Should Schools Continue to Use a 100-Year-Old Practice?
Walking into a small breakout room adjacent to Taylor’s spacious third-grade classroom this spring, I am quickly enveloped by kelp. Not actual kelp, but ribbons of dark cellophane meant to be kelp suspended from the ceiling, created by his 8- and 9-year-old students. The kelp simulacra cling to papier mache “holdfasts” on the floor, imitating real ocean plants, and reproductions of other organisms that live in and around kelp forests populate the room like a biotropic tenement, similar to the areas off our Northern California shores on the west coast of the United States. The walls are upholstered with information cards about each type of plant and life form, accompanied by watercolor paintings and infographic posters created by Taylor’s students. It’s a room packed wall to wall and floor to ceiling with an installation of science and art.
What at first glance appears to be a fun and interactive lesson about kelp forests is actually a complex interplay of subjects masterfully blended to perform like an orchestra–science, art, literacy, research, and math, along with generous doses of social and emotional skills, are combined as a whole rather than as separate parts. This installation is not only creative and informative, but it beautifully illustrates how integrated, experiential units of study, a keystone of whole child education, stimulate learning, student engagement, and social and emotional skills.
School Mirroring Life
In 1915, John Dewey understood that we don’t divide our daily lives into silos. Writing that school settings should be as natural as life itself, he believed that segmenting school subjects would essentially divide a child’s experiences into unnaturally discreet parts. In the Indian parable about a group of blind men who come upon an elephant for the first time, each man has his own definition of the animal, isolated from the others, based on which part of the elephant he touches. In John Saxe’s English interpretation of this parable, he writes, “Each was partly in the right, and all were wrong!” In other words, each had a separate silo of information and failed to understand the whole.
Avoiding the result of the blind men’s experience, early 20th century progressive schools recognized and honored the entirety of a child’s experience, what we now call “whole child education.” Academics and the arts are joined, but other subjects and aspects of a student’s life are also considered important, including world languages, physical education, social and emotional learning, and even unstructured time and community engagement. Abundant research has fortified the integrated, whole-child perspective of curriculum design.
“In a world that demands adaptability, creativity, and strong interpersonal skills, this 100-year-old practice is more relevant than ever.”
Taylor and I work at Peninsula School, one of the oldest progressive schools in California. It was founded in 1925 by an independent and progressive thinker steeped in the writings of Dewey, Francis Parker, and Maria Montessori, and the spirit of those education pioneers still lives in the heart of the school.
Two weeks before my visit to Taylor’s classroom, I’m trying to keep a group of his students from getting too far behind during a guided visit through the Monterey Bay Aquarium. An octopus folded into a corner of an eye-level tank is too fascinating for these pre-adolescents (and me) to pass. Beginning a lesson with an experiential field trip like this is fairly typical. And back at school, it’s expected that the students will spend time in research groups where they’ll learn some basic information and improve their research skills. Where this lesson differs is in the way students naturally blend multiple disciplines and skills to collaborate as a whole class on the details of what the installation will include and how it will look.
During this collaborative process, students engage some pretty sophisticated social and emotional skills. They are expected to work as a whole class to agree which organisms living in and around the kelp forests to research, which students will research those organisms, what information will be displayed, how components will be created and by whom, etc., all with the goal of creating a unified exhibit that exemplifies a full aquatic ecosystem. It’s not always an efficient or pretty scene, but with Taylor’s help and some class discussions about how to productively communicate and manage expectations–and conflicting views–the students find a path forward.
As a result, several students create watercolor paintings, other students make papier mache sea urchins, abalone, and sea stars, and another group prints out informational cards from their research. Both traditional art materials and found materials are employed to create an array of organisms; students scale ladders to pin kelp to the ceiling and arrange sea stars on the floor.
Following Student Interests
Some of the most exciting moments come when students begin to improvise, adding to the immersive experience of the installation. “We should have speakers with ocean sounds!” one 3rd grader shouts to no one in particular. Another student adds, “And kelp forests are kinda dark, so we should cover the lights with cellophane!” Taylor, of course, rolls with it. When teachers actively incorporate and build upon students' interests, they provide a way for students to be authors of their own learning. This “student agency” approach was advocated by Dewey and other educators including Loris Malaguzzi, the founder of Reggio-Emilia, A.S. Neill at Summerhill, and Piaget and Francis Parker. Dewey wrote, "The teacher should be a guide, a director, a stimulator of growth, rather than an arbitrary dictator."
“When teachers actively incorporate and build upon students’ interests, they provide a way for students to be authors of their own learning.”
Right from the start of the unit, Taylor deftly fosters student agency. As students wandered through aquarium halls filled with tanks of crustaceans and parachuting jellyfish, they picked up free Seafood Watch cards. Back at school during a brief class meeting, one student brings up the sustainable seafood information contained in the cards. Inspired by this information, the students advocate for adding another component to the unit: spreading information to the school community about strategies everyone can use to help sustain healthy ocean ecosystems while shopping or eating out.
Curious to learn what the school community already knows about sustainable seafood, the students decide to conduct a survey. Taylor cleverly incorporates a brief lesson on the importance of survey size and suggests that they survey 100 adults at school (a good sample size, this number also makes it easier to teach percentages). The students tabulate the survey results and use fraction and percentage math skills to create posters with pie charts, which are displayed in the installation as important information for visitors.
Lifelong Skills Are a Crucial Component
Integrated, whole-child units like this one have strong measurable benefits for learning how to conduct research, writing, measuring, etc. But there are also significant benefits that can’t be measured as easily. Intrinsic motivation, increased curiosity, a flourishing imagination, and social and emotional skills are proving to be the most durable and valuable skills in a rapidly changing society.
John Dewey was particularly passionate about the importance of incorporating social and emotional skills in schools, writing that education should be a social experience that helps children develop skills such as cooperation, empathy, and respect for others. He also promoted the idea that democratic values incorporated into education develop respect for others, equality, and participation in civic life.
“Intrinsic motivation, increased curiosity, a flourishing imagination, and social and emotional skills are proving to be the most durable and valuable skills in a rapidly changing society.”
Many parents want their children to grow up to be good people with strong life skills. They want them to think critically, to have a social conscience, to act with compassion and empathy, and to make good life choices. They want schools to teach academics and these life skills. Don’t we all?
Taylor’s program thoughtfully focuses on the entirety of the child's school experience. It helps learners construct more complex, personal and nuanced meaning and knowledge, develops social and emotional skills, and provides students with opportunities to confidently contribute to the world.
Take Small Steps for Big Results
Creating a unit of study that fosters social and emotional skills, and that inspires students to be more creative and collaborative, starts with a few simple steps.
1. Find a Relevant, Real-World Connection
Students are often motivated by a unit of study that has a tangible relationship to their world. The kelp forests of northern California are less than an hour’s drive from our school. Taylor strategically introduced the unit with a trip to the aquarium, to emphasize that students live and recreate in close proximity to kelp forests, and to help them realize how important kelp forests are to the health of the coastal ecosystem.
2. Blend Subjects
Look for natural connections between subjects.Taylor’s unit of study beautifully blended writing, research, science, math and the arts. For example, a unit of study with a focus on, say, the American Revolution, could include music, art, research and math. Some students could write lyrics set to 18th century music, others could draw portraits of their classmates in the style of John Singleton Copely, all students could conduct research on 18th century food and nutrition, and math could be added to help students understand the economy and trade.
3. Plan for Student Choice and Voice
Providing time for students to decide how some of the final products will look or be produced, or allowing them to choose to work on specific topics within a broader unit, will increase their interest, provide them with a vehicle to practice decision making, and foster a love of learning. For example, students may be provided with a choice of reading or research materials, or they may choose the art medium. Choice and voice ensures students will be more invested in the quality of the final product, and they will develop the skills to pursue their own learning goals.
4. Build in Collaboration
Social and emotional skills that will serve students throughout their lives are built through teacher-guided collaboration. When students collaborate, they engage in the challenging work of communicating, listening to differing perspectives, compromising, and sharing. As an example, students can work collaboratively to produce a multimedia presentation about the march on Selma for a unit of study on the civil rights movement, with small groups assigned to areas such as research, script writing, and art production.
Walking through the installation in Taylor’s classroom, the outcomes of an integrated, whole-child educational approach are tangible and profound: students who have been active participants in a unit of study are highly engaged and enthusiastic about learning beyond what was expected. Their level of excitement acts as a powerful testament that some 20th century theories like whole child education still hold immense value. In a world that demands adaptability, creativity, and strong interpersonal skills, this 100-year-old practice is more relevant than ever. By seamlessly weaving academic subjects with the arts, social skills, and real-world experiences, lesson units like this can be simultaneously rigorous, creative, and deeply meaningful, preparing children to navigate and contribute to an increasingly interconnected world.
RECOMMENDED READING
“The Formative Five: Fostering Grit, Empathy, and Other Success Skills Every Student Needs," Thomas R. Hoerr (2016)
“Project-Based Teaching: How to Create Rigorous and Engaging Learning Experiences," Suzie Boss and John Larmer (2018)
“Making Learning Whole: How Seven Principles of Teaching Can Transform Education” David Perkins (2010)
“Creating Quality Integrated and Interdisciplinary Arts Programs” Report of the Arts Education Partnership National Forum (2002)
“The Child and the Curriculum,” John Dewey (1902).
Noddings, N. (2005). What does it mean to educate the whole child? Educational Leadership, 63(1), 8-13.https://pdo.ascd.org/LMSCourses/PD13OC009M/media/WholeChild_M1_Reading1.pdf
Jim Benz is an educational leader, strategist and systems thinker. He taught art and art history for 13 years and has been a leader in progressive schools for 25 years. As a teacher, he developed a framework for social and emotional development for middle school students, has been recognized for accomplished teaching, and has presented at regional and national conferences. Jim has written about progressive education, artificial intelligence, leadership, and the arts in education. Connect with Jim on LinkedIn to learn more about his work.