Why is Holistic Education Important?

Have you ever thought instead of going for a traditional schooling method why facilitators work on nurturing the whole individual. 

It is because achieving academic success in schools is not enough to gain recognition in the 21st century. Learners need a lot more than that. 

To do so, “Holistic Education ” is important in today’s learning. Instead of grade and test marks it focuses on creative, ethical, social emotional development of learners. 

This paper discusses the importance of holistic learning, its value to student performance and how it helps the students become self-scheduled, to survive in a more complex world.

What is Holistic Education?

The holistic education is a student focused approach, which focuses more on growth of the entire person intellectually, emotionally, socially and ethically. 

As compared with traditional education , which simply concentrates on cognitive growth and academic accomplishment, holistic education considers the emotional, social, physical and artistic growth of the individual. 

Such a methodology fosters curiosity, perseverance, and critical thinking skills to develop students who are ready to take up life challenges.

Why is Holistic Education Important- 14 Key Points?

For facilitators, parents and learners, holistic education plays a major role in education which can only be analysed by understanding its importance in daily life. 

That’s why here we are going to explore why it is important? 

1. Improved Academic Achievements

The initial point of learning is improvement of academic achievements. Holistic education fulfils this criteria for learners and parents. 

It directly helps student engagement improve their motivation, cognitive abilities, problem solving and learning skills. 

2. Promotes Creativity and Critical Thinking

In upcoming years the method of learning and pursuing higher education is changing. People are addressing and promoting creativity and critical thinking skills. 

Improving learners’ creative thinking skills and critical thinking abilities can help them to become a whole person with an inspiring academic journey. 

To do so students are encouraged to work on real life project based learning activities and various creative experiments as individuals or in a team. 

3. Supports Mental Health and Well-being

Students and parents in the past few years are dealing with various mental health problems which need a proper solution. 

With holistic education facilitators and parents can support the students mental health and well being of learners. 

By addressing their challenges, customising learning styles and providing social emotional and physical support in day to day life can improve their journey. 

4. Encourages Lifelong Learning

Holistic education promotes a love of learning since it teaches students to think of education as a journey and not a destination. 

The holistic education enhances the intellectual active learning, curiosity and self-regulated learning, which provides students with intrinsic motivation to activate lifelong learning pursuit of knowledge and personal development. 

This builds the culture of constant progress and flexibility which are the attributes of a successful person in the modern dynamic and ever-evolving world.

5. Builds Character and Ethical Awareness

The objective of effective learning is improving knowledge and education to real life effectively. But a right kind such as holistic education can also build character and ethical awareness in learners. 

This means holistic learning can guide learners’ responsibility, empathy and honesty to deal with challenging situations. 

This not only shows a good academic performance but also a good citizen. 

6. Respects Individual Differences and Learning Styles

Every student has a difference and his or her own strengths and weaknesses, as well as learning style. 

This approach lets kids work on their own method or style which increases their interest and curiosity towards learning. 

Holistic education offers customised techniques that fit each individual learning and fulfill their requirements. This motivates them for continuous learning . 

7. Incorporates Emotional Reflection

Incorporating social reflection in daily life helps learners to understand themselves by exploring their emotions, feelings, actions and experience. 

This can be done by sharing good or bad feelings with the facilitator, peers or any close one who can provide comfort. It leads to a growth mindset, emotional intelligence and learning through mistakes. 

8. Strengthens Teacher-Student Relationships

To create a positive learning environment , strengthening teachers and student relationships is the most important element. 

The role of a teacher in Holistic education is to build trust, provide a learning environment and guide in both good and bad situations. 

This will help learners to develop relationships among teachers and improve active participation. 

9. Prepares Students for a Complex World

The world is facing a lot of problems and challenges including learners. To get flexible learning, implementation of holistic education can be a beneficial step. 

By teaching them critical thinking skills, global awareness and how to solve social challenges in real life learners can resolve big problems. 

10. Breeds Confidence and Self-esteem

These are a lot of advantages of holistic education, confidence and self-esteem building address learners’ needs and strengthen belief towards each other. 

It not only improves their academic performance but also develops the ability to ask questions, correct the mistakes and work on feedback. 

Remember a confident student takes risks and works on challenges to get solutions. 

11. Engagement and Motivation

Holistic education contributes towards active participation, motivation through the development of a learning environment that is participatory.  

Rather than consuming information, they learn to inquire and engage as well as learn to work together.  This type of experience learning raises the intrinsic motivation of the students since they own the learning process.

12. Decreased Impact of Disparities

Holistic education is an ideal way to decrease the impact of disparities. This means addressing the diverse needs of each learner, not just your academic performance. 

Here the main focus is academics, physical wellness, social emotional which can reduce inequality and poverty. 

This leads to better growth of an individual in his or her academics and personal life. 

13. Fostering Positive Learning Approaches

Fostering positive learning approaches means working on various learning methods that enhance their capacity. For example inquiry based learning or experimental learning. 

Holistic education also teaches the importance of creativity and innovation and the students are encouraged to think and follow their heart. Holistic education generates a love of learning as those positive learning experiences help to build inside a person.

14. Reduces Academic Pressure

Lastly, holistic education decreases the stress that most students in a conventional teaching environment experience. 

In traditional schooling learners memory based/rote learning and standardised tests which increase their anxiety and exam stress . But holistic approaches work differently which enable students to maximize their potential without any pressure. 

Key Principles of Holistic Education

Exploring the key principles of holistic education ensures better understanding of the concept and its implementation. 

1. Interconnectedness 

Holistic education is based on the principle that a student exists in interconnected mental, emotional, social and spiritual aspects of his life. 

In this way, the approach favors combining the knowledge and experience of all these spheres, trying to make students comprehend the interrelation of themselves, their communities, and the world as a whole.

2. Experiential Learning

Experiential learning by doing, is an approach that is promoted by holistic education. By taking part in practical work, practical tasks, and meditation, students improve their knowledge bases on academic subjects in addition to developing personal growth.

3. One-on-One and Customization

There are individual student needs, student learning preferences and interests. Holistic approaches help learners in one on one interactions and customised learning experiences to promote and support individuality. 

This is any practice to understand each kid and their unique learning style which guides trained facilitators to teach accordingly with the tailored methods. 

4. Emotional and Social Development

Social emotional development is much more prioritised by holistic education. 

Implementing this principle ensures creating or improving communication skills , team work and empathy in each learner as per work together. 

This leads to both personal and professional development without any extra effort. 

5. Community and Relationships

Holistic education recognises positive relationships between teacher and student and a sense of belonging to a learning community. 

Educators perform the role of mentors and facilitators and people who help students to realize their potential and to move through academic development and personal evolution. 

Role of Parents in Promoting Holistic Education 

To promote holistic education parents are a crucial part who provides support at home. This can be done by various ways such as:

1. Positive Learning Environment

Parents can create the home environment positively, supportive and quiet for improvement of learners focus. 

Provide material required for example books, stationary or activity related material. These elements engage them for better performance and achievement. 

2. Collaborate with The School

Parents should collaborate with the school and facilitator to understand the needs of kids. By implementing teaching approaches at home they can create a supportive environment. 

Parents can also communicate directly with the learner to know their requirements at a particular point of time. 

3. Encouraging Outdoor Play

Only focusing on learning can make kids stressed out. Focus on creating games related to learning for example puzzles, investigation games, creative activities like writing or drawing. 

Include teamwork, problem solving and collaboration to promote holistic education. 

Conclusion

So, holistic education is important due to different factors like improved academic, promoted creativity, supporting mental health, and others.

It is easy to understand holistic education and its key principles that helps in unlocking its importance for the modern learners.

The role of parents in students can further contribute to the improvement of holistic education strategies.

Holistic approaches to education will become an important way forward to educate the future generation to face the challenges of the future.