today's lesson: education of the whole child

Mind, body and brain...how about an education of the whole child? Now there's a thought.

I was thrilled to stumble upon this article by Jane Isaacs Lowe in which she discusses the ever-present issue of the limitations on what schools can do. Yes, the education of the whole child is ideal, but how much are we capable of? Students spend a significant amount of time at school and we simply cannot only be responsible for their knowledge on just the subject matter.

Schools across the country are finally taking note of this, and numerous studies have been released that show these factors to be equally important in the education of a child. Many schools are partnering with non-profit organizations focused on the mental, physical, and emotional health of young people.

Lowe also pointed out that our students cannot focus when their mind is elsewhere. How can we punish a student for zoning out because she is worried about the fight her parents had the night before? Why would we force the memorization of times tables when he can only think about how hungry he is? What do we do when they didn't sleep last night because of the fear of crime in their neighborhood?

This is a concern I have had as I am about to embark on a journey in the field of education. In fact, I was just talking to my professor yesterday on this very same issue. We can study until we have the textbooks memorized, we can teach one hour lessons in front of our classmates, we can learn every tried and tested principle there is...but can we put it into practice on an unfocused child?

As a future teacher, I have this intense desire to know the whole child. What goes on at home, what goes on in the hallway, what goes on in my classroom. However, I am slowly realizing the impossibility of this as I will be teaching close to one hundred different students per day. When I expressed my concern to my professor he replied,

"We can only do what we can do. We try our best, make mistakes, and move forward with our teaching."

Good advice. Do our best. Make mistakes. Move on.