Educating the Whole Child: Why Putting Academics First Is a Mistake

In the current landscape of education, there is a persistent tension between rigorous academic standards and the well-being of students. 

A recent article by Dave Gibbons on SmartBrief.com brought this tension to the forefront, stating that while social and emotional learning is important, the "central component and goal of education should be the academic growth of our children."

While this sentiment is common, it presents a fundamental contradiction. 

As educators and psychologists, we must recognize that a focus on the whole child contradicts the idea of putting academics first—specifically when that academic pressure blocks our view of the child’s actual needs.

To truly achieve deep learning, we cannot view academic success and the whole child as competing interests. 

Instead, we must understand that supporting the whole child is the very mechanism that makes academic growth possible.

The Politics of the Whole Child

When educators assert that academics must come first, it is often a rhetorical maneuver designed to navigate the minefield of educational politics. 

The phrase "whole child" can trigger specific reactions depending on one's political leaning.


Educational conservatives may fear that focusing on the whole child signals a retreat from rigor or a diminishment of traditional instruction. 

Conversely, educational liberals might worry that emphasizing academics over well-being serves to hide oppressive institutional patterns or ignore systemic inequities.


However, this rhetorical dance obscures a critical psychological reality: properly aligning motivation and engagement is indispensable to achieving academic goals.

From a psychological perspective, deep learning requires two things:

  1. Autonomous Motivation: The student is driven by internal interest and value, rather than external control or pressure.
  2. Agentic Engagement: The student actively contributes to the flow of instruction, rather than passively receiving it.


When a district declares that academics are the priority over the whole child, they risk encouraging "controlled motivations" and shallow, behavioral engagement. 

This creates a paradox: by prioritizing academics at the expense of well-being, schools undermine the very cognitive conditions required for students to learn those academics deeply.

Sailing Against the Winds of Ignorance

To understand why prioritizing the whole child is necessary for academic success, it is helpful to visualize the process of education as sailing a boat.


Imagine you are the captain of a sailboat. Your goal—your destination—is due North. This represents academic mastery. 

However, the wind is blowing hard from the North to the South. 

This wind represents the natural resistance of ignorance or the difficulty of learning new, complex material.


If you are sailing a boat with fore-and-aft rigging, you have the equipment to sail against the wind, but you cannot simply point the boat North. 

If you try to sail directly into the wind—forcing a direct path to the goal—the sails will luff, the boat will stall, and you will drift backward.


To reach your destination, you must "tack." 

Tacking involves steering the boat in a zigzag pattern, roughly 30 to 45 degrees away from the direct wind. 

You must sail Northeast, then Northwest, back and forth.


In this metaphor, tacking represents the time and energy spent nurturing the whole child. 

It is the work of building relationships, fostering emotional safety, ensuring physical well-being, and cultivating autonomous motivation. 

To an outside observer, it might look like you are sailing away from the academic goal. 

Why are you heading Northeast when the destination is North?


The answer is simple: it is the only way to get there.

If a captain refuses to tack because they want to put the "destination first," they will never arrive. 

Similarly, if a school refuses to focus on the whole child because they want to put "academics first," they doom their students to shallower learning. 

You cannot sail directly into the wind, and you cannot force deep learning without addressing the human needs of the learner.

The Role of Holistic Schools

In the holistic schooling context, educators have long understood that education consists of far more than test scores. 

However, some holistic schools have historically devalued the role of academics, perhaps contributing to their status as marginal players in the K-12 industry.


This is also a mistake. There is no credible evidence that valuing the **whole child** requires devaluing academics. 

On the contrary, holistic schools that succeed are those that recognize we are sailing against the winds of ignorance. 

They understand that to reach the destination of an educated citizenry, they must set their sails to catch the wind of engagement.


Mainstream schools must learn this lesson. 

They cannot achieve their academic goals unless they manage for engagement, not just for curriculum delivery. They must learn to set their sails differently.

Clarifying Intentions: Academics and Well-being

The debate regarding the whole child versus academic priority is often one of semantics rather than intent. 

Upon reviewing the initial draft of this critique, Mr. Gibbons clarified his stance, noting that he was not trying to avoid political controversy, nor does he believe academics should trump well-being.


He stated, "The deepest level of learning takes place in a caring and nurturing environment... students do not learn in controlling environments with shallower engagement."


This clarification highlights a consensus among dedicated educators: students need authentic engagement. 

Whether using models like Schlechty’s levels of engagement or Self-Determination Theory, the conclusion is the same. 

If student learning is the fundamental purpose of school, it is up to the adults to create the conditions that make learning possible. Those conditions invariably involve supporting the whole child.

The Whole Child is the Key to Academics

There may be political reasons to maintain the rhetoric that "academics are the central goal." 

It appeases stakeholders who fear schools are losing their focus. 

However, we must ensure that this rhetoric does not obscure our pedagogical reality.


Professional educators succeed when they understand that academic instruction only leads to deep learning when motivations are autonomous and engagement is agentic. 

Empirical studies on motivation over the past 50 years have established this fact.


Appropriate support of the whole child leads to deeper learning of academics. 

It is not an "either/or" choice; it is a "means and end" relationship.


Let us ensure that our focus on standards and curriculum does not blind us to the humanity of our students. 

We must support the whole child to ensure they can navigate the winds of learning and arrive safely at their academic destination.


For more information on how to implement these strategies through Catalytic Pedagogy, please explore the resources available here at HolisticEquity.org and sign up for the newsletter.

This article was printed from HolisticEquity.com

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