Holistic approach
DEVELOPING EVERY ASPECT OF THE LEARNER
WHOLE CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Child development should inspire lifelong learning across different spaces and communities.
Research has shown that “whole child development,” not routine or standardised classroom-based learning, empowers children and young people as creative and engaged citizens who can strengthen the wellbeing of a whole society. It is, therefore, crucial, to nurture the creative abilities of learners to express themselves, to understand others, and to navigate complex amounts of information so that they can confidently function in, and solve the problems of a world that is changing faster than ever.
The development of children and teens is often studied as separate topics, e.g. their different skills are viewed and measured in different ways. However, each area of development influences others and is interconnected. Each different development skill is seen differently in every child or your person. Socio-emotional, physical, creative, and cognitive capacities are deeply intertwined and equally important in ensuring a the wellbeing, learning, and growth of a learner.
For us at Jacaranda International, holistic or whole child development involves the physical, intellectual, emotional, spiritual, moral, and social development of every learner.
CRITICAL CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT
EMPHASISING THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOFT SKILLS
Research at major universities across the world consistently emphasise the crucial role that soft skills play in character formation and building on persistence, curiosity, and even grit — the passion and perseverance for very long-term goals.
The development of these qualities, which rely on an individual’s self-worth and self-control, critically outperform any other positive measures of learner’s long-term outcomes, whether academically or intellectually.
ESTABLISHING SOUND MINDESTS AND CHARACTERISTICS
PLACING FOCUS ON GROWTH MINDSET
The most impactful way of helping learners develop soft skills is by helping them develop growth mindsets. As a values-based school, we actively seek to nurture growth mindsets with our learners by working with our parents as a learning community and through our Civics and Character Education (CCE) programs. These programs, focused at social and emotional
learnings, are integrated into all facets of our school and particular attention is paid to:-
1. The development of grit, tenacity and resilience;
2. The development of self-regulation using positive discipline;
3. The development of accountability;
4. The development of respect for self and others;
5. The development of meta-cognition.
GROWTH MINDSET CHARACTERISTICS
Having a growth mindset involves understanding that taking appropriate risks sometimes leads to failure. Learners with a growth mindset rebounds from that failure and value the lessons learned from it. People who consistently maintain a growth
mindset share the following characteristics (Dweck, 2016). They:
- Embrace challenges;
- Persist in the face of setbacks;
- See effort as the path to mastery;
- Learn from criticism;
- Find lessons and inspiration in the success of others.
“It is not enough to “shift” one’s mindset – learners also need, and must therefore learn how to develop, a healthy dose of grit and resilience to achieve their short and long-term goals.”
