Holistic learning recognizes that young learners’ social and emotional growth is essential in addition to academic achievement. It also understands that more than a single learning method is needed for every child. While classic language programs prioritize reading and writing, holistic coaches focus on everyday speech. They know that breaking language down into parts makes no sense, as it’s all connected in a web of communication.
Enhances Communication Skills
Educators today are expected to offer an expansive menu of communicative activities. This shift in pedagogy is a welcome one for foreign language learners. However, creating effective and engaging materials is an arduous task. Many factors are to consider, including length, level, topic, skills focus, density, style, etc. Holistic learning materials and approaches address this challenge by incorporating the whole child. This approach also promotes children’s physical, social, and emotional development. It develops children’s transversal skills (a broad set of skills, work habits, character traits, and knowledgeable insights) like empathy and compassion, creative thinking, problem-solving, and self-expression. It also helps them become independent, self-motivated learners.
Boosts Self-Awareness
Holistic language learning supports students on their language journeys. Each student learns at a different pace and has strengths, challenges, and interests that reflect their personality. This personalized approach addresses each child’s needs and helps them to build confidence as they progress through their learning journey. Experiences in the classroom also help young learners to become more self-aware and develop self-regulation skills. This is especially important during the early years of development. Holistic learning can also incorporate physical education and mindfulness practices like meditation. Educators often need help to tailor their teaching to the unique needs of each child in the classroom. However, a holistic language learning curriculum can make this possible. It can also include a person-centered assessment strategy, such as formative assessments, to ensure that all students are supported.
Increases Confidence
Unlike conventional classroom learning, holistic language learning considers young learners’ social and emotional needs. The idea is that students perform better academically in a supportive environment that focuses on their mental and physical well-being. A holistic approach to learning also believes that each child has strengths, challenges, and unique interests. This makes personalized learning possible, allowing young children to work independently without feeling overwhelmed. As a result, this learning fosters self-confidence among students. It also teaches the value of collaboration by encouraging them to help each other learn. This is achieved by teaching them to communicate in a foreign language and working together on projects. The result is a stronger team that can effectively problem-solve in the workplace.
Promotes Creativity
Providing a wide variety of learning opportunities in the classroom allows early learners to choose the material that best fits them. The materials can be linguistic, visual, auditory, or kinesthetic and include developmentally appropriate activities that promote creativity. They can also combine these, as in an interest area that includes dramatic play, blocks and other construction, art, music, writing, and more. Unlike narrow, plan-structured lessons often used in standard schools, holistic teaching embraces the notion that every learner has unique strengths, challenges, and interests. In addition, holistic learning is inclusive, addressing longstanding inequities by supporting the needs of marginalized students.
Strengthens Social Skills
A holistic learning approach is a powerful way to teach a foreign language. It rejects conventional, test-oriented curricula and instead works towards person-centered lessons. A quality holistic learning program teaches students to respect themselves and their world. One example is a gratitude circle, where students practice speaking about and listening to things they are grateful for. Group lessons in a holistic classroom also foster collaboration and teamwork. This helps to build a more robust company culture and a greater capacity for new ideas. It’s well known that people produce more ideas when they work together, especially in a group of language learners. Ultimately, this results in improved productivity and increased success for your business.
