Educating The Whole Person

Point to yourself. Where is your finger? It is likely not pointed at your big toe, or even your head. You are likely pointing at your heart. We identify ourselves with our heart while education focuses on the head. It should be no surprise then that students are often bored with their educational experience. Teaching concentrates on training our minds while neglecting those parts of ourselves with which we identify. If we want students engaged in learning, then we need to speak to the whole person—head, heart, and hands. We need to continue exposing students to the knowledge base in their fields of study. We are not to neglect the head. However, we also need to speak to the heart. We need to tap students’ passions and channel that energy into the learning process. We also are to train students’ hands to have the skills to implement the knowledge they obtain. We are to address the science, spirit, and skills of whatever discipline we are teaching. In this way we engage the whole person in the learning process. Learning will then become the exciting endeavor it is meant to be for teachers and students alike.