What Does Whole
Education Mean
Molly McCloskey
James P. Comer often describes his childhood by saying the adults of his community were “locked into a con- spiracy to make certain that I grew up to be a responsible, contributing
citizen.” As founder of the acclaimed Comer
School Development Program and an ASCD
Whole Child Commissioner, Comer understands
the importance
of such a “con-
spiracy.” Although
schools, families,
and communities
almost always have
similar goals for
young people, they
too often work in
isolation and even
at odds with one
another. In contrast,
how powerful it is
when children are
surrounded by adults
united in commitment, purpose, and action!
With just such an alignment in mind, ASCD
wanted to learn more about how parents understand the whole child approach to education. We
commissioned KRC Research to conduct a study
that included parent focus groups in Richmond,
Virginia, and Columbus, Ohio, as well as a
survey of 800 parents across the United States to
identify their perceptions of what a whole child
education is, how it is currently implemented in
schools, and what barriers stand in the way of its
implementation.
On Preparing Students for
the Global Economy
“America is a melting pot. If you can’t
adapt, you hurt yourself.” —Richmond Dad
“(Kids must be) resilient, adaptable,
and creative. We are living in a tough
economy and there is a bigger world
out there.” —Columbus Mom
It probably doesn’t surprise anyone that our
participants generally agree that each child, in
each school, in each community must be healthy,
safe, engaged, supported, and challenged. Of
course they do—that’s what all parents want
for their children. However, as educators seek
these same goals, we need to emphasize that supporting the whole child is a shared responsibility.
Many focus group members were opposed to
anything that they viewed as the school dictating
to families what
they should
want for their
kids. Focus
group parents
were further
confused by
what educators mean when we talk about community involvement. Parents want to know
more about how we define community and what
exactly we expect community members to do.
Parents strongly agree that although
the school curriculum should continue to
emphasize the fundamentals of reading and
math, it should also provide more varied classes
(such as economics, arts, and languages) so that
each student becomes academically, socially,
and emotionally well-rounded. Make no
mistake—parents want their young people challenged deeply by rich academic content. They
are concerned about international comparisons
that suggest U.S. students lag behind students
in some other countries. But they also want
schools to help prepare students to be resilient,
adaptable, and creative so that they may become
independent thinkers and collaborative problem
solvers.
