"Whole examines the ways our schools' current framework mishandles mental health for both teachers and students. Through the use of research, community examples and expert opinions, this book asks readers to consider a new era of disruptive change. Wholeintroduces new concepts on how to approach mental health in schools such as: Treating schools as "field hospitals" to combine learning as healing, Redesigning the architecture of schools to reflect an open, inviting atmosphere, Considering teachers as high-performance athletes who deserve time for recovery and preparation for their workday, Connecting school leaders with their community and offering more transparency with the citizens who have a real stake in their school's success While in the past few decades technology has allowed for improvement to occur at a logarithmic pace, most businesses are still stuck improving linearly. Unfortunately, the system in which we view and work with mental health in schools is stuck in that same linear process that leaves new research and unique solutions to the wayside. The prevailing literature on education and mental health concludes student and teacher disengagement is the main issue when it comes to mental health problems in schools. However, new research discovered that this diagnosis was wrong from the beginning, so we now have a massive education reform industry spending immense resources to solve a problem that does not exist"--
A shocking statistic in education reveals that 70% of K-12 teachers work under chronic stress. This revolutionary new book explains how removing stress from the classroom holds the key to improving education. The book also explains what administrators, teachers, parents, and communities can do to help accomplish a stress-free classroom.
For years, the expert voices said “disengagement” was the crucial issue behind poor educational environments and results. Naturally, only massive reform could fix it. But what if the enormous restructuring and expenditures attacked the wrong problem
MindShift, an organization that reframes tired and clogged conversations, pushed the old conclusions off the table and started fresh. They gathered diverse leaders in education, leadership, neuroscience, architecture, and wellness in working forums around the nation. These pivotal meetings produced WHOLE, a game-changing approach to education. This book captures the story and details of how the system can be remade for real and lasting benefits to everyone.
With the authors’ expertise, the book exposes the exhausted and antiquated thinking that led to the present crisis. But, WHOLE also proposes a new era of disruptive change that can produce happier, healthier, and more successful education for the 21st century. The book introduces the outliers, tells the stories, and presents the roadmaps to:
- Why teachers should be seen as high-performance athletes, requiring time for recovery and preparation
- How schools can become “field hospitals,” combining learning with healing
- Why space matters, how redesigning and refurnishing schools can eliminate stress and produce learning environments that are more open and inviting
- Ways to properly integrate schools within communities, building honest relationships, increasing social capital, and achieving transparency that increases success
Packed with real-life examples, new research, and solutions that you can introduce to your own schools, students, and communities, WHOLE shows us how to move schools from the age of stress and insecurity to an age of true educational flourishing.
