The Whole Student
By Peter W. Cookson, Jr.

This summer I left the classroom for a real educational adventure. A terrific professor in our school conducts a course in Costa Rica called Ecoscapes. In this course the students compare and contrast the natural history, culture and approaches to conservation between Costa Rica and Oregon. The students journey across habitats from coral reefs to lowland rainforests to mountain cloud forests. Students live with Costa Rican families devoted to conservation work. They learn about biodiversity through direct experience.

Finding your way
I have written some about learning as an adventure and I encourage all teachers, especially new teachers, to think of their work as a journey that is adventurous, risk taking and experiential. Going to Costa Rica with students from Lewis & Clark College enabled me to move off the written page into a real adventure. Costa Rica is a fabulously beautiful country and Costa Ricans are a warm and engaging people. In San Jose, the capital, houses don't have street numbers. You find addresses through orienting yourself by landmarks. In order to find your way, you need to confer with many people.

An unforgettable adventure
The intellectual adventure was coupled with some experiential adventures that I will never forget. We climbed in the canopy of the rainforest and encountered howler and spider monkeys; we traveled a river teeming with life that included crocodiles; we trekked through the rainforest and observed armies of leaf ants; and we endured many, many mosquitoes. Perhaps the most exciting part of the trip was the poisonous snakes that occasionally visited us. I learned more in that week than I have in a long time.

How we learn
The process of learning is incredibly complex because we learn in so many ways, some of which we are aware, some of which we are unaware. Manifest learning can be defined as the objectives in your lesson plan; latent learning is more complex and can be defined as the real messages that students internalize. My trip to Costa Rica reinforced for me the importance of experiential education because when we directly experience a new environment we learn with our whole selves. When all five senses are stimulated and directed toward a learning goal, our energy is mobilized, our affect is raised and we are truly open to learning new things. Educating the whole child includes the head and the heart. Without the head and heart working together in a purposeful way, education remains shallow and even temporary.

The joy of learning
As you begin this year, consider the education of the whole child. Does your classroom stimulate your students' senses and sensibilities? Is there a feeling of comfort and safety? Is the life of the mind the central message of your learning community? Young students are full of imagination -- that's why children love stories, why they ask lots of questions and why they create artwork without restraint. Unfortunately, too many classrooms stifle the imagination and reduce the whole child to a two-dimensional learner where the life of the mind is trivialized by routine.

When I visit classrooms where there is no laughter or joy, I become concerned, not for sentimental reasons but for very practical reasons. A joyless classroom is a poor learning environment. As a new teacher there are many pressures brought to bear on you to conform and to meet standards. Of course you must be a team player and work with your colleagues and your principal to achieve the goals of the school. At the same time, however, if you do not find your own individuality, you are not going to take joy in the learning process. If there is no laughter, the chances are very high that you will build up a resistance to learning in your students.

Overcoming resistance
Resistance to learning is quite real and tragic. New teachers often enter the classroom expecting their students to be ready for learning, to be excited by information and to take a positive attitude about group life in the classroom. To encounter students who resist learning tends to be a shocking experience.
Some new teachers attempt to overcome resistance with negative sanctions and discipline. I would like to suggest that a far better way of overcoming resistance is to embrace your students as individuals and to find those experiences that are most relevant to them. Every student has a special gift, every student has untapped talents. If you think of each student in a holistic way, these talents and skills will emerge and you can build on them. Teaching in this way becomes joyful, rather than stressful, and your class will come together and create a wonderful learning community.

What I learned on my summer vacation
This summer I learned how to get out of my head and live the educational experience directly. Many years ago, the educational philosopher John Dewey advocated experiential education. This summer I learned not only that John Dewey was correct but also that learning is an adventure and can be transformative when we learn by doing. Educating the head and the heart elevates learning, making it transformational.

Peter W. Cookson, Jr. is the founder of TCinnovations and the Dean of the Graduate School of Education of Lewis & Clark College. He is also founder of the Center for Educational Outreach & Innovation at Teachers College at Columbia University.