Holistic Education in South & South-East Asia
Today’s education systems predominantly seem to focus on cerebral development at the expense of all other aspects of a person's development
Furthermore, a one-size-fits-all approach to learning serves only a fraction of a community, while flattening cultural and individual diversification. Education must be contextualised to whole people and communities, and in so doing it will help them become the best that they can be.
While attempts have been made worldwide to develop holistic education systems, few have proven scalable. The predominant systems rely on schooling for academic attainment, even at the expense of other aspects of development and the wellbeing of learners and communities. The need to look at the role of Education in helping the learners develop holistically is crucial. OECD Learning Compass 2030 also outlines the aspiration for holistic education.
This Spotlight showcases innovations from Bhutan and Southeast Asia that helps the learners develop holistically.
Holistic education is commonly understood as an approach to developing a whole person, balancing cultivation of all aspects including the intellectual or cerebral, physical, emotional, social, and aesthetic or spiritual. Holistic education also extends beyond individual realization to include the actualization of a community's potential, which becomes possible when individuals are contributing constructively as citizens.
This Spotlight highlights 9 highly impactful and scalable education innovations focusing on Holistic education in South & Southeast Asia.
By raising up innovations that focus on the holistic development of an individual and society, The Royal Academy and HundrED hope to enrich the conversation about the role of education in promoting a more just and harmonious society and give communities constructive resources for driving their own development.
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Spotlight: Holistic Education in South & South-East Asia
Education is a lifelong process where a learner is constantly raising their bar. Life itself is a journey of personal growth and development and therefore the classroom curriculum should reflect the world around us. It should help the learner understand what’s going on around her. Education should be about studying to learn and not learning to study. The role of a teacher is to help a learner understand the process of learning to learn. This takes more precedence now than ever before as we move into a decade that does not resemble anything that we have witnessed in the past. Education, just like us, needs to be Wholistic – one that is dynamic, responsive, and open to new ideas and change.
HundrED and Druk Gyalpo’s Institute, Bhutan collaborated to identify and show- case innovations in the South and South East Asia region that focuses on holistic education.
