The “Whole Child”Speech by Lisa Berenholz

Social Studies OnlineSummer 2009

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As a progressive educator, I believe it is the responsibility of the teacher to create and differentiate instruction that pertains to the education of the whole child while taking into account

the range of learning needs in the classroom. When I say the “whole child” I mean that it is not enough to simply teach math problems out of a book or conduct science experiments that may show up on an exam, but rather, to directly relate these

experiments and problems to the everyday lives of the students. Why is it important to be able to count money?

What does it have to do with me personally? Why do I have to know about the inner workings of a light bulb? When will I need to use this information outside of school? By relating

experiences that happen inside school to the student’s everyday lives, we are providing an education that promotes

an understanding of the world around them.

George Counts (1959) is one theorist who strongly focuses on the idea of the whole child in his book, Dare the School Build a New

Social Order?, and he states that “an education that does not strive to promote the fullest and most thorough understanding of the world is not worthy of the name” (p.9). When I think about this statement I

think about my time as a student teacher at a school in midtown Manhattan. I was asked to create a social studies curriculum that

focused on a bird study of central park. At first, I was excited about the task, but was quickly distraught when I was struggling to relate

this study to my students’ personal lives. While designing my curriculum, I spent a lot of time talking with my students individually, asking them questions about what they knew about birds and to my

surprise; many of them had a lot to say.

For example one student began to talk about how the garbage on the streets was dangerous for birds because they can choke on the trash, which was something that he had talked about with his

family. This student, according to Dewey (1990), was carrying over what he learned at home and was utilizing it in school (p.80).

Because this was a direct concern for the student, I was able to create a lesson focusing on the environmental concerns affecting birds in various parts of New York City, including Central Park. In

this situation, I was also able to focus on the idea stated by Counts (1959) when he emphasized the importance of the teacher

bridging the gap between school and society and playing some part in the fashioning of those great common purposes, which

should bind the two together (p.28).

While it is important to design a curriculum that focuses on the whole child, it is also imperative to remember that the teacher is responsible for doing so while recognizing and focusing on all of

the diverse learning needs of her students. As a teacher for children with severe special needs, I spend a great deal of my

time planning with the idea that each of my students is an individual with various strengths, challenges, and interests.

According to Nager & Shapiro (2000), in order to support and enhance children’s growth and development it is necessary to

know about how children learn and what they need and are interested in (p.13)

For example, my students take on learning with a very hands-on, multi-sensory approach as a way of soaking in information

presented to them. Instead of reading an instruction sheet on how to plant and grow flowers, they become the flowers by playing in dirt and feeling the sensation through touch. This idea also goes along with information presented by Ginsburg (1969) when he states that children need to manipulate things in order to learn

and that the child must physically act on his environment because such activity constitutes a major portion

of genuine knowledge (p.230).

As long as teachers take into account that they are responsible for the education of the whole child while differentiating

instruction for those students with different learning styles, including those with special needs, they will be successful in their endeavor to create a well-rounded student who is a contributing member of society. Levine (2002) put it best when he said that

the growth of our society and the progress of the world are dependent on our commitment to fostering in our children, and among ourselves, the coexistence and mutual respect of the

many different kinds of minds.

References

Counts, G. 1932/1959. Dare the School Build a New Social Order? Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press.

Dewey, J. 1900, 1915, 1990. The School and Society/The Child and the Curriculum. Chicago:U. of Chicago Press.

Ginsburg, H. (1969). Piaget’s Theory of Intellectual Development. Prentice Hall Inc. Englewood Cliffs, NJ.

Levine, M. (2002). A Mind at a Time. Simon & Schuster.

Nager, N., & Shapiro, E. (2000) Revisiting a Progressive Pedagogy: The Developmental-Interaction approach. State University of New York Press.