The Future of Education

Increasing we are hearing calls to move beyond test scores to focus on the education of the whole child. Research in child human development and the neuroscience of learning all suggest that we need to expand our focus from academics outcomes (e.g., math and language knowledge) to pro-social outcomes like personal agency, persistence, and civic engagement. When, however, when you look at the structures of schools, there is no clarity as to own the policies, procedures, or curriculum associated with educating the whole child. There is confusion as to what we mean by whole child and how we measure of our success in educating the whole child. This paper will define three areas of work, character education, civic education, and social emotional learning and discuss the ways in which they are different and similar. It will end with ideas as to how a focus on these three areas could have a positive influence on our efforts to educate the whole child.

Keywords: Character, Civic, Social Emotional, Education

References:
[1] Revell, Lynn; Authur, James (March 2007). "Character Education in Schools and the Education of Teachers". Journal of Moral Education. 36 (1): 79–92.
[2] Lin, A. (2015). Citizenship education in American schools and its role in developing civic engagement: a review of the research.Educational Review, 67(1), 35–63.
[3] Oberke, E., Schonert-Reichl, K.A., Hertzman, C., & Zumbo, B.D. (2014). Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 35 (3), 138-147