Social Emotional Skills and Holistic Education

Holistic education focuses on students identity in order for them to become good  community members by teachers instituting appropriate  moral, social, emotional, psychological and academic goals for functioning as a productive member of society.  As a teacher, you have to consider what's going on in students' lives order to teach the students coping skills to deal with challenging situations. Holistic education can really help students who are falling behind. Creating engaging lessons that reach all students is the primary focus of planning for instruction in most schools.  You can combine this inclusion with extensive education in all areas. "All students will learn the skills they need to succeed across all domains, including social, cognitive and academic" (Schwartz as cited in Volk, 2013, para. 5). Students perform better academically when teachers address the social emotional needs of students

Socio-emotional skills are for school, work and life. They include:

•Self-Awareness--conflict mediation, circle talk (talking stick), journaling

•Self-Management—self-motivate, self-control, regulate emotions

•Social Awareness—embrace diversity, empathy for others, role playing, service learning, social justice

•Relationship Skills— rules for working cooperatively, conflict resolution

•Responsible Decision-Making—choices lesson

Holistic education also aligns with an important Teacher Performance Expectations (TPEs) such as TPE element 3 of TPE Stnadard 1, which focuses on relating lessons to real life. 

TPE 1.3 states that beginning teachers will: "Connect subject matter to real-life contexts and provide active learning experiences to engage student interest, support student motivation, and allow students to extend their learning." 

Most importantly, when teachers include social emotional goals as part of student learning they will end up with students who function better in class by being able to work with others in groups with diverse members.

Volk, D. (2013). UW's focus on holistic education is reshaping childhood learning.  University of Washington Magazine. Retrieved from https://magazine.washington.edu/feature/uws-focus-on-holistic-education-is-reshaping-childhood-learning/