What is Holistic Education?
Holistic Education is “a philosophy of education based on the premise that each person finds identity, meaning, and purpose in life through connections to the community, to the natural world, and to humanitarian values such as compassion and peace. Holistic education aims to call forth from people an intrinsic reverence for life and a passionate love of learning.” (Ron Miller)
The Holistic philosophy is part of the greater Alternative Education or Progressive education Movement which began through the questionings and exploration of John Dewey in the late 19th century. Holistic philosophy is set apart by its use of goals, experiential learning and the focus on relationships as the key to human experience.
Holistic learning emphasizes a connection with the self , knowing and honoring who you are, learning to set realistic and achievable goals for yourself and, in retrospect, regularly examining the path you have taken to achieve your goals. Holistic learning honors life experience, both achievements and road blocks, with a focus on both what went well and what didn’t go as planned. We believe that learning is in everything we do and self reflection is the key to understanding yourself and becoming a happy and strong adult.
Since we are part of the Progressive Education movement, we hold the following common values with other progressive methodologies such as Waldorf, Montessori, Sudbury Valley and Free Schools, Reggio Emilia Education, among others. We aspire to meet these values across our curriculum and aim to do the following:
Emphasize learning by doing and provide hands on projects and opportunities
Design integrated curriculum focused on thematic units
Help our students learn to develop problem solving and critical thinking skills
Provide regular opportunities for group work and the development of social skills
Facilitate understanding and action as the goals of learning as opposed to rote knowledge
Emphasize collaboration and cooperation rather than competition
Educate for social responsibility and democracy
Integrate community service and service learning projects in the daily curriculum
Deemphasize the use of textbooks in favor of varied learning resources
Create lifelong learners
Assess by evaluation of child’s projects, goals and learning experiences
Help students understand and respect their learning styles
Holistic Education aims to help students be “the best they can be”.
Holistic Education is unique from other progressive philosophies in that this type of education is concerned with the development of a person’s intellectual, emotional, social, physical, artistic, creative and spiritual potentials. We aim to create “whole” individuals who are well balanced in their outlook on life and their personal understanding of themselves in relation to the world.
Our 8 Knowledge Areas
School Around Us emphasizes a balance of learning across 8 knowledge areas. We do not use a set curriculum, but rather an emergent curriculum that stems from the interests and needs of the learners who are currently with us. We also heavily prioritize PLAY as a way for learners to gain important skills that fall within each of these knowledge areas. We believe that when we understand ourselves - our gifts and our struggles, we can have the power to become the person we are meant to be.
The community that surrounds us has always been important throughout our long history. However, as a co-learning community, the engagement of that aspect has shifted to one that is not only important, but actually essential in the educational work that we do. Learning in community provides a variety of perspectives, support and engagement, role modeling and relationship building. We are all learners and specifically, when young people see us learning and growing alongside them, they know we are there FOR them in a very real way. This develops trust and understanding and deepens our relationships.
Our Knowledge Areas assume that all things are connected, a reflection of the spiritual aspect of Holistic Education. These are presented here in alphabetical order so as not to stress one over another.
Body Knowledge, for example,
Sports and games
Theater and dance
Anatomy and Physiology
Spatial awareness
Physical challenges
Healthy living and eating
Developmental growth and changes
Citizenship, for example,
Community Service and helping others (collaboration)
Democratic Process such as voting, consent within the SAU community
Social, Political, Environmental awareness
Active involvement in community
Civic issues
Ethics
Creative Arts, for example,
Building things
Plays, puppets and mime
Creating videos, paintings, drawings, murals etc.
Playing, writing and listening to music,
singing, dancing and tumbling
Film making, photography, design
Critical Thinking, for example,
Questioning, reasoning, looking at things from different angles
Development & expression of opinions, making personal conclusions
Understanding multiple perspectives
Researching, looking for patterns
Working with others, collaborating, being part of a team
Analyzing information, drawing conclusions
Creative decision making
Reflection
Language & Communication, for example,
Reading, writing, speaking, storytelling
Interpersonal skills, such as conflict resolution, facilitation, respect for others, and respect for diversity
Listening skills
Seeing the value of many perspectives
Asking for what you need
Group discussion
Logical Thinking & Quantitative Reasoning, for example,
Mathematics and Arithmetic
Problem recognition and solving
Science
Technology
Organizational skills
Logic games, such as chess
Understanding the cause and affect of our daily actions
Predicting events, following through with plans and scheduling
Practical Life Skills, for example,
Cooking, cleaning, fixing, sewing, building
Handling money
Resource finding/using
Learning from mistakes
What people do in the adult world
Making friends and being a good friend
Being an active member of a group
Decision making
Scientific Inquiry & Environmental Understanding, for example,
Gaining a sense of place and one’s impact on the environment
Practice reduce, reuse, recycle, composting
Understanding ecosystems and diversity
Examining the global and political aspects of climate change
Sciences - hypothesis, experiments, how things relate to the natural & physical world
Our graduates tend to be individuals who…..
ask questions & dig deeper
are their authentic selves
use their voices to make a difference
gain the academic skills they need to follow their dreams
develop a respect for the diversity of others
listen, hear, and grow from understanding the perspectives of others
protect the Earth and connect with nature
have a creative and resilient way to engage with life
understand their gifts and challenges
are effective communicators and advocates for themselves
have a spark for learning
understand that knowledge isn’t handed to you; it is something you discover through inquiry and engagement
have an appropriate relationship with technology in the modern world