The emphasis is upon the quality of human relationships. A community can be the school, the town, or even the family. When holistic education works with the school as a context, they transform it into a stimulating learning community. Learning how to establish appropriate human relationships is an objective of education.
Levels of Wholeness in Holistic Education
Wholeness holds that every thing in the universe is interconnected to everything else. The whole is more than the sum of its parts. This means that the whole is composed of relational patterns that are not contained in the parts.
This is the first level of wholeness with which the holistic educator works. The person is viewed as an integral being with six essential elements: physical, emotional, intellectual, social, aesthetic, and spiritual. These six elements play a fundamental role in the learning process.
The societal dimension of holistic education also recognizes that the goals we set for ourselves as a society have a profound impact on the way we educate our children. The emphasis on economic growth, for example, has led to an education system that prioritizes academic achievement, standardized testing, and job readiness over the development of the whole person.
The planet is the fourth context of our lives and of the learning process. All learning processes that occur in a global context must be heeded. Holistic educators recognize the environmental crisis and educate for global awareness.