The human potential movement and humanistic psychology provides the basis for an
experiential approach to learning that puts participants and their own process central to
the learning they achieve. It seeks ways to enable them to learn how to 'use' themselves, (the 'self' that is theirs), in their various roles and relations. It is a whole person
approach, which sees the mind/body split as largely artificial and which is
interested in enhancing the individual’s ability to take increasing personal responsibility
for his or her own wellbeing.
Core to this approach is the ability of the person to know
themselves and to learn how to know themselves.
The Purpose of Education
Traditionally, education is a means of preparing citizens to take up a responsible role in
their society. Qualifications are the general measure and intellectual grasp the
demonstrated means to progress. To become a person in such a world is to learn the
rules and ‘fit in’.
Increasingly, in a global context where there are no rules or where systems and ways of
operating are in question, individuals need to develop higher levels of autonomy. They
need a stronger sense of self whilst being able to shape the future collaboratively in a
way that honours and respects the others involved.
The Interdependence
of Persons
The human being exists in a network of relationships, interconnecting arrangements and
interdependent systems. We are born incomplete and unfinished. The human individual
is unique and unrepeatable. Persons are persons
only in so far as they are persons in relationship.
Relationship is at the heart of the enterprise of whole
person learning. There is always me, you and a context.
Which one of us can know which is the more
important and influential upon our endeavours at
any given moment? Often it is what we do not yet
know that is influencing what is happening. The
peer principle is the foundation of all authentic
and genuine human meeting. There are at least
five major areas of influence to which the person
relates: Self, You, Them: Group/Team, Systems
and Organisation, Planet and Cosmos.
Working with the Whole Person
This is an approach that seeks:
To bring together the background of context together with an understanding of the nature of
personhood.
To create suitable learning tasks that are selected and chosen in collaboration
with the learner to enhance their functioning toward the goal of a more complete
personhood.
To foster and live in practice a more responsible engagement with the
nature of effective participation in the human order and the planetary sphere.
Individuals (when viewed as persons) have a right to play a part in the decisions which
affect them. The aspiration of an educator to promote personhood immediately
transforms the nature of the relationship between the educator and those taking part in
the learning. They stand together as joint creators of the educational enterprise – each
with different contributions but with contributions of equal worth. The educational
endeavour then is not so much about participation as collaboration and the process of
the learning becomes every bit as much a source of learning as the content.
Facilitating Whole Person Learning
One of the great dilemmas of a whole person learning approach is that when it
works there is little for the facilitator to do and it
can appear all too easy. Only
when the work breaks down, the individual and group get caught up in some procedural
wrangle or interpersonal conflict does the facilitator appear to be needed. At such a time the facilitator
has to find responses that are not anxiety-laden
or distress-determined
in themselves,
and that help indicate just how much personal self-awareness
is required to hold a
challenge or meet a manipulative demand.
It is not an approach that has years of history such as teaching or committee
management, yet there are centres of practice that mirror whole person learning. It calls
for new skills and openness to developing new ways of working, reflecting the same
challenges we are asking others to face and engage with in the wider world.
This paper is a summary of a radical education approach that is explored
more fully in a publication, Whole Person Learning, by Bryce Taylor, available
from Oasis Press (judi@oasishumanrelations.org.uk), and facilitated through
Oasis development processes.
