Whole Child Education

Why are the developmental sciences important in the classroom? In November, we looked at child development and why academic progress cannot be separated from the emotional, social, and cognitive changes that occur simultaneously. Effective application of the science of learning and child development in early childhood, the middle grades, and adolescence can be used to maximize learning and help ensure that students are healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged.

What is the use of transmitting knowledge if the individual's total development lags behind?

—Maria Montessori

Listen to the Whole Child Podcast with guests Eric Schaps, founder and president of whole child partner the Developmental Studies Center and member of the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education’s national expert panel on increasing the application of knowledge about child and adolescent development and learning in educator preparation programs; Chip Wood, author of Yardsticks, a resource for parents and teachers on child development, and director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Professional Development in the Gill-Montague Regional School District; and John Lee, an exceptional educator with Prince George’s County Public Schools in Maryland who has grounded his teaching in the Comer School Development Program to improve his teaching and student learning.

Question why developmental milestones aren't taken into consideration in the classroom when we know that social and emotional factors affect cognitive learning throughout early childhood and adolescence and that not every child learns how to walk at the same time, reads at the same level, or behaves in the same way. Isn't it just common sense?

Learn about historical perspectives on what is "developmentally appropriate" with guest blogger and learning and human development expert Thomas Armstrong. Is a historical perspective necessary in discussing and applying developmental sciences in education? Explore multiple intelligences theory in a recent ASCD webinar with Dr. Armstrong and his thoughts on restoring a human development curriculum.

Think about cognitive structures—when is it too late to develop them? Cognitive structures are so basic that we assume everyone has them, but many middle and high school students arrive in school without these tools. Betty K. Garner explores these questions and shares classroom strategies in ASCD's Educational Leadership magazine.

Reflect on relationships and their importance with ASCD's Healthy School Communities Director Sean Slade as he explains the "positive youth development" approach and learn classroom management tips that help build a positive classroom environment from educator and author Caltha Crowe.

Read how other educators make time to meet students' emotional needs and share your experiences among colleagues.

Explore resilience research in education—a focus on healthy development and successful learning, especially with young people facing difficult life challenges in their homes, schools, and communities—with guest blogger and education consultant Sara Truebridge, and reflect on what it looks like in a school or community.

Find principles of developmental science that can affect the way teachers teach and the way students learn from whole child partners the American Montessori Society, Developmental Studies Center, National Association of School Psychologists, and National Middle School Association.

Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.

Share these resources, research, and stats:

• The latest in developmental sciences news—and much, much more!—at Chip Woods' Yardsticks blog.
• A research-based, developmental perspective on what competencies young people need to be ready for college, the workplace, and the transition to adulthood from Child Trends.
• Articles on child and adolescent development from Education.com.
• A free copy of How Students Learn: History, Mathematics, and Science in the Classroom by the Committee on How People Learn, the Center for Studies on Behavior and Development, and the National Research Council.
• Resources to help you integrate the developmental sciences throughout the school improvement process, including guiding questions and a series of easy-to-use tools, from whole child partner the National Association of Secondary School Principals.
• A discussion of differentiated instruction in mixed-ability classrooms from whole child partner the National Association for Gifted Children.
• Policy recommendations on how the developmental sciences can prepare educators to improve student achievement from the National Expert Panel commissioned by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education.
• A "Success In School/Skills for Life" Online Resource Kit that includes a focus on mental health from whole child partner the National Association of School Psychologists.
• Bright Futures at Georgetown University's development tools for families and providers, available in English and Spanish, that support healthy social and emotional development in children and teens.

Most teacher training programs require minimal coursework in child development, and few researchers receive significant education training, basically isolating each group from its natural counterpart. Edutopia explores the lack of exchange and understanding between academic researchers and educators and believes that professional connections are the key to change. As you build your academic researcher-educator connection, here are a few research findings that could be easily translated into classroom practice.

In this interview, Maurice Elias, director of Rutgers University's Social and Emotional Learning Lab and Edutopia blogger, talks about the importance of emotion in education and provides an example of his work translating research into classroom practice.

How can we prepare educators to apply developmental principles effectively to maximize students' academic, social, and emotional development?

This month, the Whole Child Blog has been focusing on the critical role of the arts throughout a whole child education. The arts play an essential role in providing each student with a well-rounded education that meets the needs of the whole child. Although classes strictly focused on music, visual arts, drama, dance, and art history are critical, integrating the arts across the curriculum is also key to ensuring that students are healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged.

Listen to the Whole Child Podcast with guests Peter Yarrow, recording artist and founder of Operation Respect and United Voices for Education; Mike Blakeslee, senior deputy executive director and chief operating officer of (Whole Child Partner) MENC: The National Association for Music Education; and Vanessa Lopez, an exceptional arts educator from Roland Park Elementary/Middle School in Baltimore, Md.

Learn about the connection between creativity and the brain with guest blogger Judy Willis, ASCD author and expert on learning-centered brain research. Read the first, second, third, and final posts in the series.

Find resources for arts and arts-integrated educational content for students, families, and educators looking for lesson plans, multimedia-enhanced instruction, and performance footage on Whole Child Partner the Kennedy Center's ARTSEDGE website.

Watch musician Peter Yarrow and conductor Plácido Domingo talk about their belief in the importance of the arts and the value of a whole child approach to education.

Think about the research-based benefits of arts education experiences and how the arts engage students in ways that other subjects may not, providing ways into learning that compliment learning styles and encourage creative risk taking.

Discuss whether or not public education is educating children out of their creativity after listening to an engaging presentation by Sir Ken Robinson. How can schools do a better job of recognizing and encouraging creativity during class to stimulate thinking and as preparation for the future work arena?

Support and advocate for all core academic subjects—English, reading or language arts, mathematics, science, foreign languages, civics and government, economics, arts, history, and geography—that make up a well-rounded approach to education.

Sign the Whole Child Petition to tell your state board of education that it must do more to educate the whole child.

Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter to find more resources, research, and stats, including links to

• A free Artful Teaching & Learning Handbook for blue prints to create a versatile arts education model from the Perpich Center for Arts Education (PCAE).
• Whole Child Partner Americans for the Arts' fact sheet about the benefits of arts education for children.
• Six issues of the University of California's Journal for Learning through the Arts: A Research Journal on Arts Integration in Schools and Communities. Check out the current issue's spotlight on arts and geography.
• An issue of KidSpirit Online, a magazine and community for 11–15 year olds everywhere, focused on self exploration and finding one's spirit in art.
• Findings from an IBM study showing creativity to be the most important leadership quality for success in business.
• A research paper on integrating the arts and how the arts impact social, cognitive, and academic skills.

What could a focus on the arts look like at your school? The PS22 Chorus is an elementary school chorus from Public School 22 in Staten Island, N.Y. It is composed of 60–70 fifth-graders, and is directed by Gregg Breinberg ("Mr. B."), who started blogging and created a YouTube channel to promote the benefits of keeping the arts an integral part of the school curriculum. As of this month, the chorus's videos have been watched more than 23,000,000 times.

In Choral Director, the choral director's management magazine, Mr. B. talks about the importance of integrating the arts throughout the curriculum:

I hope that these kids take away a confidence, a sense of empowerment, and a sense that anything is possible. That last bit is certainly more along the lines of the last few years because of the amazing opportunities we've had, but I don't want this chorus to be just about the exposure that these kids are getting. I do think it's so important that this is blowing up at a point where our budget is a mess and music and arts programs are being cut left and right, so in a sense, globally, with the success, I'd love to keep people thinking about how important music is. I don't think anyone can miss by watching how those kids sing how important it is to them, how it keeps kids wanting to come to school. Every kid in my chorus will tell you that they look forward to coming to school. That's something we take a lot of pride in because we just happen to be a school that really subscribes to the arts.

We've also used the music to teach other areas of the curriculum. The kids learned PEMDAS through rhythm equations that I made. I try to keep things fun and keep the students on their toes. I want them to love music, learn, be engaged, and I want them to come to school. When you take the arts out of schools, there's a risk of drop outs, especially among children who maybe don't have great parental support and might be saying to themselves, "Why am I going to this place where I'm not succeeding, I'm made to feel like an idiot, there's nothing I do well in this life, and I have to come back tomorrow to feel like an idiot again?" I want to reach these kids, and a lot of the children in my chorus do not necessarily succeed in other academic areas as well as they and their families would like. It's so important that we tap into other avenues that kids are capable of succeeding in. I think that every one of these kids in my chorus has something to offer. Maybe they don't have that prodigious, exceptional vocal talent, but there's more behind the music that these kids are tapping into within themselves. They're amazing people and that's a part of it, too. I want them to be open to each other. I want them to be open to life and to new things.

How are you or how is your school integrating the arts throughout the curriculum? What are the benefits to students?

For the past month, we here at the Whole Child Blog have been looking at bullying. A school and community that do not address bullying cannot ensure that each student is healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged.

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