For decades, educational systems across the country have focused on the academic aspect of students. Constantly placing a number on a child to determine not only their success, but potential. How is this true education? A student is more than a number. A student is a child, a person, potential, possibility, growth and so much more. For too long educational systems across the country have focused on the current academic standing of a child, not their overall potential as not only a student but future adult citizen. Educational systems overall focus mainly on academics and shy away from reaching the internal component of a child. When one sees or hears the words “internal component of a child,” it is always assumed that this means education wants to teach religion; hence public school systems have turned away from this specific aspect of a student. However, let me clarify what I mean by “internal component of a child.” When I, Davina Ruiz, state the “internal component of a child”, I am referring to their mindsets, the values taught, the lessons within stories, habits of mind, body and soul as well as generational inequities that must be broken yet are unexplained and there for each individual.
Dorothy Height stated, “You never teach a subject, you always teach a child. You teach children in a way that they will learn, and then things will fall in place for them.” To get a child to learn means to understand and work with the many aspects of each individual child. It means to meet them where they are both academically, personally and spiritually in order to push them to the path of their potential selves. This can be done using the WHOLE CHILD approach to teaching and learning with an emphasis on social and emotional learning among core content areas, classroom environments, school initiatives and elective courses as well as within support services. The WHOLE CHILD approach involves child-centered pedagogy, which was acknowledged by formal educational institutions and academia in the 18th and 19th centuries by European philosophers Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Friedrich Froebel, Johann Heinrich Pestolozzi, and Johann Herbart. However, child-centered pedagogy and the WHOLE child approach to teaching has been existent for centuries prior to these philosophers formalizing it in the academia world. Really think about it? In Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Paulo Freire challenges conventional educational systems that educate oppressed individuals based on falsehood to infringe on cultural groups’ true beliefs and values. Freire defines “oppressed individuals” as a group of people that are exploited in which the oppressors have failed to “recognize others as persons.” Have WE forgotten to teach the whole child is more important than content knowledge alone? Do WE need an Eurocentric American educational system to tell us how to educate OUR children? How can WE implement our values, OUR true cultural core into OUR classrooms for OUR children so that they may embrace their TRUE selves and self-worth? Since the ages, there has been communal efforts in developing youth. In fact, “It takes a village to raise a child.” This statement is not uncommon, yet not fully embraced within our educational systems across the nation. Let’s change this.
We must make the steps to influence our youth in the best possible way. This means to fight against traditional methods of teaching and disciplining for our children. It is important to take on the WHOLE child approach for our youth. This involves ensuring students feel physically and emotionally safe within their school spaces for the best learning outcome. It also means using restorative practices in creating students as conscious, problem-solving, and critical thinking beings in all aspects of their lives not just in an academic setting. Try the following at your schools:
Interdisciplinary Units with Problem Based Learning: This approach for learning will allow students to see how many content areas are interconnected through skills, themes, and processing skills that transcend a particular subject area.
Problem solving / critical thinking classrooms: Successful students and adults are able to hone in on their problem solving / critical thinking skills. This can be done through collaboration and communication using accountable talk and socratic seminars. It is imperative for students to master these skills to excel in their future careers and pathways.
Facilitate understanding; Don’t lecture all the time: It is important to listen and guide students through the learning process. Do not lecture all the time. Allow students to learn new concepts through inquiry methods. This will allow them to develop this practice and become habitual as they become adult learners.
Classroom culture and school culture effort: Using restorative practices, build an atmosphere of clear communication, empathy, and direct yet clear understanding of who one is and who they can become. All stakeholders within the school community shall focus on the possibility and potential of each child, not the current status of the child. Team building practices can help with this during advisory periods or group assignments within core classes.
Differentiation: Meet learners where they are. Support all learners within a classroom. Pay attention to their needs and ensure there are different ways to access the information students have to process, such as through videos, skits, illustrations, drawings, dialogue, and more. Learn your students and take active notes on students learning routines, habits and processing styles daily. Keeping a journal to refer to can help with this so no child is forgotten and it can also improve your teaching practice.
Community connections: Educate students on the power of community and service to another. Create opportunities for students to take part in community organizations, initiatives and development of new programming.
Peer supports , mediations and leadership: Each student can be a leader by leveraging their strengths at the most opportunistic times. Peer supports can be buddy systems, peer tutoring or coaching, and peer mentoring. Peer mediations can help with developing problem solving skills from a social aspect for students. Leadership opportunities by creating roles in classrooms and in other areas of a school can help develop students to be leaders within their personal lives as they become lifelong learners.
Don’t be afraid to step out of the “norm.” There is no teacher cookie-cutter technique to a successful classroom. Develop your own style, personality and classroom environment so that both you and your students can be learners, leaders, and servants to each other and the shared learning community.
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