or stretch)
  • Handwork (sewing, woodcrafts, repairing or building machines)
  • Arts (painting, drawing, singing, acting)
  • Left Brain (academics)
Most traditional schools focus mostly on "Left Brain" because that is the academic portion. Many include the other modalities in "pull-outs" like PE, computers or art classes.

What a whole child education requires is time, resources & staff. Additionally, it requires a school that isn't forced to allot specific numbers of minutes to certain subject areas (60 minutes Math, 90 minutes Reading, 30 minutes Writing, etc.)

Charter schools are often not held to the same accountability standards and therefore and can have schedules that permit time for nature walks, sewing class and choir. 

So the idea that the lack of "whole child" education is because of a lack of values is false. Schools must have:
  • Money - the materials for music/art/handwork/sports are expensive. Schools must have or raise the funds for these classes. 
  • Staff - all these extra classes require more staff. There needs to specialized teachers and small class sizes. An average school would need to hire many more part-time/full-time instructors to teach the art/music/physical activity. This requires funds and ability.
  • Lack of oversight - A school must be allowed to have a flexible schedule. They must be allowed to spend 30-60 minutes/day on non-academic subjects. 
  • Space- A school must have enough rooms to house multiple extra classes during the day. 
  • Parental Support- Not all parents want their kids spending their school day taking 2 hour walks to the art museum or spending 45 minutes sewing when they should be learning math.
Overall, what she is saying is that charter schools allow for all of the above requirements. This is because the schools are structured with these extra opportunities in mind from inception. 


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