Understanding Each Child, Our Future: Educating the Whole Child
Each Child Our Future is Ohio’s five-year strategic plan to ensure each student enjoys a bright future thanks to an excellent preK-12 education experience. The plan was built for Ohioans, by Ohioans and reflects feedback from educators, parents, communities, employers and state lawmakers.
This is the second in an 11-part series of shorts that walks EdConnection readers through the plan. Last week’s installment explained conditions in Ohio that prompted the five-year strategic plan. This week’s article covers the plan components and concept of the whole child on page 7 of the plan, which can be found in its entirety by clicking here.
Supporting the Whole Child
Children can truly succeed only when we nurture their physical, social, emotional and intellectual needs. To make a better future for Ohio and each of its children, our schools must cultivate their students in all four areas. Every component of Each Child, Our Future harmonizes with the others to support the whole-child approach:
- Three core principles on which all successful education systems stand – educational equity, partnerships and quality schools;
- Four learning domains (broad areas of learning) that steer academics – foundational knowledge and skills, well-rounded content (subject matter), leadership and reasoning, and social-emotional learning;
- 10 high priority strategies that give feet to our intentions – from increasing the number of high quality teachers, to promoting better early learning, to improving Ohio’s school accountability system;
- A shared state vision of what we want to see happening for each child every day; and
- One goal for education system improvement that articulates the gains we want to see for our graduates each year.
The three core principles are, perhaps, most critical. That is why they are highlighted across each plan component. Their constant reference ensures those who have a hand in preparing Ohio’s children never lose sight of equity, partnerships and quality schools.
In future issues of EdConnection, see more details on each of these five components.