Many schools today are based on antiquated designs from the early 1900s that emulate the factory model, wherein students cycle through classrooms and teachers see hundreds of students a day. In a recent national survey, only 30 percent of high school students rated their school culture positively. Positive, stable relationships-when adults have the awareness, empathy, and cultural competence to understand and listen to children-can buffer the effects of even serious adversity.įour main ingredients allow schools to best promote whole child development. Adversity-poverty, housing and food insecurity, abuse, or neglect-produces toxic stress that affects learning and behavior, but how schools respond matters.Children can build skills and awareness to work with emotions in themselves and their relationships. Negative emotions, such as fear of failure, anxiety, and self-doubt, reduce the capacity of the brain to process information and learn. Positive relationships, including trust in the teacher, and positive emotions, such as interest and excitement, open up the mind to learning.
Learning is social, emotional, and academic.The brain’s capacity develops most fully when children and youth feel emotionally and physically safe and when they feel connected, engaged, and challenged. Brain development is shaped by consistent, supportive relationships responsive communications and modeling of productive behaviors.According to two comprehensive reviews of the science on children’s development and learning: Recent research in neuroscience, developmental and learning sciences, education, sociology, and many other fields confirms that a “whole child” approach is not only desirable but necessary to ensure that children learn well. A six-day workshop to transform teachers' understanding of themselves and their students