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Holistic Education
Students will always remember how they feel more than what they learned, so how do educators engage students in a way that they "feel" or internalize the learning so it sticks?
Students previous experiences, both in education and life in general, are subconsciously present in all that they do in the classroom; thus, it is of utmost importance to get to know students as learners in order to begin to deliver a curriculum from a holistic or transformative learning perspective.
Holistic learning is more than just an environmental/natural and spiritual form of education. It is interconnected and transformative education; it encompasses the personal, spiritual, natural, tacit and learned behaviours and feelings associated with life and relationships. All of this forms the base on top of which educators can add the layer of knowledge and skills (both physical and cerebral) that are so important in student success.
Dr. Selia Karsten, a sessional lecturer Level II at OISE/UT, teaches in the Curriculum, Teaching, and Learning Department at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto, describes a transformational or holistic curriculum as one where the teaching is from the heart and done intuitively, with the student leading the learning. What better way to engage a student than to take their lead, and guide them on a journey of exploration and discovery!
Students previous experiences, both in education and life in general, are subconsciously present in all that they do in the classroom; thus, it is of utmost importance to get to know students as learners in order to begin to deliver a curriculum from a holistic or transformative learning perspective.
Holistic learning is more than just an environmental/natural and spiritual form of education. It is interconnected and transformative education; it encompasses the personal, spiritual, natural, tacit and learned behaviours and feelings associated with life and relationships. All of this forms the base on top of which educators can add the layer of knowledge and skills (both physical and cerebral) that are so important in student success.
Dr. Selia Karsten, a sessional lecturer Level II at OISE/UT, teaches in the Curriculum, Teaching, and Learning Department at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto, describes a transformational or holistic curriculum as one where the teaching is from the heart and done intuitively, with the student leading the learning. What better way to engage a student than to take their lead, and guide them on a journey of exploration and discovery!