The Whole Child Podcast: Changing the Conversation About Education

There is much talk about the need for community involvement in educating the whole child. But, who is the community and what does sustainable community involvment look like? In this episode of the Whole Child Podcast, learn what it means for communities to be involved in schools and how everyone has a role to play in ensuring that each student is healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged

Beyond Our Halls and Walls: Getting to Community Engagement

The middle grades are a complex, challenging, and confusing time for adolescents and for adults to support and develop! Even so, more and more research points to the importance of this stage of childhood, when young people are grappling to figure out who they are. In this episode of the Whole Child Podcast, we examine how to foster middle grades students' healthy development; create environments that facilitate learning throughout this transitional time; and support those who are working with these students in schools, in the community, and at home.

The Middle Grades: Zits, Braces, and Hormones

In this episode of the Whole Child Podcast, host Molly McCloskey, managing director of Whole Child Programs at ASCD, and Jay Mathews, education columnist for The Washington Post and author, have a conversation about what it means to be college- and career-ready and the value of citizenship skills. Mathews answered questions from session attendees on a range of topics including the importance of teacher-student relationships, KIPP charter schools, and the responsibility of education journalists.

Ready and Able: An Interivew with Jay Mathews

The demands of meeting all district, state, and national requirements often seem to leave no time for preparing students for anything else. Yet teaching solely to the test will leave students ill-equipped for college, careers, and citizenship. Recorded live at ASCD's Annual Conference on March 26, this episode of the Whole Child Podcast features an engaging conversation about powerfully preparing young people for the demands of the future.

Unfortunately, unchecked and unfocused use of technology can result in students disconnecting from the "why" of learning and from the real-time relationships that are key to their development and success. Alternatively, high-quality integration of technology has the potential to not only prepare young people for their futures, but also to enhance and expand learning and connectedness. In this episode of the Whole Child Podcast, our guests discuss specific ways you can overcome barriers to connecting digital learners and lead your school community in meaningful technology integration.

Teaching in a Digital World: Connecting and Empowering the Whole Child

This episode of the Whole Child Podcast examines the research about the need for physical education in schools; explores some of the recent criticism; examines the relationship between physical activity and academic achievement, engagement, and social and emotional health and learning; and considers how physical activity can be expanded across the day. Our guests discuss ways that schools and communities can support physical activity throughout the day.

PE, Recess, and Beyond: The Implications of Movement

Developing successful learners who are prepared for success in college or further study and for employment and citizenship in a global environment requires us to think outside the box -- the cognitive box, that is. The science of learning and child development is rarely used in classrooms, and research has demonstrated that we can maximize learning when educators apply developmental principles effectively. In this episode of the Whole Child Podcast, we explore the key principles of developmental science that can affect the way teachers teach and the way students learn.

Applying Developmental Science to Impact Teaching and Learning

The Critical Role of the Arts Throughout a Whole Child Education

The arts play an essential role in providing each student with a well-rounded education that meets the needs of the whole child. Although classes strictly focused on music, visual arts, drama, dance, and art history are critical, integrating the arts across the curriculum is also key to ensuring that students are healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged. How can we provide students with a well-rounded education that includes learning through and about the arts? How can policy and practice support the integration of arts across the curriculum?